Dora is not doing well...

[ilovehome]

I took 10 month old Dora the explorer to a show last weekend, and then bred her on Wednesday. I noticed she was not eating or drinking well yesterday and she was just sitting there today. I flipped her over, and her vent was covered in white mess, sludge I think at this point. I checked the buck she was bred to, and he looks fine. We went ahead and gave her a shot of oxytetracycline, some pain medicine, syringed some water into her and brought her in the house for a while. She continued to produce sludge, and some bloody urine. She perked up a bit, and drank a little water.

She is fed a 16% show formula, grass hay and no treats. She is an English Lop.

Any other recommendations on how to make her more comfortable? What is the prognosis? And, is there a genetic component to this problem?

 

[MaggieJ]

I really do not know whether the problem is urinary tract or gynecological. I'd isolate both her and the buck until you figure it out. The last thing you want is something spreading through your rabbitry. Wish I could be of more help.

 

[ilovehome]

She has not improved today....It may be kinder to put her out of her misery.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Poor Dora!

It occurred to me that she might have a yeast infection. I haven't ever had one (thankfully!), but I have heard that they cause a thick discharge. I don't know why she would have blood in her urine though, unless she has a UTI as well. Btw, are you sure it was blood? Sometimes their urine is a dark reddish-orange color.

Can you post pics? Maybe that would help ID the problem.

 

[LadyKarli]

Some cranberry juice in her water bottle & might make her feel a bit better if it is a UTI. My rex doe did a similar thing She had a very dirty bottom & all sludgy & nasty. & I sprayed her nether regions with vetercicyn (from tractor supply) 3x per day. Gave her 1 part pure cranberry juice from the health food isle 4 parts water. & nothing but hay for about 7 days & she cleared up very well. I was almost ready to take her to the vet but a friend told me to try this & it worked great. I might have just gotten lucky. I dunno. :shrug: Before culling you could give it a try ?!?

 

[ilovehome]

We lost Dora Wednesday. Tried cranberry juice, pumpkin, aspirin for pain, antibiotics, and cleaning her up regularly but nothing worked. Poor baby...gonna miss my explorer....

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm so sorry you lost her.

Did you figure out what the problem was? I'm kind of concerned about the possibility of it being something communicable, since she was with the buck such a short time before she became ill.

 

[LadyKarli]

That is so sad. I am sorry.

 

[Miss M]

So sorry you lost her.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Somehow I missed your update that you lost Dora. Sorry to hear it. ((Hugs))

Are your other rabbits doing okay?

 

[Cattle Cait]

Oh no, I'm sorry
*hugs*

 

[ilovehome]

Thanks for the kind words.

She continued to produce a gritty whitish sludge when she tried to urinate, so I am pretty sure it was a metabolic issue of some kind. No signs of illness in the rest of my crew--thankfully.

 

[ladysown]

if she kept eliminating a gritty white sludge I"d strongly suspect a calcium problem, and a build up in her kidneys.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'm glad the rest of the herd is in good health.

I wonder if vinegar would help with excess calcium in the urine- it works great on calcium deposits on glass. :?

 

[MaggieJ]

Certainly adding apple cider vinegar to their at the rate of 2 Tablespoons per gallon would do no harm and may be helpful. I've heard it suggested many times for this purpose.