Help! Brood Doe with Bladder Infection.

[Silver Willow]

I posted about one of my wee does a while ago, but she has still not gotten better. She has a browny yellow stain around her genital area, and is obviously very sensitive around there. She has always been a grumpy, sensitive girl. But whenever I'm holding her and touch her bum she makes it very obvious how unhappy she is.

I feel kind of bad because it's most likely a result of the new cages we built last summer. They have wooden floors (which I'm majorly regretting) and are in desperate need of a full on hose/ disinfect. I've done my best to keep it all clean, but the jolly thing still has stains everywhere. :evil:

She got quite fat for a bit, as my younger sister was feeding her (she's kinda like my rabbitry apprentice ). She's since lost weight after I put her on a diet though, and the stains on her bum are not as bad as at first.

I'm assuming this is some sort of urinary or bladder infection? If so, what are some steps I can take to better her living conditions and heal her up? I really need one more litter out of her (she had her first litter a few months ago), and I'm hoping it isn't contagious? Any advise appreciated!!!

 

[MaggieJ]

Could be totally wrong, but my guess would be hutch burn (urine scald) from contact with her urine. Do you have some kind of litter on those wooden floors to absorb the urine? Here we use aspen shavings when possible... make sure whatever you use is rabbit safe. You will also need to treat the affected area.

http://www.second-opinion-doc.com/hutch ... ments.html

 

[Silver Willow]

Thanks for the link, @MaggieJ! She's been moved to a different cage with a plastic floor temporarily, and after that I'll see if I can move her outside. We use a layer of news paper and pine shavings to soak up the urine, along with any hay they don't clean up. We don't have any Petroleum jelly- would vaseline be ok instead?

 

[katiebear]

Vaseline is a name brand of petroleum jelly..you have the right stuff..

 

[a7736100]

Some times they are better off with a thick layer of poop. Urine drains down and the top layer of poop is dry. You can also have a sheet of 1/2X1 an inch over the wood so she remains dry.

 

[MaggieJ]

Some times they are better off with a thick layer of poop. Urine drains down and the top layer of poop is dry.

You're kidding, right? :? No rabbit should have to sit on a layer of poop.

I was thinking a litter box fitted with a perforated resting board might work, with shavings under it to catch the urine.

 

[Silver Willow]

Vaseline is a name brand of petroleum jelly..you have the right stuff..

Ah, of course. Thank you

Some times they are better off with a thick layer of poop. Urine drains down and the top layer of poop is dry. You can also have a sheet of 1/2X1 an inch over the wood so she remains dry.

Only thing is the urine doesn't drain, because they're on wood floors. So woodshavings and news paper are the best I can do at the moment unfortunately! The cage is stacked, with my other little doe on the top story. Mainly because she's the only one that will use her litter tray consistently. :roll:

Some times they are better off with a thick layer of poop. Urine drains down and the top layer of poop is dry.

You're kidding, right? :? No rabbit should have to sit on a layer of poop.

I was thinking a litter box fitted with a perforated resting board might work, with shavings under it to catch the urine.

Actually, that's not a bad idea. Right now I just have normal litter trays with no extra pan. I've just been trying to clean them every second day or so.

On another note- I gave the grumpy bunny a small but bath last night. Dried her off and then put some vaseline on her. Assuming it isn't poisonous if/ when she decides to lick herself?

Also, is there anything I should avoid feeding her to speed up recovery? Are veggies going to be bad for her?

 

[Preitler]

Cutting back on veggies would imho only make sense if her poo is runny, not solid.

Imho most important is to keep her dry. My old hutches have wooden floors too, I'm replacing them with wooden grates. I did drill a lot of holes and cut slots with the chainsaw into them when I noticed that moisture may be problem, and meanwhile, they get lots of hay to waste so that there's always a dry layer on top.

Another thing are somewhat raised resting boards or grates, quite big, normally they don't soil those much (don't feed them there), and when mounted at a slight angle pee will run off.

*sigh*. I'm currently building my 3rd generation hutches, everytime I finish one I see what I could have done better, and start again...