Red urine

[CalicoPrairie]

Hey all, I have a jersey wooly female, about 8 years old who looks to be peeing red. Her poops are small as well. She seems a little sluggish, but is alert, and she did eat fresh organic spring mix last night. Might not be drinking much water. I noticed the red pee issue last night and did a little research and thought perhaps I was seeing pigment in her urine, so I decided to watch what happens overnight.

Background, a few weeks ago I was seeing that her cecotropes were very loose and sticking to the back of her fur. I took her off pellets for a time to see if that's would help firm things up, and put her on hay and a good handful of fresh greens and some baby carrots 2-3/night. She hasn't been eating much hay, but she was eating the veggies up to two nights ago, when she didn't finish them. I tried again last night, and she finished the greens, but not the carrots.

I'm wondering what I'm looking at here. I've never seen the red pee before. I am suspecting there's some dehydration involved here, and maybe that's the cause for the deep color and small poops, so I'll be working on that today, but is there anything else I should be researching or doing?

 

[SixGun]

Red urine tends to reflect a change in her diet. I believe food coloring and additives will do it especially. Actual bloody pee is rare, although not impossible.
If it is blood in her urine it would denote a maldy you probably can't fix; Polyps, an aborted litter, and uterine cancer.

 

[CalicoPrairie]

Red urine tends to reflect a change in her diet. I believe food coloring and additives will do it especially. Actual bloody pee is rare, although not impossible.
If it is blood in her urine it would denote a maldy you probably can't fix; Polyps, an aborted litter, and uterine cancer.

Thanks, Six Gun. I'm not sure what's happening. I suppose I'll treat her as if she is dehydrated, as her poops are small, watch her, and keep her comfy. I am kind of suspecting it's something more than just that, as she seems to be slowing down and not as active as usual.

 

[SixGun]

The best you can do is keep her happy and comfortable. She is not a young bunny. Lots of hydration, lots of green leafy vegetables and lots of good quality hay. It's often the only thing you can do.

 

[MaggieJ]

Red urine does not always indicate a problem. I have seen it in productive, youngish does and I believe it is caused by diet.

Judging by cottontail rabbit urine in the snow, red, orange, green, blue and purple urine are all possible as well as yellow. The blue and purple, I believe, were the result of them eating wild grapes.

Your doe's poop issues so need monitoring but if they resolve themselves with a change in diet, the red urine alone would not alarm me.

 

[countitjoy5]

mine had red urine today but they have been eating watermelon