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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Loss of Litter Habits with Frequent Urination…but no UTI **UPDATE**

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    • emkvet
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         I recently had Hazel checked for a UTI – there were no white cells or blood in her urine, and pH was normal. I thought that perhaps she is just drinking more water than normal due to the fact that I switched her from a bottle to a dish. However, I caught her peeing in my bedroom 3 different times this evening. This is VERY strange, since normally her litter habits are nearly perfect, especially with peeing. She is acting normally in all other respects. I am concerned about diabetes (the vet mentioned it, although it’s rare) – it’s characterized by polyuria, polydypsia, and polyphagia (frequent drinking, urinating, and eating). Hazel does eat a lot for a tiny bun, and she definitely is urinating a lot. I am not sure how much she is drinking, since it’s hard to monitor. 

        I emailed the vet and asked her some questions, and I am keeping her in her xpen for the night and tomorrow (she is normally free range). I will probably have her blood tested either tomorrow or Tuesday. Diabetes is the only thing I can think of, since she is young to have kidney issues (only 2), and there were no signs of a UTI. I am going to ask about doing a more in-depth urinalysis though, also. 

        *EDIT* Or could this just be territorial marking? She has been spayed for a couple of months now, and has been free range (including my room) for about 3 weeks. Not sure why she’d be marking now, as there haven’t been any changes, but that’s also an idea (thanks, LoveChaCha).

        Any thoughts?


      • LoveChaCha
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          It looks like she might be marking your room… as hers.


        • emkvet
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            Why would she be doing this now? After she has been free range for a few weeks and allowed in my room? She’s spayed, too. I don’t get it. And now it’s making me paranoid.


          • Sarita
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              Sometimes when they are spayed at an “older age”, not that she is old, it could take a little longer for hormones to “normalize” so don’t rule that out.

              If you rule out any medical issue then it’s definitely territorial. Did the vet check her teeth? I cannot remember if you mentioned that elsewhere.


            • Dee
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                I’ve found that when BunBun especially likes a particular “territory”, such as a bed, couch or even a bedroom, he pees a few times in various places. I can only think that this is to announce that this area now belongs to him- like ChaCha and Sarita said, they can be pretty territorial. Also, Bun is my “dominant” bunny, and he is the one who does this. Nelli, his wife, doesn’t mark anything.


              • bunnyfriend
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                  Sounds territorial, my bunny recently started spraying (before bonding) and he’s been neutered since September. It could have been set off by something you wouldn’t even realize, like changes in perfume, ect. I would definitely have all the medical explanations checked out to be safe, which it sounds like you are already in the process of doing.


                • LoveChaCha
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                    This past year is when I began to allow Chacha to be free range. She marked AROUND the litter box that I have in my room (Dork!!) and it frustratd me for a while.


                  • piperknitsRN
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                      Oh my goodness!  Olive leaves little presents all over the place (she’s spayed, and used to be impeccably littertrained).  While granted, it’s not pee, it drives me up a wall.    It could be a territorial thing, as they’re generally right outside the litterbox, though she does have a habit of spreading them around pretty far away from the litterbox, too.  Simon, meanwhile, has impeccable habits and I hope he continues.  Olive started with the pellet spreading before I got Simon, and it hasn’t gone away.  I just figure it’s a territorial thing, and now that Simon’s here, it’s probably not gonna go away any time soon, so I just deal with it by sweeping them up.  Sigh.  


                    • emkvet
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                        Back from the vet and come to find out…NOTHING. My bunny is just being a brat. Oh joy.

                        They did bloodwork, and there was nothing evident besides slightly elevated ALP levels (liver enzyme), which could just be from her not eating much breakfast today. Also did another urinalysis and got nothing. And guess what? They didn’t even have to anesthetize her with gas to get blood…they called her a “little angel.” Bahahaha what a little diva. So spoiled. I’m glad she was good though, she’s such a sweetheart 

                        Looks like Hazelbun is just being territorial RANDOMLY. What should I do? Restrict her? I have been keeping her in her xpen when I’m not home (which makes me feel like a terrible bun mom!), but she did pee in there on the blanket a few times too. Is this a phase? She was doing so well for at least a month or month and a half after her spay. I probably just have to ride it out and keep encouraging her to use her litterbox. I put 2 in my room in the places she peed. I think I’ll let her back in my room tonight and watch her for a while and see how she does.

                        Guess I’ll just have to learn to love the vinegar smell for a while until this calms down. BAD BUN! Too bad she’s so damn cute and snuggly…


                      • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                          I recently had Hazel checked for a UTI – there were no white cells or blood in her urine, and pH was normal.

                          Did your vet check white/blood cells and pH in addition to testing for UTI? Because testing for UTI would be testing for bacteria colonization (so certain count of bacteria in the urine) -as is, if they only checked for cells and pH I wonder if they didn’t check for UTI?


                        • emkvet
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                            The vet looked at her urine to determine if white cells, or immune cells, were present. If there were, that would indicate an infection. It was a quick way to determine UTI while looking through a microscope. IT says on this site that that is a pretty common thing to do: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html I’m pretty confident in my vet, she is the exotics specialist at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and knows her stuff. She definitely takes good care of Hazel!

                            They did another urinalysis today that came back clear. I’ll ask though about checking for bacteria.


                          • bunnyfriend
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                              One of my rabbits who is free range now is sort of doing the same thing Hazel is doing. I’m not resricting him, just being very diligent about cleaning up messes right away and saying “no” when he looks like he’s about to go to the bathroom. Gradually his litter box habits are getting better on his own. I know usually it is recommended to restrict them and slowly increase freedom. It’s good that she was just being a little brat though (even though it is at your expense) I’m glad she’s healthy!!


                            • emkvet
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                                After a tough day at the vet…


                              • BinkyBunny
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                                  If it is territorial and this is a new thing — any new scents in the house. Have you been around other animals?


                                • emkvet
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                                    I was thinking that that could be it, actually. Maybe my stuff smells like my boyfriend’s dogs? I went to his house for Thanksgiving, and this behavior started after that. Also, she stayed with my parents over Thanksgiving, and they have 3 dogs (they were separated – Hazel stayed in my old room). Some smells may have transferred from either situation. I don’t have anything particular from the trip directly in my room, but with her sensitive nose I’m sure she could detect those scents from all over the house from shoes, clothes, suitcases, etc. that I had around the dogs.


                                  • Sarita
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                                      Thank you for the update…what a darn cute picture.


                                    • kamdynandsunshinesmom
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                                        I am not sure what is going on. I know when my bunny started doing this. He became disabled with cancer. He had other signs besides peeing outside the litterbox. She could just be marking her territory. I know my sunshine did that when she went to a new room in the house. Hope everything works out!

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                                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Loss of Litter Habits with Frequent Urination…but no UTI **UPDATE**