Neurological/spinal cord disease causing urine problems?

[marinabunny]

When I took my bunny back to the vet recently, they spoke with the other vet who’d done her xrays and came to the conclusion that her urine issues (increased urination & scalding) were because of neurological problems. There is something wrong with her spine- they called it spinal cord disease- so that is why she’s urinating a lot. To me this doesn’t make sense. I have heard of arthritis causing problems when posturing to pee so that’s why they get scalding, but I don’t see the connection between her spine or “neurological” problem causing her to pee excessively? We have done two urine tests so far and none showed an infection, we didn’t do a culture because they didn’t see the need for one since her urinalysis showed nothing. Would it be a waste of money doing a culture… is there anything that would even show up in a culture that wouldn’t in a urinalysis? For some reason I feel like this is something else, not a neurological problem. Anyhow, they recommended long-term metacam for her.

 

Another thing, she was diagnosed with dental problems. Now, I’ve heard that bunnies w dental issues drink more water to sooth the pain. This is true with my bunny she drinks ALOT of water… so i’m wondering that maybe she’s drinking a lot to sooth the pain of her teeth, and because she’s drinking a lot that’s making her pee a lot? The vet said she saw no connection between the urinary issues and dental issues and said they were two separate problems. I’m just so frustrated of not being able to get a clear diagnosis for months… idk :/ what do you guys think?

[Sarita]

I’m wondering if you should not seek a second opinion from another vet and all these diagnosed problems.

[marinabunny]

That is probably the best vet in my area, so its hard to get second opinion bc the others don’t know much. I’m still wondering if this could be an infection and if there’s any point of doing a culture…but I’ve already spent so much. They also wanted to do dental X-rays but I don’t know if that’s a good idea since she had body xrays 5 months ago…isn’t that too much radiation

[Sarita]

Um, so the body x-rays they are speaking of were done 5 months ago? That does not make any sense to me.

And no, I wouldn’t worry about radiation. But I do wonder why they want to do x-rays on her teeth? Have they put her under anesthesia for take a closer look at the teeth.

How many rabbits does this vet see?

[marinabunny]

Sarita- Sorry I may have worded it confusing, Fluffy has been seeing two vets. Basically, 5 months ago she was taken to the vet that is 20 mins away. Here she had body x-rays done because of her urinary issues to see if there were any stones, sludge, etc. (also had urinalysis & bloodwork done but those came back normal). The only thing they found from the xrays was that her spine didn’t look right.

Now, recently, we went to the vet 40 mins away (which has really good reviews, its supposed to be the best rabbit vet in town). This is also the vet who spayed my bunny but she moved to this location 40 mins downtown. Here, we did a urinalysis again(but not culture) and it came back normal, no infection. So they discussed with the other 20 min vet and said theres a strong suspicion her pee problems are b/c of spinal issues. Now at this vet they also found dental problems while looking in her mouth with a special tool (they didn’t put her under for this). But what they want to do now is book her for a full dental exam under anesthesia and have the teeth filed. The reason they want to do dental x-rays is to see if there is an infection in the roots and/or if teeth would need to be extracted. Is this not a common thing to do? With your bunnies do you get dental x-rays done or just go straight into filing? Trying to see if they are trying to rip me off with the x-rays…

[Sarita]

I would do the x-rays – they can see things this way as well and can help when they do the anesthesia and full dental work. It is the only way to know about possible root infections.

[marinabunny]

Im kind of limited in what I can do, I was going to leave out the x-rays because right now I can barely afford the filing. What is the likelihood of a root tooth infection being there? Right now shes acting normal and eating normal. I also wanted to do a culture to be 100% sure her urinary issues are not b/c of a uti. So I can either do one or the other… x-ray or culture. Also, the only way I could afford the x-ray is if my vet offered to let us do a payment plan.

[kirstyol]

I can only say what I know about humans who are obviously not the same as rabbits I know but in my experience if nothing has showed up in the urinalysis (I assume the dip sticked it?) and nothing showed in the bloods either, nothing would grow in culture either, there would almost certainly be nothing there. Bloods would show infection markers which would mean there was an infection somewhere but they obviously wouldn’t tell you where, if that had been the case I would have said do cultures but if the bloods were clear I would say no.

Tooth infections on the other hand don’t always leave infection markers in blood samples because they are a totally different type of infection and are isolated in the gum (again this is in humans, I am making an assumption that rabbits would be similar since we are all mammals). Its hard to say without the x-rays if theres a tooth infection, they might be able to tell under anaesthetic doing a proper dental exam but personally I would get the x-rays done if you can.

Spinal issues can cause frequent urination sometimes because the nerves that tell your brain that your bladder is full can be affected and sort of get confused thinking the bladder is full when its only maybe half full – hence more frequent peeing.

[LBJ10]

Yes, spinal issues can do strange things to bladder control. Sometimes it causes more frequent urination and sometimes it causes an inability to empty the bladder. It just depends. But if they found something strange with her spinal cord, then it could be what’s causing her “pee problems”. Especially if they aren’t finding anything else. So I agree, a culture probably won’t show anything.

The dental x-ray may or may not show anything. Did the vet say why they wanted to do it? Perhaps they saw something that made them think it was a good idea to check. Tooth problems don’t always mean an infection, but the vet may have seen something that would make them think it was a possibility. So I would ask them about it. Perhaps they can check her teeth first and once they get a better look they can decide whether or not to do an x-ray while she’s still out.

[marinabunny]

Thanks for the informative responses. So doing a culture would just be a waste of money? I asked about payment plans for the x-rays and the receptionist said she would ask and get back to me.

Also, the day I booked Fluffy in for was a day when the other male doctor is in. She hasn’t ever seen this doctor but the receptionist said he’s more experienced in performing these kinds of procedures. I’m wondering if I should call back and book it with the regular doctor… she’s less experienced but knows Fluffy and her history, etc.

[kirstyol]

I honestly think doing a culture would be a waste of money, I highly doubt it would show anything given the tests that have already been done. I would definitely ask why they want to do the x-rays but it might be something you need to do. I would be tempted to let the more experienced vet take a look at her, all her history etc should be on the computer for him and he will likely have a quick browse through them before you go in to see him.

[marinabunny]

The only reason that I remember them recommending x-rays was to see the roots because sometimes there can be a problem there that they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.

With the X-rays the procedure will cost me close to $800, a little less if my sister can pay for meds… and they don’t offer payment plans. Im not sure what to do as that is way out of my budget, but I understand that the X-rays are important

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