Colored urine

[sergi]

Hi everybody! I have a 10-month old bunny in a situation, when i am not sure that a proper vet can be found. I live in Oviedo, Spain, where there is only one clinic claiming exotic animals including rabbits specialisation, whose way of dealing with animals is just killing them (as i can judge from the case of my sister’s bunny from the same family as mine, a perfectly healthy and happy rabbit who was killed by anaesthesia overdose when neutering), so i am getting increasingly nervous and decided to find out first, how grave can be this symptom – the colored urine. I read previously, that it may depend on the diet, but cannot be colored all the time. Our diet is abt. 7 types of hay harvested in the specialised pet market, with a small addition of Romaine lettuce, broccoli and celery from an ecology shop. He also eats a little apple tree bark while carving over apple twigs that i harvest outside the city. He gets plenty of filtered water, always very fresh. And he likes water, maybe because his name is Mizu which is “water” in Japanese. He is very resourceful, active and creative and this colored urine is the only disturbing sign that we have. Of course i intend to visit the vet, but the nearest clinic dealing with rabbits is in the other city, and the trip is hard to schedule as i am a freelancer
I would be extremely grateful for any suggestions or opinions!

[jerseygirl]

Hi Sergi

Rabbit urine can be a lot of different colours. Pale yellow, darker yellow, orange, red and brown. You’ll often see it can sometimes look “cloudy” when there is calcium in it. This is also normal. Sometimes its plant pigments that colour urine, sometimes it is just exposure to the air. If a rabbit did a puddle on the floor and it’s light yellow in colour, after some time it takes on a darker orange colour.

The urine should not be completely clear, like water. You might see that occasionally if a rabbit drank A LOT and had very dilute urine, but if it were regularly like water, then that would indicate a health problem.

I’m sorry to hear about your sisters rabbit!

[sergi]

Hi Jerseygirl

thank you for your reply and explanations and concern!! i could control my bunny’s urine color regularly when i rented a flat with white stone floors, and it was, just as you said, showing different colors and hues, infrequently cloudy or completely colourless. I read an article by a vet about those colors, but i know that vets are interested in increasing patient population, so one cannot trust them.
I really love rabbits, consider them the most amazing pets, and even my dreams contain mandatory rabbit characters.
My sister’s bunny was a real miracle, a cat among rabbits, very tranquil, balanced and just purrfect, he lived with me for half a year, when my sister had an acute toxemia during pregnancy, and i should not have given him back(( we all were and still are grieving enormously…

Have a beautiful week, and pass my love to Jersey, Rumball, Tim Tim, Jelly, Maple, Potamus, Gooseman, and Ailís!

[Author]

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