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Forum DIET & CARE Incontinence in senior bunny. Treatment?

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    • evansvillegirl26
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        My bunny is 11. She is spayed. She is now peeing everywhere. I took her to the vet a few months ago and they did a x ray that shown some arthritis in her spine so we switched to a flat letter tray. It helped for a bit but now she just pees everywhere and it’s causing wet butt and paws from sitting in it. I’ve also got her whole caged lined with puppy pads and rugs. If it truly is incontinence is there any treatment for it? She still eats and drink and poops like normal. I’m going to take her back soon but I’m just wonder if anyone else has gone thru the same?


      • LBJ10
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          If it’s incontinence caused by arthritis problems, then a NSAID might help. Is she currently on anything?


        • Azerane
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            I agree that a painkiller might help. I’d also suggest investing in some vet bed. It’s soft rugs that are designed to draw moisture away from the surface so that the animal doesn’t sit in pee.


          • evansvillegirl26
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              No she is not anything yet.
              Where can I buy the vet bed???
              I’m going to try and get her in this week!!!
              Thank you!


            • Azerane
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                You could probably get it online, otherwise some vet clinics probably sell it (likely more expensive than online). I would try ebay or amazon for vetbed.


              • evansvillegirl26
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                  Took her to the vet and he ran some labs to see where her kidneys are. Won’t have those back until tomorrow. He gave her some antibiotics and some metcam for pain. Said we may need to give the metcam every day to manage pain. ( she has arthritis in her spine) Hopefully if she starts feeling better she may be more motivated to peeing in her tray.


                • vanessa
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                    I have an elderly bunny with suspected arthritis and he pees everywhere too. I don’t have x-rays to confirm his arthritis – I somehow have a hard time getting treatment from two different exotic vet clinics… But anyway – when I pick him up, I can feel his joints click. He also has a history of possible EC and definite ear infections. So his incontinence could be caused by EC, or by arthritis. I don’t know which. He is on metacam, and I did manage to get the vet to agree to keep him on metacam indefinitely. It helps a LOT with the pain. No more grinding his teeth. His mobility is still limited though. Metacam can help considerably, but it can’t make it all better. I also have puppy pee pads in his room. Actually – a layer of pee pads, then human bed pads, then pee pads. I change the top layer of pee pads daily, sometimes 3 times a day, and the other layers keep the carpet protected incase the top layer shifts out of position. It has been this way for 10 months. The whole time – I have been giving him weekly butt baths. I try to encourage him to move around as much as he wants to, but too much activity will aggravate the arthritis. Too little and the rabbit will become overweight, and/or develop muscle atrophy. This all helps to make the urinary problem worse. Lancelot developed urine scald on his feed from sitting in pee. The puppy pee pads don’t absorb pee quickly enough to protect him. So I would check on him regularly and pick him up and move him – off of his pee. It has been manageable, until a month ago. He is slouching again, so the pee runs down his right leg. Because he has weak/painful hind limbs, he doesn’t sit like a regular rabbit. His feet are far forward, an dhe sits on his tail. If he is also slouching, then one side or the other – gets pee above the tail. At the moment, he is in my room, in a much smaller area. a 2ftx2ft area keeps him from trying to move and falling over. He is in a diaper. I have read and tried – cutting a hole for the tail, and have decided against it. As long as I can change the diapers every 3 hours during his cecotrope producing hours, and every 5 hours otherwise, he is dry. He had lost fur from the urine scald, but sticking to the diaper change regine has been great, and his fur is growing back, and he has been dry for weeks. The reason I don’t ut a hole for his tail – it opens an area for the pee that is soaked into the diaper – to come into contact with him. The portion of the tail that touches the diaper on the way out of the hole – gets wet. So for him, tail-in works best. If I let the diaper go too long, his tail gets wet because he sits on it. Cecotropes are something to watch. I feed them to him fresh from his diaper. If I let the diaper get too full of cecotropes before changing it, the pee actually runs off the cecotropes (it can’t get through them to be absorbed by the diaper), and ends up running down his legs. That’s why I say – every 3 hours during cecotrope producing hours for diaper changes. People say cecotropes happen at night. Well – Lancelot produces them all hours except 10am-5pm. The bulk of his are produced shortly after he wakes up from his daytime sleep (5pm) , and again just before he goes to sleep for the day (8-10am). With some occurring over night.

                    Your case may not be this severe. This is just my personal experience with Lancelot. It’s manageable. And I love him dearly so I want to keep him comfortable and happy, and I’v figured out a good routine for him.

                    Older bunnies like to snuggle. Is your snuggly? Lancelot is CRAAAAAZY snuggly. So apart from managing his incontinence, I pay attention to his snuggle needs, keeping his weight up (trying), and his grooming needs. He can reach his face and ears, but no where else. He loves it when I groom him with wet wipes. They keep his fur soft and silky.

                    But back to your bunny. You should be able to see a difference within a day – in his pain levels, while on Metacam. Did she show other signs of pain? It’s hard to say if her incontinence will be permanent. If her arthritis is not bad enough that she has lost cartilage, then probably you still have a good chance of seeing her use her litter box again. If she has lost cartilage, then I doubt her incontinence will go away. It also depends on how much muscle mass she has, helping her mobility, and her other complications. Lancelot has too many other things going on. With EC, muscle mass and possibly cartilage – I don’t believe his incontinence will ever improve.

                    For alternative treatments, I use Oxbow Natural Science Joint Support hay tablets, and Myristol. It takes about a month before you see any effects, and I used to see improvement from those supplements, but with the loss of muscle mass, the joint improvements are negated.

                    From what I’v read, Metacam is safe to give daily. There is a lot of disagreement over a safe dose, and I’ve had wildly different doses prescribed for Lancelot. It can cause stomach ulcers, so I have been meaning to add Zantac to his regimen – an hour before his Metacam. It can cause kidney damage – so the rabbit needs fully functioning kidneys to be on Metacam. The vets that prescribe the higher doses consider the pain management benefits to outweigh the risk of stomach ulcers and kidney failure.


                  • TaylorB
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                      Two things I use for controlling wetness, a layer of hay on the floor, (cheaper than potty pads and you don’t have to worry about them ingesting it) and sod.
                      For the sod, I go to the home improvement store every week or so, buy a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of grass, wash it off and set it in a box I made so I can water it.
                      Its the closest thing I could think of to their natural habitat and they love it. We call it their park.
                      Best of luck


                    • evansvillegirl26
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                        Thanks for the information Vanessa. Sounds like you are taking great care of you little guy!
                        Waiting for the kidney results before we talk about met cam long term. Tonks is still herself other then the peeing everywhere and wet butt. Hopefully the next 10 days will be better !


                      • jerseygirl
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                          Aww {{{Tonks}}}

                          Have you looked at disabled rabbits site at all? http://www.disabledrabbits.com/
                          I think there is a facebook group also. Lots of peeps that have trial and error experience in dealing with such issues.
                          Im glad you now know that may be contributing (arthritis) and are able to help manage that.
                          From what I understand, rabbits do well on long term metacam. They also tolerate higher doses then previously thought.
                          It can be expensive.. there are different brands besides metacam that have different price. You can also get the script from the vet and shop around online for best deal.
                          There are other NSAID that can be given if she cannot tolerate metacam.
                          There are also complementary treatments that can help, such as acupuncture and cold laser therapy.

                          How are her hocks holding up with the incontinence?


                        • jerseygirl
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                            Posted By TaylorB on 4/26/2017 2:48 PM

                            Two things I use for controlling wetness, a layer of hay on the floor, (cheaper than potty pads and you don’t have to worry about them ingesting it) and sod.
                            For the sod, I go to the home improvement store every week or so, buy a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of grass, wash it off and set it in a box I made so I can water it.
                            Its the closest thing I could think of to their natural habitat and they love it. We call it their park.
                            Best of luck

                            What an interesting idea!  Im tempted to get my buns some indoor grass just for variety in their habitat.


                          • evansvillegirl26
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                              Fantastic ideas!!!! Thank you!!! Esp the hay. There’s always those pieces at the bottom that they don’t eat (I buy a 50lb box) and I throw so much of it away!!!
                              Her hocks go thru good and bad spells. She’s a Rex so they are already temperamental. I’ve been keeping the clean with mild soap and water and some A&D if they get too bad.

                              I’ll be glad to try something else besides the puppy pads because I feel like she slides all over them.


                            • vanessa
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                                My little Lancelot likes blankets more and more as he ages. He has a vet fleece surface, which helps to drain urine, (but he slouches so it runs down his leg anyway without a diaper). I found that as I add blankets to help prop him up, he crawls up onto the blankets. So I give him a few – and let him figure out which bunched up blanket softness he wants to crawl up onto. He likes to rest his chest on something a few inches off the ground, and then his chin on something another inch higher.

                                I totally agree with the puppy pee pads. They don’t absorb liquid fast enough, and they have no traction. Lancelot slips on them too. Even flat blankets are slippery, so I toss blankets/towels down in bunches. Trouble is he can’t navigate he bunches without falling, so I have thought of trying the rubbery liners that you can buy to line a utensil drawer.


                              • TaylorB
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                                  Off the disabled bunny website, they suggest a shampoo called “Zymox”, it has made a huge improvement in my rabbits skin (unine scald, sore hocks, ect).

                                  For the hocks, I’d suggest “Bag Balm” before I move to A&D. I’ve found the Bag Balm to be more protective of the skin in places of contact with the floor, i.e. pressure sores and sore hocks. Then I’ll use the A&D on any areas that are raw just for the contact with the urine. 


                                • vanessa
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                                    I use chlorhexadine shampoo. It is supposed to be antibacterial. I think you have to do a bit more soaking and washing to get pee stains off than with regular critter shampoo, but I like the antibacterial properties. The directions say to soak for 5 minutes anyway. Lancelot is good about letting me pet him for 5 minutes while he gets a foot/butt soak.

                                    For cream, I use sudocrem. It works great.

                                    For moisture – if I’m in a rush to get somewhere and I don’t have time for a bath/dry, I use baby powder, and then I bath him when I get home.

                                    One thing about baths which sucks – you want to get the urine off the skin, you want to prevent urine scald and fur loss, but even frequent baths can cause fur loss. You really need to be able to dry the fur completely, to try to avoid bath-fur loss. To help dry his fur, I keep his rear quarters cut as close to the skin as I can. Then I use paper towels and fabric towels to wick away moisture, then I use a hair dryer. He is very good about being bathed. Just doesn’t like it when I touch the fur around the nether regions and inner thighs.

                                    For quick spot cleaning, I use cotton balls with water/shampoo, and if it’s not that bad – wetwipes. I (use a wetwipe warmer to break the chill).


                                  • evansvillegirl26
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                                      Blood work came back and she has kidney disease. Going to start giving her green tea because he said it would help with kidney inflammation. Will probably stay on pain meds for her arthritis. I know we are pretty close to the end. He said as long as she is still eating and drinking and moving around she will be OK for now but that she will be slowing down even more because of her kidneys. Just going to enjoy the time I have left with her for now.


                                    • vanessa
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                                        Oh im so sorry to hear that 🙁 i understand your desire to enjoy the rest of your time with her. It sounds like she is in good hands.


                                      • Blue Moon
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                                          aww poor baby


                                        • Azerane
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                                            I’m very sorry to hear that. At least you know the cause and can manage accordingly. Wishing her the best.

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                                        Forum DIET & CARE Incontinence in senior bunny. Treatment?