[Guest]

Hi,

I just bought a 10 week old English spot (not for meat) from Petsmart. He seamed healthy and was doing fine until yesterday morning. He's still energetic and has not lost his appetite but yesterday morning there was blood all over the corner of his cage. I'm pretty sure it is bloody urine. He had bloody urine again latter in the day but by the afternoon there was no blood in his urine. When I woke up this morning I faced the same situation. Bloody urine again.

The urine had no blood in it the day before this all began and the only change in diet was the addition of some timothy grass. So I removed the grass and now all he eats are the rabbit pellets. He is inside and seams calm but energetic.

Does anyone know what is wrong with him. This is my first rabbit if you could not already tell. I need advice quick. I figured I would wait a day to see if it passed but it's back again today. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

-wise1

P.S. I had him out in the yard the day before this began. We do not spray or fertilize our grass and I was careful to keep him confined to the grassy area. My rabbit is sick! Please help…

 

[Hotel Californian]

First determine if you are observing red urine or blood. Red urine while not common is not unusual either. See:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-1/red-urine.html

 

[Guest]

Hi Hotel Californian,

Well I'm not sure how to determine weather it is blood or just pigment. I could take a digital picture if you or anyone else thinks they can tell just from looking at it. I would also like to know if it is ok to feed him timothy grass this early. I read in a book that I can't feed them any whole vegetables (especially green ones [cabbage, lettuce, etc.]) until they are at least 6 months old. Thanks.

-wise1

 

[Guest]

Here are some pics:

inside the tray:

spill over to the floor:

dried up on the floor:

This is from over night.

 

[dnurse]

Hard to tell from the pictures if it is blood. You could always check with the vet if it's a pet. Sometimes if they have too much calcium in their diet, it is excreted through the urine. My males seem to have more of this problem than my females. I wouldn't start it on vegs/fruits yet, it is too young. Timothy hay is just fine along with pellets. Just a word of caution - never buy a rabbit from a pet store - you never know what you're getting or how they've been bred. It usually costs less to buy a pedigree rabbit from a breeder than a pet store. Rabbits get sick very suddenly - they can seem energetic and fine and then all of a sudden - they have symptoms. If you don't mind spending the money for a check-up, get one done. At least they can check the teeth, eyes, etc. to see if it's in pretty good health otherwise. Good luck. Donna