rabbit uterus

Question
hi i have a 2 year old unspayed female rabbit. about 2 weeks ago i've noticed that she was staining to pee and peeing in spurts. i brought her to a rabbit savvy vet and had her urine tested. The vet told me that there was a high blood count and white blood cells in her urine but did not see any urine crystals. My rabbit went on baytril + simplex for 10 days. & after 5 days or so, we could see that she was peeing normally.
a couple of days after the end of her antibiotics , i noticed that she was straining to pee again and i just brought her to the vet today. we did a urine check but there was little/no rbc and no wbc. the vet told me that my rabbit needed a antibiotic extension since she is starting to pee in spurts again and my rabbit is on baytril and metacam now.
the thing is when my vet palpated the rabbit's abdomen , she said she felt a firm lump on the lower abdomen area( near uterus/bladder). she said it didnt feel very hard but it was "tissue firm". she referred me to a vet that has ultrasound so as to find out what the lump is.
should i wait for my rabbit to finish her course of antibiotics before she goes for her ultrasound? besides a tumor, could the lump be something else? abscess, fatty tissues?

thank you, hope to hear from you soon.

Answer
Hi Abigail

The lump could be crystals or stones in the bladder or kidneys or throughout the urinary tract. It is most likely why she is straining to pee. If there is a blockage, sometimes the rabbit will dribble urine and develop urine scald. You will notice if this is happening because the fur around her genitals will thin and her skin will turn red and eventually it will start burning her skin from the urine constantly dripping rather than her being able to relive herself all at once. If this happens, you can apply penaten baby cream around her genitals and legs to prevent further scalding. Try to hold her for awhile after so the penaten has a chance to treat the skin before being rubbed or licked off.

Generally, stones in the urinary tract build up because of excess calcium in the diet. Avoid feeding her yogurt drops or alfalfa and opt for timothy hay and fresh greens. Encourage her to drink lots of fluids by adding a tablespoon of carrot juice or apple juice to a bowl of water and allow her to drink as much as possible. The fluids will help dilute the urine so it isn't so acidic as well as aiding her system to break down and flush any stones.

as well as this, try to slowly reduce her pellet intake and have her eat more greens and timothy hay. Rabbit.org is an excellent resource for what to feed and what not to feed. It is a more natural diet for a rabbit then pellets which also contain calcium. read the labels of treats and and food and eliminate calcium as much as possible.

Sometimes rabbits who are having these urinary issues will have urine that is cloudy white to brown and the urine will almost appear sludgy or gritty. If this happens, get her to the vet ASAP. A rabbit who has 'sludge' in the urine is a good indication of kidney or bladder disease and the sooner it is caught, the better.

Here is some more info on kidney / bladder disease and stones.
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-5/bladder-disease.html
http://www.rabbit.org/health/urolith.html

Baytril can be useful in clearing up infections and metacam is good for pain, but too much of either puts added strain on the kidneys. I would get the ultrasound now rather than later so they can determine what exactly is going on and perhaps change the course of treatment if it is in fact a stone. I believe thy have medications which help to break them down and surgery is a last resort. You don' want this situation getting worse before it gets better.

Is she showing any other symptoms physically or behaviorally? Sometimes slight things such as refraining from using a litter box or eliminating often and in odd places is also symptomatic.

Is the vet one who treats rabbits regularly or in just emergencies? if it is just in emergencies, rabbit.org has listings for rabbit specific vets which is highly recommenced because vets who treat cats and dogs will treat the rabbit the same. Often this is totally inappropriate, ineffective and sometimes fatal if the rabbit is given certain types of medications.

Any more questions and feel free to ask and i will be glad to help.

Alice