Urine dribbles

Question
Hi Lee,
I have a single male neutered Holland Lop around 2 yrs old. He dribbles urine after he urinates and I think he's dribbling in between. I've found urine spots in his hidey house and on random spots of the floor. He is in a cage with a drop pan for about 9 hours during the day and the rest of the time he roams the house. I had no luck with litter pan training him but he took to using puppy pads and that's where he does his business. Almost always after he pee's I notice dribbles as he hops away. He won't let me look at that area but I can briefly touch and feel that it's wet. I collected a urine sample a few days ago and drove 40 miles to take it to a vet who tested it for bacteria and it came back normal. The vet suggested that I clip his fur in that area but he isn't going to be still long enough for me to do so.
He seems fine otherwise. He eats fresh salads 2x day with a small amount of Oxbow Basic T. The vege's are typically Romain, cilantro, celery. He gets timothy hay and orchard hay 24/7,  fresh water, lots of love, and exercise in the backyard for at least 20 mins a day. He does not appear to be uncomfortable but I've only had him for 7 months and I'm still learning bunny language. Can you offer  any advice as to what may cause this and if there is something I can do to help this, or is this anything I should be concerned about? I feel that my vet isn't 'savvy' enough. Thank you in advance for reading this and for any information you can give me!
Lisa

Answer
Hi,

first thing, I'd try to find a rabbit vet around you, it is critical to know where they are and how far away.  I'd start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

to find a House Rabbit Society recommended vet near you.

There could be a number of things for this.  Could be this is what he does when he pees, on purpose.  Could be something congenital.  Could be a partial sludge blockage in the urinary tract.  If you watch him, try to notice if he is straining or seems to be having a hard time urinating or taking a long time to empty his bladder.  If he has a strong stream for most of the time he pees, like you hear a strong "whoosh" sound for a couple seconds and then he's done, chances are it's not blocked by something.

Until a good rabbit vet can look at him, I'd say just watch his vent area so that he isn't coming down with urine scald.  One thing you can do is try to dry him with a soft towel if and when you see him pee.

I tend to think there's something medical behind it, either a defect or a partial blockage of some kind.

Lee