Rabbit, blood or red urine

Question
QUESTION: I have a lop eared rabbit and she has just started weeing out red wee or blood ?? how can i tell ? i went to the vets for a general check up about 3 weeks ago , they say shes fine
how can i no for sure if it is wee or blood ?
and what if its blood what can it be??
*my rabbit is one year old , born on may the 8th (had her since she was 0 hours old!! )

thanx for the help!!

kadie, :)
x

ANSWER: Dear Kadie,

Rabbit urine can vary in color from pale yellow to orange, red or brown once it's oxidized and exposed to the air.  It's less common for the pee to come out dark, but not impossible.

Unfortunately, unspayed, unbred female rabbits have a very high risk of uterine cancer, and though this risk increases with age, we've seen it in rabbits as young as 8 months.  A vet who sees mostly dogs and cats may not be aware of this, and you should use the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to find a vet who is experienced with rabbits and with rabbit spay surgery and anesthesia.  Even if she doesn't have uterine cancer now, her risk is high, and she should be spayed for her long term health.  Please also see:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

I hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thankyou!!
but it won't definatley be that will it?
and she was a rabbit vet not just a dog cat vet!
we had 20 rabbits before and none of them got this but most of them had red wee.

thnks for ur help!  :)

Answer
Dear Kadie,

It's not definitely cancer, and since your other rabbits had red wee then it's more likely that it's something in their diet.

But it's still a good idea to have her checked, and spaying her is important for the reasons I already stated:  uterine cancer is very common in unspayed, unbred female rabbits.

Hope your bunny is fine, and will live a long and happy life with you!

Dana :)