Hard time urinating

Question
My male dwarf bunny, Eeyore, constantly has poop blocking his ability to urinate.  His penis is really red and he just looks so uncomfortable.  I took him to emergency tonight and there was a 2+ hour wait so we came home.  Any idea?  We feed him pellets and greens and has access to hay but his poop is always watery and sticks to him.

Answer
Hi Becky,

yes I believe I know the problem from what you have written.  His diet may be off a bit and he may be overweight.  It sounds like he is getting urine scald if he's red down there.  This is a medical problem that needs a vet to help you with because of the surrounding factors.

The #1 thing he should be eating is hay.  The majority of what he eats needs to be hay - timothy grass hay or orchard grass hay.  Not alfalfa hay as this can cause excess calcium and create kidney stones/bladder sludge.

Unlimited hay, all the time.  Next food pellets should be JUST timothy pellets only, no extra junk/crap in along with them - JUST pellets.  The other stuff gets them overweight and messes with gut bacteria.

Food pellets should be no more than 1/4 cup per 5 pounds of body weight, per day.  If overweight you will want to give a little less.

Greens should be cut back as they can cause watery poops.  His gut may not be handling one or more of them well.  He should get between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup of (all) greens per 5 pounds body weight per day.  In his condition I would probably give him less.

You can also give him small sections (1/2 inch) of timothy hay cubes if you can get them at your pet supply store, if he likes these.  This doesn't take the place of regular hay, it's just a supplement.

Never give him sugary treats or treats with dairy (ie no yogurt drops) - severely cut down the fruits and nothing with 'sugar added' or corn syrup added.  

I believe he may be overweight as well as messy butt is usually the first sign people pick up on that they maybe overweight.  THe problem is overweight rabbits can't bend down easily to get the cecal (soft) pellets they produce and eat them again, and instead they get matted into their fur and cause other health problems.

You need to get to your regular good rabbit vet right away.  Like today or tomorrow - call them up and tell them it's a serious condition.  IF he actually does have some kind of blockage the vet will need to do a procedure to deal with it, it's not something you can do.  If it's beause of matted fecal matter, you can clean him up using a LIGHTLY DAMP (not real wet) washcloth and try to work on the matted areas, moistening and gently pulling (rabbit skin is very thin).  You can use a man's plastic comb (the fine end) and try to comb out some of the clumps.  The vet will also do this as well.  If you don't have one go to:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society recommended rabbit vet in your area.  If none are listed call up local and state rabbit rescue groups and ask them who they'd go to if they had a sick/injured rabbit.

Write back anytime. Lee