urine scald - appropriate medication

Question
Hi Dana,

Thank you very much for your last reply.  I have since taken my 14 month old male rabbit to the vet where he was diagnosed with severe urine scald.  He had bloods taken as the vet ruled out a bladder infection as a cause of his urine scald.  He couldn't take a urine sample as his bladder was empty as he's constantly dribbling.  I was given Metacam 1.5mg to give him two drops twice a day and also Baytril 2.5% oral 0.7ml twice a day.  I'm just concerned that the metacam may be too strong as he's a mini lop and only weighs 1.6kg.  He has been on his medication for two days and has not eaten anything in the last 24hrs and is drinking very little too.  He isn't moving much and looks so miserable, poor thing.  Is this likely to be a side effect of his mediction or could he be on the wrong medication?  He's so small I'm just really worried that he's in such discomfort and not getting any better.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Anna

Answer
Dear Anna,

It's more likely that the stress of a vet visit and the pain of his urinary tract condition are the reason for his inappetence, not the metacam.  If he's still this miserable, please contact the vet and ask if it would be okay to add tramadol to the metacam.  The combination of these two painkillers is *excellent* for rabbits, and we've had fantastic results with them.

If your bunny is still not eating, please read this immediately:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Ileus can be elicited by severe pain (as from a bladder or other urinary tract problem), and this can be even more serious than the original problem, complicating things.  Please make sure your vet knows that the bunny isn't eating, so appropriate measures can be taken if he is suffering from ileus.

Make sure his temperature is normal:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

as this type of thing also can result in hypothermia, which can be very serious and cause many complications.  I hope you can get him some tramadol and relief from his pain soon!  

Please let me know how he's doing, and if you can get him to the vet today for a re-check, I think it would be a good idea.  If he's that miserable, he needs more help.

Take care.  I'm sending lots of healing thoughts your way.
Dana