bloddy urine!

Question
My female, 2 year old rabbit is having some bloddy urine. I know for a fact she
isn't pregnant. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but about a week
ago she got into a little bit of Schelfflera. Can you tell me anything about this or
what to do?

Thanks

Answer
Dear Laura,

Schefflera shouldn't cause bloody urine.  But if your bunny is unspayed at the age of two years, I would be very concerned about uterine hyperplasia or uterine adenocarcinoma (cancer) which is a very high risk in unspayed, unbred female rabbits.

Fortunately, a spay operation usually completely solves the problem, though your vet may also wish to do chest radiographs to be sure any cancer has not spread to the lungs (a very common site of metastasis for this type of cancer).

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and I would take her in ASAP for a full checkup and scheduling of her spay.

Urinary tract problems such as bladder stones also can cause blood in the urine.  But in an unspayed female, a uterine problem is more likely.  You can get an overview of some possible urinary tract causes here:

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

Hope that helps.

Dana