orange staining on underside.....

Question
Hi, Dana! I have a question about "orange staining" on my bunny's underside. I have a 4 year old neutered Dutch rabbit, that lives strictly indoors, and I have noticed within the last 2 months or so that he is getting a bright orange "staining" underneath him mostly by his penis and anal glands--it looks like someone took peroxide and dyed that area of his normally black fur orange. He eats about 12 to 15 different kinds of veggies on a dinner size plate every night. I had taken him to my vet about 5 months ago, because he had "bladder sludge", some very small crystals--but no stones, and a mild urinary tract infection. My vet said to cut out his pellets completely, and put him on a hay and vegetable diet. I didn't completely cut out the pellets, but I did limit him to just under 1/8 cup of pellets per day, divided into 2 feedings. I give him a dinner plate slightly heaped with several different kinds of vegetables each night. I have done this for about 5 months, and this orange staining has just recently started. His urinary tract infection had cleared up long ago. He eats unlimited hay, and absolutely no fruit or table scraps. I try to be careful about not giving him to many veggies that are high in calcium at the same time. His normal salad plate consists of endive (2 or 3 pieces), dandelion greens (4 or 5 stalks) cilantro (1 handful) parsley (1 BIG handful) Romaine lettuce (1 or 2 good size leaves) Escarole (2 or 3 leaves) Bok Choy (1 big green leafy stalk) dill (1 smal to medium handful) broccoli or broccoflower (1 medium size flower, or 2 small ones) Raddichio (2 or 3 medium leaves) and sometimes I add a little Fennel, Boston lettuce, and Turnip Greens. (I don't use Turnip Greens often though) I also feed Cabbage sometimes, and occassionally Carrot tops. Is it possible I am giving him too many veggies at once? His anal glands are clean, and his pee is much more fluid than before I gave the veggies every night. He has also lost weight--(he was chubby before) and his energy level is up. He seems to be feeling pretty good. I did take a urine sample to the vet today, and she said there was a little blood in his pee--she gave me some Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim and she said to use it for 2 weeks--.3 ml twice a day. She said she thought either he had another mild bladder infection, or he was passing some crystals, and it was irritating his bladder, and causing some bleeding. She isn't sure what the orange staining is, she thought it was probably from vegetables, and harmless. It seems a little crusty--like I can comb some of it off his underside with a flea comb...I don't think he's leaking a lot of urine, but I think he's dribbling some--I noticed his bottom was a LITTLE wet when the orange stain first showed up. Anyway--do you have any ideas as to what could be causing it? Should I be worried? I would sure appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks so much, Heather and "BEN"  

Answer
Dear Heather,

True bladder sludge is a dark yellow/curry powder color, but the urine around it can be orange in color, and cause this type of staining.  I would ask the vet to take a sterile urine sample for culture and sensitivity testing:

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

since bladder infections do seem to be associated with bladder sludge.  But if the problem is metabolic bone disease, then all you can do is hope to control it with plenty of oral liquids.  Diet is apparently NOT a major contributing factor to bladder sludge when the problem is metabolic bone disease, and some experts believe that cutting down on calcium may do more harm than good.

You may have to ask the vet how to express the bunny's bladder, which can really help control sludge problems.  It must be done when the bladder is full for best results, and the bladder jiggled with your hands to suspend the sludge.  This is how we keep our sludge bunnies comfortable and practically sludge-free, but you'll have to have the vet show you how to do this safely.

I hope this helps.

Dana