Bladder problem

Question
Hi Dana,
I have a male rabbit that is 4 yr old. The is a mixed dwarf looped/New Zeland black in color. I hand raised him from birth after his mom kicked him out of the cage. My females cocker was keeping him warm when I found him. He has lived out side in a large cage in my shed for 3 yrs now. He has straw for bedding, and ate pellets and some veggies as a diet. But being as cold as it is in Michigan his water froze quite often.
Lately I have noticed his bedding is always wet. I finally got him to let me check him out and his rear genital area is always wet. He also has no hair on is hind end or inside legs. His hair is sorta clumped together and it just comes off the skin. I brought him inside in a large area where he can move around more. I soaked his rear end in a tempted bath to get the urine and other debre off of him, dryed him off good, then put destine all over his bottom and legs to help with the skin being irritation. It is not raw, but sorta irritated. His stool was sorta dry, but it is looking better since I have been giving him spinach leaves, apples, timothy hay and I have added a little pedalite to his water. He is a bit dehydrated, He eats ok and does not show any signs of pain. I never noticed he was getting like this because he was eating and acted normal. I think he has a UTI but unfortuntly I CANT get him to a vet. They want more than I can AFFORD right now as I am on SSI. I am a Certified Nurse Asst. But Im not working right now due to a health problem. Can you please help me in treating him. His urine is aslight yellow color. Around his genital area it looks like it "could be" slightly swollen and there is what appears to be a "vein" going from the bottom of the genital area about 1 inch toward his abdomen area thats feels sorta thick or like a roller vein would feel. Is that normal. It would be heart braking to lose him after he has come this far considering his birth event. He fell 3 feet from a cage a birth. Thankfully my cocker took care of him till I found him. Any help would be most grateful.
Thank you
Sherrie  

Answer
Dear Sherrie,

It always makes my heart sink when someone writes and says, "I can't afford to take him to the vet."  Because honestly, that is what you must do.  It is his only chance of safe recovery.  Many vets, if they know your financial hardship situation, will arrange a payment plan.  Your bunny depends on you for his care, and I hope there is some way you can find to get him to the vet for proper treatment.

It does certainly sound as if he has a urinary tract problem, and you can read all about the various things that can cause the symptoms you see (urine scald) here:

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

If the stuff stuck to him was also matted, dried poop that looked as if it was pasty when it was fresh, please read:

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

Giving him fresh food that's very clean and wet and lots of fresh, clean drinking water from a heavy bowl (which promotes more drinking than a sipper bottle; I never use those) will help him flush his system.  But it will not cure him.  For that, he needs proper diagnosis and treatment of the problem from a good, competent vet who is good with *rabbit* medicine, and you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who will not ignorantly prescribe a wrong antibiotic and kill your bunny.

It's not unlikely that the tissues in the area are swollen and inflamed from the urine, which is caustic.  You can help soothe the irritated area by giving him a "sitzbath" with warm, clean water and epsom salts to reduce inflammation.  Rinse well with clean water when done, make sure he is *very* dry, and then apply calendula ointment to the raw areas.  Desitin will do, in a pinch.

Washing is only a stop-gap measure, though.  Bunny needs proper medical treatment, and he needs you to get him to a vet.  I hope you will do the right thing.

I hope this helps. Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana