Rabbits have periods?

Question
Hi Dana,

was jus wondering whether rabbits have periods. Coz i noticed blood in my rabbits urine.  

Answer
Dear Nisha,

No, rabbits do not have periods.  If your bunny is not spayed and has blood in the urine, it is a sure sign of a serious uterine problem (e.g., hyperplasia ("pre-cancer") or uterine adenocarcinoma (cancer).  As scary as this sounds, it is not a death sentence.

You need to get your bunny to an *experienced* rabbit vet ASAP for diagnosis and to schedule a spay operation.  In most cases, even a cancerous uterus can be removed uneventfully by a skilled surgeon, and we rarely see recurrence of the cancer once the bunny has been spayed.  For some reason, uterine adenocarcinoma in rabbits does not seem to be highly metastatic--but if there is blood in the urine, the lesion is hemorrhaging (bleeding).  This means that her health could be seriously impaired if the spay is not done soon.

If you don't already have a good rabbit vet, you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope that helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana