This happened several years ago but I thought it would be good information to post again.
A family brought me their rabbit in for a nail trim. I love it when people come in it’s a great way to do educational and answer any questions. It also gives me a chance to check out their rabbit from head to toe. I often find things people haven’t noticed. Such as being underweight, overweight, fleas, mites, abscesses, tumors, ear infections, tooth problems, etc.
I often see rabbits with a poppy bottom, in which case I talk about diet, parasites, being overweight to find out why this is happening. I also see rabbits with urine scald in which case I talk about a bladder infection, bladder sludge, arthritis and yes you guessed it bladder stones!
This is a giant bladder stone.
After doing the nail trim I checked the rabbit out and found this massive bladder store. Somehow it had passed out of the bladder and was stuck in the penis. The people had no idea about this. Plus they didn’t have any money to spend on surgery. We raised the money and the surgery was done right away.
The rabbit did very well and recovered nicely. It was thought he would have better care at Bunny Bunch so he was turned over to us.
Bladder stones aren’t usually this big. Over the years we have dealt with bladder stones and sludge. If your rabbit gets urine scald or leaves small puddles of urine around, if you notice the urine looks like sand, or if your rabbits keep lifting the tail more often to try to urinate it’s time to see the vet. I suggest having the urine tested for a bladder infection, and getting an X-ray to see if there is bladder sludge or stores. For stones, surgery is normally done. For bladder sludge, subq fluids are needed on a regular basis. Plus diet change, antibiotics and pain meds.
It’s important to have annual checks with a rabbit knowledge vet.
I hope you find this interesting.
Caroline & the buns🐰
