Urinary Incontinence in rabbits

pp		Typically, urination outside the litterbox is observed
Urine leads to yellow staining of the fur	Urine leads to alopecia on the ventral abdomen		Alopecia on the foot sole can lead to pododermatitis
Emma Staub Rabbit suffering from incontinence caused by a bacterial infection; the condition improved after administration of antibiotics.

Bacterial causes	Urinary tract infection (UTI), by Pasteurella spp, Staphylococcus spp., or other bacteria
	Cystitis (inflammation of the bladder)

Parasitic causes	Encephalitozoon cuniculi, in this case it is often accompanied by paresis of the hind limb
	Toxoplasmosis
	Presence of worms in the bladder

Calcium related causes

Hypercalciuria (increased calcium in the urine)

Mechanical causes	Urolithiasis or the presence of kidney or bladder stones
	Vertebral fracture and nerve damage at the sacral level
	Subluxation or luxation of the spinal cord (usually at L6 level)
	Deformation of the female or male genitalia
	Ambiguous genitalia (e.g. hermaphroditism)
	Gestation

Nervous system causes	Trauma of the spinal cord, fracture or luxation
	E. cuniculi

Further causes	Obesity, with a rabbit becoming “lazy” and unable to clean himself
	Hypercalciuria (abnormal amount of calcium in the urine)
	Renal failure
	Polyuria / polydipsia
	Urolithiasis, or the presence of kidney or bladder stones
	Response to estrogen in recently spayed female rabbits
	Pain

Surgical causes

Response to estrogen after an ovariohysterectomy (spaying) surgery

Polydipsia (increased drinking)	Pain
	Stress resulting in psychogenic polydipsia

 Thanks to Emma Staub and her rabbit pp for helping illustrate the problem of incontinence in rabbits and

to Wendy Douglas (UK) for the information of incontinence in hermaphroditic rabbits.

e-mail: info@medirabbit.com