Urinary incontinence in rabbits

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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 in rabbits
	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)
	Traumatic lesions of the female or male genitalia, e.g. (self-)mutilation of the penis, prolapsus of the female genital tract
	Congenital malformation or ambiguous genitalia (e.g. hypospadias, hermaphroditism)
	Gestation

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

Other causes	Obesity, with a rabbit becoming “lazy” and unable to clean himself
	Renal failure
	Polyuria / polydipsia
	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 about incontinence in hermaphroditic rabbits.

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