What to Expect if Your Bunny Has Bladder Stones
by Dr. Linda J. Siperstein of VCA Wakefield Animal Hospital
What do you think when you hear that a person or a pet has stones? There are different kinds of stones. Gall stones. Kidney stones. Here we’re talking about bladder stones.
The bladder is like a water balloon where the urine collects just before it is peed out. If the environment in the bladder is just right (or, actually, just wrong) small crystals can grow on each other like a snowball, getting larger and larger. Often these stones, because of how they grow from more and more added crystals, are rough like sandpaper, so they are very irritating to the inside of the bladder.
As you can imagine, that irritation can be experienced as pain and can also lead to blood in the urine. In addition, a bunny with a bladder stone might have a urinary tract infection. Veterinarians diagnose bladder stones with X-rays
What causes a bladder stone to form? We have our suspicions, but often we don’t know for sure in all cases. Veterinarians do suspect that, since these stones are almost always made of a calcium compound, that high calcium diets might increase a rabbit’s chance of forming bladder stones. So we will recommend not giving too many calcium-rich veggies like spinach, kale, collard greens and arugula, and avoiding them entirely if a rabbit already has had a problem with bladder stones in the past. That said, there are often other forces at play and despite our best efforts, we can’t always prevent the formation of bladder stones in rabbits.
What do you do if your bunny already has stones? Very small stones might pass out through the urinary tract in females, less commonly in males (a male bunny’s urethra, the part that empties out of the bladder, is much skinnier than a female’s). But stones can definitely get stuck in males or in females and that situation can become a life-threatening medical emergency. Generally speaking, you should not assume that stones will pass on their own. The only option when it comes to treating a bladder stone in rabbits is to remove them surgically. It is important to find a veterinarian who is very familiar with rabbits and is comfortable with this surgery. Your vet might also recommend additional tests to try to look for a urinary tract infection or infection of the bladder tissue itself.
In many cases, we will put rabbits on antibiotics either before or immediately after surgery. Below is a photo of what the bladder stones can look like once removed from the rabbit. While a lot of vets know how to remove a bladder stone from a cat or dog (and the principles of the surgery are all the same), rabbits can be different from dogs and cats when it comes to anesthesia and the hours of recovery after surgery.
In addition, we have to be sure the rabbit is getting very good, bunny-appropriate pain management. It may come as a surprise, but some medications for rabbits require a higher dose than a dog the same size. As with “all things rabbit,” we must have a happy GI tract (eating and pooping normally) as soon as possible after surgery. If a rabbit isn’t eating and pooping pretty well by the next morning, perhaps due to slowing of the intestines caused by the anesthesia or because of post-operative discomfort, be sure to call your vet for further guidance or bring her back in for care. Your fuzzy little family member probably needs additional medical support to get her gut happy again.
While the idea of surgery to remove a bladder stone from your rabbit can seem scary, in the right hands most rabbits will do very well. Plus, getting those stones out will make him or her feel more comfortable and hopefully resolve the problem entirely.