*Veterinarians serving Clayton, Garner, and surrounding areas since 1986*

I have a four year old, female rabbit
named "Cinnamon" that has been
my house pet since she was two
months old. She is litter trained,
and rules the roost at our place.
She has never had any problems
and never been to the veterinarian,
but recently I've noticed that her
urine seems to have a reddish color
to it. What do you think is going
on? If she has a problem we
definitely want to help her, but we
aren't sure what to do.
Your questions are good ones, and
judging by the number of calls about
pet rabbits I've been receiving
recently, there are lots of people who
will benefit from hearing the answers.

There are several possible
explanations for red urine in a female
rabbit. The reddish appearance of the
urine may be due to blood. Another
possibility is that you are seeing the
excretion of a plant pigment called
porphyrin, usually related to diet.
These two very different problems can
look very similar to the pet owner. The
way to determine if your pets red urine
is due to blood is to take your rabbit to
a veterinarian who is experienced in
working with rabbits, and ask them to
analyze the urine for evidence of red
blood cells.

Because your rabbit is four years old
and there have been no drastic
changes in how you care for your pet,
it is likely that this is a case of blood
and not porphyrin in the urine. Your
veterinarian will help you to determine
the source of the bleeding.

Cinnamon's age coupled with the fact
that she has never been spayed
makes me suspicious that the source
of her bleeding is the uterus. I don't
mean that I think she is in heat.
Rabbits are induced ovulators, and
don't experience heat cycles the way
dogs do. The most likely cause of
uterine bleeding in your rabbit is
uterine adenocarcinoma. This is the
most common cancer in female
rabbits; occurring in up to 80% of
some breeds of intact female rabbits
over four years old. In many cases
these rabbits will also have hard
swellings in the mammary glands and
may have clear red fluid discharge
from the nipples.

Because uterine adenocarcinoma is a
malignant tumor, you must expect it to
spread (metastasize) if not removed
quickly. The treatment of choice for
most reproductive conditions in
rabbits is to spay the rabbit as soon as
possible. However, before spaying
Cinnamon will require radiographs to
make sure the cancer has not already
spread to her lungs, and bloodwork to
make sure she has the best chances
under anesthesia.

Most rabbits do very well after this
surgery, and any mammary problems
usually resolve in 3-4 weeks.
Preventative medicine always pays for
itself. I recommend that my rabbit
patients be spayed between 6-12
months of age, and have yearly
physical exams. Unspayed rabbits
should have physical exams every six
months when over three years old.
Owners following these rules will
avoid this common problem in their
pets, and catch problems early. Costs
of surgery should be roughly
equivalent to the same surgery in a
cat or small dog.