Spots of either blood or rabbit pee?

Jinxi

I let my rabbits out this morning and then about an hour later I went out to feed the birds. I noticed what I immediatly thought were spots of blood on the snow.
So I panicked and ran to check my rabbits(much to their disgust). They are fine and eating and active.
The spots are large and on closer inspection more orangy than red(but still dark enough to look like fresh blood). I thought it might be very concentrtated pee, but they are drinking, eating mostly pellets and carrots and brussel sprouts as the grass is covered.
Anyone with similar experience?

dvet

It's sometimes hard to tell if rabbit urine is normal or if it has blood in it, because normal rabbit urine has a reddish tinge. You may not have noticed before because it was falling on ground/bedding as opposed to snow which would show that up very well!
However it's still possible that there is also blood in your rabbit's urine which would be potentially serious & definitely warrants a vet visit. If in doubt about which it is, maybe you should ring the vet/vet nurse and see what they think.

TooManyDogs

If they've been eating alot of carrots recently then it very well could be that. I had similar with my boy and an embarassed trip to the vet later all was revealed!

Blood is more likely to turn brown fairly quickly when dry so that can give an indication if it's blood or too many carrots

Jinxi

Not a huge amount of carrots but they had some the day before yesterday.
I will keep a close eye on them tomorrow morning. I won't bring them to the vet because there are no other signs. Binkying around this dusk so happy bunnies!

Sigma Force

Carrot and other colourdey veg will stain the pee to a light to deep orange, perhaps take them off any orangey veg for now until you can be sure, does their rabbit feed or treats contain coloured food?
On closer inspection it's usually easier to tell, keep an eye on their bums and see if the fur is stained.

If in doubt it's better to take rabbits to the vet it's better to look paranoid then have a sick bun on your hands. A decent rabbit vet will understand because rabbits hide their illnesses well and can go downhill quickly so won't mind a paranoid bunny owner.

Keep them warm at night, but does sound more like just carrot wee but keep an eye. Let us know how they are doing.

Jinxi

No they have a very high quailty pellet feed, and its all greeny brown colour. + timothy hay of the same brand, + natural treats like dried dandelion. The older one gets cranberry treats sometimes(not this week) to aid his kidnesy(he is 6)
I moved their outdoor hutch into our garden shed as soon as there was the first frost. I had planned to leave them out durinf the winter, but for some reason, neither if them were sleeping in the warm enclosed part of the hutch. They used that part as a toilet??? And overnighted off the ground but in the exposed part of the upper part:rolleyes:.

They now share the shed with a few feildmice that moved into a bale of hay 3 weeks ago.

They are both in really good health, the younger doe has only been to the vet to be spayed and vacc.
The older buck has been for the same as well as an ear infection(frightened the bejesus out of me! I thought he was having a fit, but he just couldn't keep his balance when on our hardwood floors).

The only change has been the way they have been packing weight this week. They have been getting double portions of pellets as they can't graze on the grass, and they haven't been as active due to snow. Also I am locking them into their hutch earlier, around 6pm as opposed to 11pm normally(they always have access to the shed/hutch)

dvet

As far as I know lots of plant based food can cause reddish coloured urine in rabbits - including dandelions! So that might be it. But it doesn't mean you have to change their diet or anything - it's harmless. So if that's what it is you probably don't need to worry too much just to be sure, keep an eye out for anything else unusual that might be more of a cause for concern - like straining to pee, pain on peeing, excessive drinking and urination. If it's all fine, they are probably ok

Sigma Force

Sounds like they have a good diet, a little extra weight helps over the winter but obviously not too much, extra hay is probably better than extra pellets though. Timothy hay is fab bet they love it.

Rabbits like to worry us but better off being a bit paranoid.