# What is rabbit pee suppose to smell like?



## Luvmyzoocrew (Jul 16, 2009)

Ok Belle has been peeing outside the box alot more lately, well it seems like she will stop and then start doing it again,and it is usaly in two certain cornes. she doesnt do it all the time, she does use the box for the most part. So today i was cleaning it up and i got a wiff of something so i smelt the paper towel that i was cleaning it up with and it smelt fishy, is this normal? i know that if i dont clean the box right away and leave it longer then normal it will smell like that but i have never ever smelt her pee before so i dont know if it has always smelt like that or is there something to be concerned about?



Belle

dutch rabbit, 2 1/2 year old , spayed female, single bun at the moment. Eats fresh veggies every morning, pellets at night, which are oxbow timothy hay pellets, and hay available all day every day, also fresh water.


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## jamesedwardwaller (Jul 16, 2009)

probably,depends on the critter and/or enviroment,..i would compare a known pee in the box to what you found,,i suppose on meds-pee might be fishy,.try using a couple poop boxes with orchard/timothy grass,,-my rabbits(female)are generally cleaner than a couple males that use the cage drip pan,.sincerely james waller


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## tonyshuman (Jul 16, 2009)

Fishy, huh? I can't say I've come across that before. Rabbit pee just kinda smells like any old kind of pee to me. It could be described as slightly fishy, I guess, but it's more urea-smelling to me. Is she perhaps scenting herself extra because of Charger? Do you clean her scent glands regularly?


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## LuvMyRabbits (Jul 16, 2009)

*tonyshuman wrote: *


> Do you clean her scent glands regularly?




Are we supposed to clean their scent glands?? As you know I'm new to bein a bunny slave and this is the first I've heard about it..also to make myself sound even less intelligent...where are their scent glands?? and how would I clean them??


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## tonyshuman (Jul 16, 2009)

Well, I clean them when I do the monthly nail-trim and check over. I do it to keep them from getting stinky--Muffin especially likes to scent at the boundary in my house where Tony and Muffin's territory meets Frida and Benjamin's territory (separated by a baby gate), so she would probably be a stinky girl if I didn't clean them. I have heard of them getting really full of gunk and getting infected, but it's super rare.

Here's our library link with pics and links of how to clean them, where they are, etc. I use q-tips and baby oil.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28943&forum_id=17


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## LuvMyRabbits (Jul 16, 2009)

learn something new everyday! Thanks =)


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## OakRidgeRabbits (Jul 16, 2009)

*LuvMyRabbits wrote: *


> *tonyshuman wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Do you clean her scent glands regularly?
> ...


I've never cleaned the scent glands in my life and never had a problem with odor. So I guess it just depends on what you want to do. Personally, I don't think the torture of cleaning them is worth it. Blech!:expressionless


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## Luvmyzoocrew (Jul 16, 2009)

hhmmm i wonder if it is becaue of Charger? i guess i will have to keep am eye on it and when i start bonding to see if it subsides, i guess. As far as her scent glands, god no i have never cleaned them, nor do i even know where to begin on doing so,lol. eeeewwwww gross,lol

i guess the smell isnt horribly fishy but a fishy type smell, maybe it has always been l ike that but i have never noticed,lol


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## Maureen Las (Jul 17, 2009)

When you originally stated that she begins to pee and the stops and begins to pee somewhere else outside of the box it made me think that perhaps she has a bladder infection.

watch her to see if she looks uncomfortable; like she is straining to pee. Inever thought of rabbit pee as fishy smelling at all. If she looks like she is having some difficulty peeing i would suggest a vet visit to rule out urinary tract infection...


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## jamesedwardwaller (Jul 17, 2009)

this is perhaps one of the funniest threads ever,,you guys gotta proof read it again,,i can imagine everyone running around testing poopboxes,,,rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,,rrrrrrrrrrr,this istoo much sincerely james waller p.s. so i did,too.


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## Maureen Las (Jul 17, 2009)

*james waller wrote: *


> this is perhaps one of the funniest threads ever,,you guys gotta proof read it again,,i can imagine everyone running around testing poopboxes,,,rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,,rrrrrrrrrrr,this istoo much sincerely james waller p.s. so i did,too.



LOL I think there have been a lot of threads funnier than this 

like when we are counting and evaluating each poop when a rabbit is in stasis


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## Saudade (Jul 17, 2009)

Hmmm fishy?
I've encountered this with Lucy before, it seemed to be a phase, even though her cage was fresh she managed to stink it up within a day or two.

I don't feel comfortable really saying this straight out, but I'll put a slight warning here! WARNING!

Fran, when Lucy was producing these smells my mother equated it to smelling something similar to a woman on her period. Perhaps this could be the same for your little girl?
I think it may be something hormonal?


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## Flashy (Jul 17, 2009)

I've had some slightly fishy smells, but, to be honest, to me it smells like weird popcorn :| 

I too would question about a UTI. I had some fishy smells in my room last week and thinking about it Hope has had a UTI, so I guess that is very possible.


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## Luvmyzoocrew (Jul 17, 2009)

i will keep an eye on her, today she peed again in the same spot and i cleaned it up right after i saw it and it didnt smell fishy but like normal pee , or what i thought normal pee would smell like. One problem is i usually dont see her doing it,lol. I w ill have to clean the spot good as to get rid of the old smell and try to deter her from going there again. 

The fishy smelling pee was not fresh pee so i wonder if it was smeilling like that because it was sitting out?

Hey James we will do some crazy things for our bunnies wont we, lol. I never thought i would be smeilling pee and checking bunny poo for any of my animals,lol, what we wont do for love,lol

She is acting fine, she is shedding ungodly now so i have been trying to brush her but other than that , there is nothing else obviously wrong with her.


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## tonyshuman (Jul 17, 2009)

That is true that changes in urine can come with a UTI, and I guess smell could be one of those changes. I am sure that keeping an eye on her potty habits will help you tell.

I have also heard adding vanilla to the water makes the urine not smell quite as strongly of ammonia, so it might help with this too.


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