cloudy pee

Spenser has had none of the high calcium veggies for a few weeks (until I bought him parsley today), but I noticed when sorting out his loo today that his pee has been cloudy. Could this be because I have been giving him extra pellets for the exceptionally cold nights? :?

susie bun said:

Spenser has had none of the high calcium veggies for a few weeks (until I bought him parsley today), but I noticed when sorting out his loo today that his pee has been cloudy. Could this be because I have been giving him extra pellets for the exceptionally cold nights? :?

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poor spens well as soon as i cut down on the kale with casper his pee went back to normal in days so i dont know im giving him alot of pellets at the moment as he is poorly and his pee seems fine, sorry not much help

Spenser hasn't had kale in AGES. He considers me a very mean mummy. Parsley is a kind of compromise - the flat leaf type is apparently not so bad. He looks as if he is growing a green beard as he eats it. I just think they must get so fed up with spring greens and cabbage.

susie bun said:

Spenser hasn't had kale in AGES. He considers me a very mean mummy. Parsley is a kind of compromise - the flat leaf type is apparently not so bad. He looks as if he is growing a green beard as he eats it. I just think they must get so fed up with spring greens and cabbage.

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:lol: aww well casper still has 1 piece of kale just to say he has had some and then he is happy for the day :lol: have you tried fruit leaves and sticks like apple there caspers favourite

Cloudy wee is not necessarily abnormal

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2010&Category=&PID=56312&O=Generic

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...EwAw#v=onepage&q=vet lab rabbit urine&f=false

Jack's-Jane said:

Cloudy wee is not necessarily abnormal

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2010&Category=&PID=56312&O=Generic

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...EwAw#v=onepage&q=vet lab rabbit urine&f=false

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Thats very intresting

beccimarie said:

:lol: aww well casper still has 1 piece of kale just to say he has had some and then he is happy for the day :lol: have you tried fruit leaves and sticks like apple there caspers favourite

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Do you mean apple twigs? Yes, he had some - I thought he wasn't that fussed, then I found one half eaten ... then they disappeared altogether. :shock:

I know rabbit pee tends to be opaque, but I get worried if it leaves a white mark, as last night's did. :? Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid - certainly not stopping Spenser's extra pellets until the weather warms up a bit.

i occasionally get a very slight chalky wee from eric. he doesn't like kale and very very rarely gets parsley or a tiny bit of broccoli. his main fresh diet is fine green beans and sweetheart cabbage. i wouldn't be too alarmed if it was a one off. just keep an eye on how chalky or thick it gets or if he seems uncomfortable whilst 'going'.

Maybe not much help, but Sox had slightly white wee one time I ran out off hay for 2 days, but it went back to normal when he got his hay back, but I think you said somewhere that Spenser isn't such a great hay nommer, So you can ignore me ... :lol:

funnybunnyabc said:

Maybe not much help, but Sox had slightly white wee one time I ran out off hay for 2 days, but it went back to normal when he got his hay back, but I think you said somewhere that Spenser isn't such a great hay nommer, So you can ignore me ... :lol:

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That's interesting actually - difficult to keep track of how much hay Spenser actually eats as he will only eat it off the floor of his hutch or out of his litter bowl. He might have not eaten much of it yestedray - especially as he did get a few extra pellets.

susie bun said:

Do you mean apple twigs? Yes, he had some - I thought he wasn't that fussed, then I found one half eaten ... then they disappeared altogether. :shock:

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:lol: see he is tricking you :lol: casper is like this, when he wants a specific treat he will refuse everything then when i walk away he starts nomming at it :lol: the leaves are also yummy looks like casper and spenser have the same "fussy" taste buds too :lol: they dont make it easy for us bunny mummys!!

My understanding was that cloudy wee meant the kidneys were filtering it out and that the problem is when the wee is grainy or sludgy?

Yes, a degree of cloudiness can be perfectly normal.
The cloudiness is caused by calcium carbonate = chalk!

a) Unlike us, bunnies absorb all the available calcium they ingest, & they have to wee out any excess to their needs.
b)Chalk doesn't dissolve well in a bunny's alkaline wee.
c)If they don't hop about much, the chalk tends to settle in the bottom of the bladder & form a thick layer.

So there are 2 sides to the equation, which determines if the wee is cloudy.
How much calcium salts they are eating, & whether they are getting enough fluids to make enough wee to dissolve it.
Plenty of space to excercise helps too.

My bun gets very turbid wee when he doesn't drink enough. He's got a strong personality, won't sit in a tray but will happily hop onto a rolled up towel beside a tray & do everything backwards into the tray. So I can get a wee specimen easily. I've always got old syringes around for his meds.

So Jo Publics Test for turbidity Vs. sludge is a modified version of Francis Harcourt Brown's test.
Suck up some fresh wee in a 1ml syringe leaving a bubble of air. Tie the syringe to an unused cupboard door so it hangs vertically for 24 hours. The chalk settles out. Shake the syringe vigorously. If the chalk redisperses evenly, it's turbidity, but if it breaks up into small lumps it's sludge which can become a problem. The sludge is formed by clumps of sharp crystals which are very painful to pee out. We don't know why some buns form crystals & others don't.

If anyone can find an easy way to get a wee specimen from a bun with more normal toilet habits I'd love to know.