Probable bladder "sludge" issue

Hello everyone. Harmony has been not eating as much pellets as normal recently and instead favouring lots more hay. She's been fine when i checked her underneath until last night when i checked her. She had a tiny bit of thick pastey urine around her privates. She has had this issue before and the vets told us it is a calcium problem so to reduce pellets/veg and increase hay and water intake.

I am wondering what to do. The vets told us (when we took Harmony in over a week ago about falling from the hutch) that as long as rabbits are eating hay there shouldn't be a problem as obviously the diet should be something like 80% hay anyway. I am wondering what have other people done to help thier rabbits with calcium issues? What veggies/herbs etc would you reccommend? And is Cranberry juice worth a try?

It's not something that is solely a diet issues. There may be other reasons for a rabbit having a sludgy urine and bladder issues. Artie for example has bladder sludge, first diagnosed 3.5 years ago, it seems likely that his problem is because he can't fully empy his bladder so the thicker sediment is never expelled as it should be. He has his bladder expressed at intervals by the vet (5 weekly currently) and is also on medication to make him wee more and prevent infection.

One of the clues I've had in the past that Artie isn't feeling 100% is when he doesn't eat pellets. It may not be anything in Harmony's case but then it might be.

I'd want further investigations such as maybe an x-ray to rule out a more serious problem if she shows any clues that she is unwell in herself. I'm wonder if there is a link between the fall and possible bladder issues as spinal problems could cause both.

An x-ray would be advisable - one of my guinea pigs was wet around her behind and when they x-rayed her they found she had bladdersludge and bladder stones. We live in a particularly hardwater area so I either boil water and let it cool down for a few hours and/or use a water filter. Most of my buns have a bottle as well as water bowl.

Is she less mobile after her fall ? Immobility (for any reason) can cause a problem with excess calcium deposits building up in the bladder. Could she be in pain from an injury sustained in the fall, thus she is reluctant to be so active ?

lauraj27 said:

An x-ray would be advisable - one of my guinea pigs was wet around her behind and when they x-rayed her they found she had bladdersludge and bladder stones. We live in a particularly hardwater area so I either boil water and let it cool down for a few hours and/or use a water filter. Most of my buns have a bottle as well as water bowl.

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Boiling water doesn't reduce calcium - the only way is to filter it out.

It's rock hard water here, and my remaining guinea pig has major long-standing bladder issues. I give her Deeside bottled water, which is a really low calcium one. It makes such a difference.

thank you for the tip - i will stic to the filtered water

Jack's-Jane said:

Is she less mobile after her fall ? Immobility (for any reason) can cause a problem with excess calcium deposits building up in the bladder. Could she be in pain from an injury sustained in the fall, thus she is reluctant to be so active ?

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The fall was two weeks ago yesterday. We took her to the vets on the monday after as although still eating hay she was a little not herself for those few days afterward. The vet checked her over including for any signs of not urinating properly but could find nothing wrong. She gave us metacam to give for three days for pain relief. She is eating pellets but not like she used to. She and Buffy are eating lots more hay which the vet did say was a good thing as it meant there aren't any teeth issues and is better for thier diet. Roxxy and Fuzzy (who does have bad tooth issues) are eating the pellets and hay as normal. Something i have noticed though is that since all three girls were spayed one or possibly two of them sometimes start doing a mini phantom so i am wondering if it is a possible reason for the change of pellet eating?

Harmony wasn't completely wet underneath. There was just a tiny bit of thick pastey stuff around her privates. I didn't actually touch it so it may have just been an orangey wee but i am being really cautious. Harmony has been fine while in the run. She has been moving around and eating hay. Not as active now the weather has changed but they always do this in autumn/winter when it gets cold. They go running around and binkies etc and then after half an hour they all huddle together for a while before moving again.

So far today she has been alright, been moving in the hutch eating plenty of hay. I checked her underneath and what was there last night has gone so no more sign of the calcium problem. Should i try giving some wet grass or wet celery?

Matilda is also thought to have a calcium problem! I have stopped ALL fruit and veg!

Also swapped from bottle to a bowl which could have nothing to do with it, but she was drinking gallons from the bottle and taking in alod of air, which shes not doing with the bowl

also taken her off excel food and swapped to P@H nuggest, as excel is to rich

and *touchwood* its been 6 weeks since any bun problems and Matilda was so bad, she was red raw, once she was shaved at the vets she had open sores

emmiiee said:

Matilda is also thought to have a calcium problem! I have stopped ALL fruit and veg!

Also swapped from bottle to a bowl which could have nothing to do with it, but she was drinking gallons from the bottle and taking in alod of air, which shes not doing with the bowl

also taken her off excel food and swapped to P@H nuggest, as excel is to rich

and *touchwood* its been 6 weeks since any bun problems and Matilda was so bad, she was red raw, once she was shaved at the vets she had open sores

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Ouch.. poor Matilda. I'm so pleased she is alright now though. Harmony did have a urine infection last year and that was horrible but we caught it early so she didn't scald her skin. I cannot put a bowl in the hutch. Not water anyway they'll have contaminted it within seconds. They kick hay everywhere and we did try it once but the bowl was filled with soggy woodshavings and hay after ten minutes. Oh excel pellets being the cause again.... i keep hearing about excel pellets causing issues. We use them. The vets told us they were fine but i am starting to think not.

I wonder if the excel pellets are to blame.....

There is some good info in here on bladder sludge etc......

http://www.rabbit.org/health/urolith.html

Don't cut out fresh veggies - plenty of green leafy greens and moisture from food is important as it helps to flush the bladder through.#
If bun only eats hay and pellets its way too dry a diet for a bun with sludge

Scrufox86 said:

Ouch.. poor Matilda. I'm so pleased she is alright now though. Harmony did have a urine infection last year and that was horrible but we caught it early so she didn't scald her skin. I cannot put a bowl in the hutch. Not water anyway they'll have contaminted it within seconds. They kick hay everywhere and we did try it once but the bowl was filled with soggy woodshavings and hay after ten minutes. Oh excel pellets being the cause again.... i keep hearing about excel pellets causing issues. We use them. The vets told us they were fine but i am starting to think not.

I wonder if the excel pellets are to blame.....

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Yes Matilda has had 3 or 4 urine infections over the last year which is why we had more tests done etc!

you can get bowls you attach to the mesh i think so they are off the ground

and yh afew people have had problems with excell I won't be giving Matilda it again! x

BB Mommy said:

There is some good info in here on bladder sludge etc......

http://www.rabbit.org/health/urolith.html

Don't cut out fresh veggies - plenty of green leafy greens and moisture from food is important as it helps to flush the bladder through.#
If bun only eats hay and pellets its way too dry a diet for a bun with sludge

Click to expand...

im going to slowly introduce tiny bits of veg back in, im nervous to incase it causes her problems again!