Bladder sludge

Hey, my lil girl Ellie had to have her third operation for bladder sludge on Friday, seems to be reoccurring every four months

I am about to change her diet, I've been advised to feed her tomatoes, celery, apple, iceberg lettuce, etc. add salt to her food, soak food in water prior to feeding. also plantain, yarrow and goosegrass does anyone know where I can get these from

Has anyone else had this and if so what food did you feed? What can I do to prevent this again, I hate seeing her go through this

What was the operation she had?

Bladder sludge tends to be an ongoing condition but the cause of it can vary. A low calcium diet/high fluid diet is the usual way to minimise the effect of it. Artie was treated for it for 4 years - he's now in kidney failure so as a result the sludge no longer forms in his bladder. Artie's vet advised to cut out the pellets altogether but to make sure his weight was okay then to feed as much fresh low calcium green food as possible. Spring greens were acceptable but grass was the best thing to give. Personally I'd not give iceberg but there are other lettuces you can give that are safer, romaine, little gem etc. Celery is good as provides hydration, apple okay in moderation. I've never fed tomatoes so can't comment. Dandelions and plantain are good as although they are high in calcium are also a diuretic so can assist in flushing out the bladder. Edit to add: just re-read your list and saw plantain was on it.

Artie was also on daily metacam (as an anti-inflammatory) and Furosemide (a diuretic) to hopefully make him urinate more of the sediment out, rather than it gather in his bladder. All of this regime and having his bladder expressed at intervals kept him well for the 4 years he needed the treatment.

Sending vibes for Ellie. Like BunnyBuddy I wouldn't give iceberg, but try romaine or little gems - unless your vet has given a particular reason for iceberg it is not usually recommended for rabbits.

Dried plantain is easy to buy, and you can also buy seeds to grow it fresh.

Thanks for the replies, she had a catheter inserted and her bladder flushed, she is on metacam and septrim. She advised lettuce due to the high water content because I said I thought rabbits were not allowed lettuce.. Is dried dandelion and plantain ok then as I dont live near fields to get it fresh.. She's not eaten much since Friday even though I am tempting her with her favourites for now.. She has eaten little bits though, wish she would hurry up though as I almost lost her to gut statis after the first operation. how often did Artie have to have treatment, was he continually on the metacam - would you advise syringe feeding her water with pineapple juice?

Thanks x x

kgattrell said:

Thanks for the replies, she had a catheter inserted and her bladder flushed, she is on metacam and septrim. She advised lettuce due to the high water content because I said I thought rabbits were not allowed lettuce.. Is dried dandelion and plantain ok then as I dont live near fields to get it fresh.. She's not eaten much since Friday even though I am tempting her with her favourites for now.. She has eaten little bits though, wish she would hurry up though as I almost lost her to gut statis after the first operation. how often did Artie have to have treatment, was he continually on the metacam - would you advise syringe feeding her water with pineapple juice?

Thanks x x

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Artie's original treatment was a cystoscopy - where the bladder was fully opened up and the contents scooped out, it was all too rock hard to flush out. That was when he was first diagnosed, after that he had expresses of his bladder at 6-weekly intervals, after the first few where he was admitted and sedated he went on to just have it done in a consultation, the vet just squeezed the contents out of his bladder. He remained on Metacam daily as he had suffered intermittant stasis episodes from bladder infections and the metacam stopped this. Sounds like Artie's treatment was more frequent but less invasive, basically doing the same job but in a different way. I'm not sure how many rabbits would tolerate having their bladder squeezed like that without sedation, he's such a tolerant little soul.

I think the idea of the plantain and dandelions will be for hydration so dried won't help. I'm sure she will enjoy them though. I was advised lettuce too for same reason, just not iceberg as it contains something poisonous but for the life of me I can't remember what it is, though my vet says that her rabbits have pinched iceberg off her tortoises and never had ill effect from it :shock::lol:

There's two schools of thought on pineapple juice, I'm against it because it has high sugar content.

One of my buns had bladder sludge and had an op (on christmas Day a few years ago :roll: ). We changed his pellets from Science Selective to Bunny basics T. He had spring greens most days and thankfully we did not have another problem (we lost him last year due to something else) for 4 years.

He also liked his water with a dash of boiling in to make it tepid so this helped to keep things flushed through. You could add a dash of pineapple to encourage drinking but as Bunny Buddy says you have to be careful of the sugar content of fruits. Try it tepid first without anything and also offer it in a bowl rather than a bottle (if you don't already)