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Bladder Sludge - advice needed please.

Blackberry & Co

Blackberry & Co

Wise Old Thumper
Lady Jane gets episode of sludgy wee about every 4 weeks. Usually it passes within a few hours, occasionally it lasts longer. The wee is chalky, and when dry is very dry/dusty.

I try and keep her on a lower calcium diet, and well hydrated. What else can I do to help her?

She's having one of her longer episodes at the moment - have given her some metacam as she is always in discomfort during these times, and if she's no better in the morning will get her to the vets (although they don't seem to be able to advise anything better than what I do for her already).

I hate seeing her not her usual bumptious self :(
 
My rabbit had a very large bladder stone removed a couple of weeks ago.

I've completely changed her diet and she also has filtered water as normal water has a lot of calcium in it.

She has a sprinkle of pellets every couple of days but now lives off hay and grass.

Has your bunny ever had scans done go check for stones? X
 
Kim_perkins said:
My rabbit had a very large bladder stone removed a couple of weeks ago.

I've completely changed her diet and she also has filtered water as normal water has a lot of calcium in it.

She has a sprinkle of pellets every couple of days but now lives off hay and grass.

Has your bunny ever had scans done go check for stones? X
Click to expand...

She had some xrays last year, which showed nothing.

I've cut her pellets right down, never thought about the calcium in tap water though!
 
Has she had antibiotics? Olly has similar problems, which are usually sorted with a course of baytril to treat bladder infection. Last time, however, it just wasn't shifting, so he had to have his bladder flushed as itws so full of sludge, followed by a week of trimethoprim injections which totally got rid...
Hope Lady Jane feels better soon! X
 
Exercise can also help keep calcium stay in suspension in the urine allowing it to be pee'd out easier instead of it settling on the bladder floor as it's heavier than urine.

No doubt you've given her enough space but how much exercise does she actually get? What I'm getting at is does she have health issues slowing her down or is she lazy at all?
 
ripminnie said:
Has she had antibiotics? Olly has similar problems, which are usually sorted with a course of baytril to treat bladder infection. Last time, however, it just wasn't shifting, so he had to have his bladder flushed as itws so full of sludge, followed by a week of trimethoprim injections which totally got rid...
Hope Lady Jane feels better soon! X
Click to expand...

She's not had ABX yet - it usually passes within a few hours.
 
Rhian33 said:
Exercise can also help keep calcium stay in suspension in the urine allowing it to be pee'd out easier instead of it settling on the bladder floor as it's heavier than urine.

No doubt you've given her enough space but how much exercise does she actually get? What I'm getting at is does she have health issues slowing her down or is she lazy at all?
Click to expand...

She has plenty of space....but she is a lazy lump :oops: I do notice that the day before an episode she usually runs around like crazy (gives me advance warning!) - but if she hasn't run around the episode is worse.

Will have to get more strict about her moving around instead of slobbing around......
 
When Artie was being treated for bladder sludge he was on a diuretic (Furosemide) with the purpose of flushing his bladder out - ie urinate more, drink more. His case was different though as he never expelled the sludge himself, it just stayed in his bladder.

I mention it as it might be worth considering for Lady Jane during bad spells, just to help her get rid of it quicker, maybe?
 
Bunny Buddy said:
When Artie was being treated for bladder sludge he was on a diuretic (Furosemide) with the purpose of flushing his bladder out - ie urinate more, drink more. His case was different though as he never expelled the sludge himself, it just stayed in his bladder.

I mention it as it might be worth considering for Lady Jane during bad spells, just to help her get rid of it quicker, maybe?
Click to expand...

We syringed her water yesterday morning and evening - will do some more this morning - she's having a doze at the moment, so will wait til she wakes up :)
 
With tillie , I used to syringe extra water into her, massage her bladder area and then encourage her to run up and down the stairs. It did help with less being stored. She suffered dreadfully with it and after a major op to remove a bladder full of putty like sludge we kept her healthy for another 13 months by this technique. Obviously diet - no alfalfa - is something to be aware of but you are on top of that. I did a lot of research when till was poorly and it can quite simply be one of those things in some rabbits. It's hard to control as you cant see what is happening inside.

Good luck and take care xx
 
BerryJane said:
With tillie , I used to syringe extra water into her, massage her bladder area and then encourage her to run up and down the stairs. It did help with less being stored. She suffered dreadfully with it and after a major op to remove a bladder full of putty like sludge we kept her healthy for another 13 months by this technique. Obviously diet - no alfalfa - is something to be aware of but you are on top of that. I did a lot of research when till was poorly and it can quite simply be one of those things in some rabbits. It's hard to control as you cant see what is happening inside.

Good luck and take care xx
Click to expand...

Thank you :)

We haven't got stairs, which is a shame, but she does have an upstairs in her set up - some days she will go up and down a lot, other days she is a total slob :lol: Will have to really work on the exercise side of things, I think.
 
My Oliver had / has sludge issues which showed up on xray and required flushing of his bladder . I changed my buns pellets from excel (apparently contains alfalfa which is also called lucene so u can easy miss that) and was 8% calcium to oxbow bunny basics T which has no alfalfa and calcium level of 6%. I also give him one oxbow urinary support tablet daily and greens are low calcium. I also think the main and best change was giving them bottled water instead of tap water (my husband bans me from telling anyone our buns get bottled water !!) Asda eden falls is the lowest i could find at 10% calcium. The other two buns still get parsley a few times per week so they aren't reducing their calcium too much. He has been sludge free for about 7 weeks now. Hope this helps.
 
My Oliver had / has sludge issues which showed up on xray and required flushing of his bladder . I changed my buns pellets from excel (apparently contains alfalfa which is also called lucene so u can easy miss that) and was 8% calcium to oxbow bunny basics T which has no alfalfa and calcium level of 6%. I also give him one oxbow urinary support tablet daily and greens are low calcium. I also think the main and best change was giving them bottled water instead of tap water (my husband bans me from telling anyone our buns get bottled water !!) Asda eden falls is the lowest i could find at 10% calcium. The other two buns still get parsley a few times per week so they aren't reducing their calcium too much. He has been sludge free for about 7 weeks now. Hope this helps.
 
nickybunny1 said:
My Oliver had / has sludge issues which showed up on xray and required flushing of his bladder . I changed my buns pellets from excel (apparently contains alfalfa which is also called lucene so u can easy miss that) and was 8% calcium to oxbow bunny basics T which has no alfalfa and calcium level of 6%. I also give him one oxbow urinary support tablet daily and greens are low calcium. I also think the main and best change was giving them bottled water instead of tap water (my husband bans me from telling anyone our buns get bottled water !!) Asda eden falls is the lowest i could find at 10% calcium. The other two buns still get parsley a few times per week so they aren't reducing their calcium too much. He has been sludge free for about 7 weeks now. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thank you :)

I really had no idea water contained calcium! (never was much good at science stuff :lol:)

She's on Beaphar's pellets - will check the calcium levels in them. She doesn't have many, but will need to check anyway.

She loves hawthorn - I need to find out whether that's high calcium or not.
 
Dandelion Root Tea made up and given in a spare drinking bottle and also, a few cranberries will keep bladder sludge at bay.

The cranberries prevent bacteria sticking to the walls of the bladder by lining it . Both can be given routinely each week.

Worls on hoomans too! :)
 
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