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Very wet litter tray!! Advise on litter please!

Kim_w

Mama Doe
My new rescue bunny is on a low sodium diet because she gets urine scald, she eats a whole lettuce and cucumber a day!! Her diet causes her to wee a lot. I change her litter tray always once and sometimes twice a day. At the moment her litter tray has shavings at the bottem to soak up her urine and straw at the top to keep her bum dry!! When i clean her out the straw feels dry but her shavings are soaking.
I have just been looking at " eco-straw" and " megazorb" on the hay experts website and was wondering if anyone on here could advise me on which would be best for my bunny! Even if I do get something that is more absorbant than shavings I will still clean her out every day but I would like to use the litter that will be the best for my bunny as shavings cant hold a full days wee very well and it is not always possible for me to clean her out twice a day.
Thankyou!! x :D
 
I use wood 'chips' as opposed to shavings. they are really absorbant. I get them from Morrisons, not seen them anywhere else!!!!
 
lettuce is a diuretic and cucumber is mainly water based so I think that this needs looking at rather than the litter your using. :D
 
I use megazorb, it is very absorbent, and find it good at controlling odours too. I've tried wooden pellets, shaving, newspaper etc and it isn't really very absorbent.

As mentioned above, the lettuce might not be helping the problem (though I find Deej wees a lot anyway) and also it's actually of very little nutritional value, even to a bun that needs a low sodium diet!

This is also very interesting (taken from http://oto.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm )

Sodium Content of Common Foods
All values are given in mg of sodium for a 100 g (3.5 oz) food portion. These values are a guide. More accurate values are given in the Nutritional Information on the package of most products, in the form of mg of sodium per serving.

# Apple, raw unpeeled 1
# Avocado 4
# Banana 1
# Blackberries 1
# Broccoli, cooked 10
# Brussel sprouts, cooked 10
# Cabbage 20
# Cantaloupe 12
# Carrots 40
# Cauliflower 10
# Celery, raw 126
# Cereal, Oatmeal, dry 2
# Cherries, Raw 2
# Corn, sweet, cooked 0
# Cucumber 6
# Endive, curly 14
# Grapefruit, fresh, canned or juice 1
# Grapes 3
# Honeydew melon 12
# Kale, cooked 43
# Lettuce 9
# Nectarine 6
# Orange peeled, juice, canned or juice 1
# Papayas, raw 3
# Parsley 45
# Parsnips, cooked 8
# Peaches 2
# Pears 2
# Peppers, green 13
# Pineapple, raw or canned 1
# Plums 2
# Pumpkin, canned 2
# Radishes 18
# Raisins, dried 27
# Raspberries 1
# Rhubarb 2
# Squash 1
# Strawberries 1
# Sweet potatoes 12
# Tomato 3
# Turnips 34
# Watermelon 1

There are various things on the list there that buns can have that are lower in sodium (have to keep an eye on the sugar content of some of them). Squash (such as butternut) and tomatoes are good.
 
My arthritic Brody got urine scald because of how she now positions herself in the litter tray. Since I've adapted the following as a litter tray, her butt has been dry and fluffy - no more scald.

1st layer- newspaper.
2nd layer - megazorb
3rd layer - Vetbed (cut to size of litter tray)
top layer - hay

p.s. that list above re sodium content is really good - some good options there which are not going to make her wee as much
 
Could you use a small tray on top of the litter tray before you place everything else on it. The top tray would need to be suspended off the bottom of the other tray with some holes in it to allow the liquid to drip through.

The only way I can explain it easier is if you look at this http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50312132 put a plastic layer on the top of it with holes in it and then put your normal bedding on top :? That way the top should stay dry
 
Thankyou for all your advise!! I got her 2 weeks today from a reescue home and they said they had been to and from the vets with her and tried a lot of things to manage her urine scald and her diet is the only thing that has worked, when I went up for bonding sessions etc I did ask if there was anything else that she could eat and they said no ( she has unlimited access to hay and dried grass!) Shes a chubby little girl!! Her urine is like water so I thought that was why she is on her diet.
 
I really can't stress how brilliant Brodys butt has been since I modified the litter tray. Her legs looked like plucked chicken legs before :cry: as the fur was clumping or falling out - looked awful.

If you can't get megazorb, I guess any absorbent material e.g. carefresh would work just as well under the Vetbed (which is fab 'ocs the liquids just pass through it)

Good luck
 
i would also reccomend megazorb, i used to use it with the rats and it was really absorbant. i keep meaning to get a sack for the buns tray and forgetting :oops: , we also used it for one of our old hammies who used to pee loads in his old age and it soaked that up really well :D
 
I use P@H wood-based non-clumping cat litter. It's very absorbent and you only need to change the litter every 3 days or so (and that's with 4 bunnies using the same tray!).

AMETHYST
 
I used Morrisons own wood based cat litter - it's the same as the P@H one but slightly cheaper :wink: Doesn't need changing every day and no smell either :thumb:
 
I use the recycled paper based litter - either the supermarket own brand or the one in a green bag - can't remember name! I find it really good for absorbancy and pretty reasonable. I don't find wood shavings absorb well at all.
 
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