You seem to have an amazing bond with Thumper.
I'm reasonably certain at least two of my girls wouldn't notice/care if I died, so long as someone still fed them and let them out :roll::lol:
They may well notice your absence more than you think.
Thumper won't stay on my lap, sofa or bed. He's a floor bunny. We have a routine of affection on the floor when I get up, & immediately before bed. It's basically an allogrooming session!! I stroke him & he licks my nose eyebrows etc. On the other hand I'm all he's got as a companion bun. He has an advantage that he's a "direct line" to the one who controls his environment eg letting him out for a run, or even putting the fire on!!! BUT a big disadvantage that I don't speak rabbit! [whoops a bit off subject here
] I am amazingly privileged to share my life with a bun, but it brings the responsibility that I must be back home by 3.00am. Very few people are in the situation where that is possible for the bun's lifetime.
The improved drinking worked wonders for his wee. It wasn't even faintly cloudy overnight.
I would like to throw out some
ideas for discussion & comment, as there is interest in this thread.
DIET is usually the 1st. aspect to address with "sludge" & very important.
Many members of the forum eg Prettylupin & Clutterydrawer have found that stopping 1 or more items of high calcium food has completely controlled sludge issues - kale & readygrass respectively.
GUT MOTILITY. We know that humans stop absorbing calcium from the gut when blood levels are adequate but BUNS
can't do this & absorb all available calcium, & have to wee out any excess. I wonder whether when the gut slows down, buns absorb even more calcium than usual, cos there is more time to do so. In theory sludgy buns may need a high fiber diet as a natural gut stimulant.
EXERCISE. Prettylupin kindly offered experience of Nino's weeing issues being helped by hopping around. I've noticed that Thumper's "sludge" settles out to the bottom of a syringe very quickly, & disperses quickly when the syringe is shaken. I see no reason why the same thing can't happen in the bun's bladder. Exercise also helps to keep the gut moving.
FLUIDS. Wild rabbits rely purely on dew, & juices from fresh grass/ plants & roots for fluids. They also live underground at a fairly constant temperature & humidity of 10C.
In comparison, our domestic friends have a much drier diet, & are exposed to much wider temperature variation. Bun's can't sweat to lose heat, blood is diverted to their ears & thereafter they increase their breathing rate to lose heat by evaporating body fluids from their lungs. They can easily become dehydrated on a hot summer day.
In the "old days" buns ate grass as a staple, gradually supplementing it with home made "farmer's" hay in winter. This is less dry than commercially available hays packed in polythene.
So I've wondered about a return to the old fashioned ways, of those who are able, returning to grass as the staple for this type of problem. If I could I would seed the lawn to as large a variety of coarse field grasses as poss. Unfortunately my original plan to have grass as a staple was flummoxed by sewer flooding every month for a year. Then with a new estate being built we had a plague of displaced foxes & rats. All the neighbouring grassy areas in the vicinity are used to walk a high dog population. It sometimes seems so very difficult to care for my little boy as I would wish to.
TEETH dental buns may have "sludgy urine" simply because it's too uncomfortable to drink sufficient water to dissolve the excess calcium.
