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Bunny with Bladder sludge

P

Pandora1

Warren Scout
Hi all

My bunny Poppy has just had her bladder flushed as she has bladder sludge, she is nine, as the vets were supposed to contact me and give me some pointers on her diet and never did I need some help with it. At the moment they are on Harringtons Optimum pellets, just 2 small egg cups morning and evening.So do I need to change to a low calcium pellet. I have had a look around the site for low calcium veg and can sort that out its just the pellets.

Thanks in advance
 
Hi, Frances Harcourt-brown discussed this briefly at her lectures in April. She recommended a foraged based diet (dandelions are high in calcium so best avoided though), lots of hay & ideally no nuggets. If you do want to feed nuggets I'm not sure which are low calcium but someone will
 
Pandora1 said:
Hi all

My bunny Poppy has just had her bladder flushed as she has bladder sludge, she is nine, as the vets were supposed to contact me and give me some pointers on her diet and never did I need some help with it. At the moment they are on Harringtons Optimum pellets, just 2 small egg cups morning and evening.So do I need to change to a low calcium pellet. I have had a look around the site for low calcium veg and can sort that out its just the pellets.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The main areas of a rabbit's diet to consider when thinking of reducing calcium are:

1. Pellets - high in calcium and very little moisture

2. Water - can be the most significant factor (along with pellets) that you can consider.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food

"It can be seen from this table that it would be easy to ingest a high amount of calcium by eating a lot of 'low calcium' nuggets or pellets but almost impossible to ingest too much calcium from 'high calcium veggies', such as watercress or kale."

Frances Harcourt Brown also recommended a low calcium water to be beneficial, and I have certainly proved this point with my own rabbits!

Good luck xx
 
I use the Oxbow Bunny Basics pellets as they are one of the lowest in calcium as I had a bun with bladder sludge once. I also have bowls of water rather than bottles to encourage more fluid intake. The other thing is to cut down on veg which may have higher levels of calcium in them.
 
It's really the pellets that are the main culprit - if she's already a greens eater my suggestion would be to cut it down to one egg cup per day and up the greens to compensate. Just feed a good mix of fresh foods and then you don't really need to worry too much about the calcium content of individual ones.

Supreme do VetCarePlus Urinary Tract Health Formula which is specifically designed for rabbit's with similar issues and has a slightly lower calcium.
 
Tamsin said:
It's really the pellets that are the main culprit - if she's already a greens eater my suggestion would be to cut it down to one egg cup per day and up the greens to compensate. Just feed a good mix of fresh foods and then you don't really need to worry too much about the calcium content of individual ones.

Supreme do VetCarePlus Urinary Tract Health Formula which is specifically designed for rabbit's with similar issues and has a slightly lower calcium.
Click to expand...

I have also now started to get these and between them and the Oxbow urinary tract my female bun who has been having incontinence issues it seems to have cleared up (not bladder sludge).
 
Artie was on a no pellet diet for about 18 months of his life. He suffered with bladder sludge issues but then developed kidney stones. After he had a kidney removed I was really careful with calcium and, following advice of FHB (the link MM posted) I fed low, moderate and occasional high calcium veg. I wasn't so clued up on forage but I did give him as much fresh grass as I could, following the 'hydration' advice.
 
My Olly is almost 6 and had a bladder flush two years ago. I modified his diet and he hasn't had a recurrence yet... He currently gets 8-10 SS pellets in the morning, with a sprig of broccoli and a small slice of carrot. Obviously unlimited hay, various types. At lunchtime he gets some wet herbs, usually coriander. For tea he has a bit more broccoli, mint and coriander, all wet. I have found the extra water on the fresh food is really important, as he doesn't actually drink very much. This seems to suit him fine though :) he also has a wet fenugreek crunchie at bedtime, and a couple of Carrotys now and again... Hope this helps x
 
Hi all

Thank you for the very useful advice everyone. The other issue is that before she had the bladder flush she was urininating everywhere ,and I thought after she had it which was Thursday, she may not wee as much, but today she is just as bad as ever, puddles of wee all over. She is 9 years old, so is it age or is something else going on?
 
She may have a bladder infection . My sludge bun Oliver currently has a bladder infection and was weeing alot and is now on baytril. He was flushed last year and the year before. Usually gets a year between flushes.
 
nickybunny1 said:
She may have a bladder infection . My sludge bun Oliver currently has a bladder infection and was weeing alot and is now on baytril. He was flushed last year and the year before. Usually gets a year between flushes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is a possibility, and a test the vet can do easily. It would be very uncomfortable for her, so good to rule it out.

Once infection is ruled out, you could ask your vet to consider prescribing Propalin syrup for incontinence.
 
Pandora1 said:
Hi all

Thank you for the very useful advice everyone. The other issue is that before she had the bladder flush she was urininating everywhere ,and I thought after she had it which was Thursday, she may not wee as much, but today she is just as bad as ever, puddles of wee all over. She is 9 years old, so is it age or is something else going on?
Click to expand...

Given her age I wonder if the sludge is building up due to her being less active. There may be an underlying cause such as arthritis. Is this something that has been checked out?

Acupuncture can really help with mobility in later life and cn actually be used for bladder issues too.

Activity and water in take are the two most important things when it comes to sludge. Lots of each will help shift it.

Sludgy bladders are prone to infections the grainy texture irritates the bladder lining. You can use cystaid for cats to help protect the lining. There is also a medication that helps the bladder empty better therefore flushing out the sludge. If the bladder doesn't fully empty each time they wee then sludge sediment builds up.

If it is really bad injection subcut fluids can make a huge difference during flare ups.
 
Thanks for replies. She is quite active for her age and has plenty of space for exercise. She is on loxicom for any inflammation twice a day, the vets said after the flush there were no signs of infection. I have asked my vet for Propalin syrup as I used it with another bunny and it worked, he said its not licensed and wont let her have it.

Pandora
 
Pandora1 said:
Thanks for replies. She is quite active for her age and has plenty of space for exercise. She is on loxicom for any inflammation twice a day, the vets said after the flush there were no signs of infection. I have asked my vet for Propalin syrup as I used it with another bunny and it worked, he said its not licensed and wont let her have it.

Pandora
Click to expand...

How very strange!

But the vet let her have Loxicom and that isn't licensed either :?
 
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