Chalky urine

[Roibin]

I have a 5 year old mini rex cross that is urinating a yellowish white chalky urine. About a month ago he had urine scald but Igave him a butt bath and put polysporin onhim and hes doing much better now. He is overweight so im assuming that when he urinates the urine flows onto his belly and then it turns chalky. Anybody have any ideas on what this is?

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Too much calcium.

Tell me what you are feeding himand I will try to help you with a proper diet.

Rainbows!

 

[Roibin]

Thank you! Right now he is eatting Martins brand less active adult rabbit food made with timothy hay and it contains Yucca extract to help reduce odours. For his treats he eats living world Triangles, and for fresh foods I give him banana, carrot, apple,strawberry, parsley... pretty much anything that is in season. He just started the less active rabbit food last saturday. He also eats as much timothy hay as he wants. When he had urine scald he also had a build up of feces that i had to cut away. I have anther rabbit that is housed with him that eats the exact same thing and does not have any problems.

 

[naturestee]

What food was he on before Saturday?I'm assuming that since he needs to loose weight you'll be cutting backon the fruit and treats? That was probably causing the mushy poop that was stuck to his butt.

Does he drink much water? If he has a bottle, give him a bowl intead and feed him wet, leafy greens as long as he tolerates them. The water will help flush the excess calcium out of him. If you continue to see urine sludge like this, it would be a good idea to have a vet check him out as he may have a problem with bladder sludge or sometimes it's a symptom of a urinary tract infection.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Roibin wrote:

Thank you! Right now he is eatting Martins brand less active adult rabbit food made with timothy hay and it contains Yucca extract to help reduce odours.

That is what I have too (Martins less active). So that is fine, unless you are feeding him too much pellets. What did he have before Martins?

Are you sure you are feeding him Timothy Hay and not Alfalfa Hay? Unlimited Timothy Hay is fine, but Alfalfa Haycontains calcium and is fattening.

I am still trying to figure where else the calcium is coming from.

This is what I propose:

1. Unlimited Timothy Hay.

2. 1/2 cup of pellets a day.

3. One small serving of greenvegetables a day. Cut way backon the carrots (it is sugar and Calcium).

4. One treat a day (fruits andliving world Triangles <----not sure what those are)

5. Separate Pepper's food from Jessica's food. Maybe Pepper is eating all of Jessica's food.

6. They really need exercise.Pepper's urine scald might be from beingtoo fat to clean himself properly.

7. Unlimited water.

Rainbows!

 

[Roibin]

Before saturday he was eatting a brand called Living World Extrusion. Lately I haven't seen him drink much water, he has a bowl to drink out of because I found that he wasn't getting any water out of the water bottles when he was younger. Yep I'm positive that the hay he has is Timothy...it comes from right here in Alberta. Thank you for both of your help. I'm going to start feeding pepper and jessica seperately now.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

BINGO! :highfive:

Living World Extrusionhas listed Alfalfa as the first ingredient. So that is where the excessive calcium and fating food is from. It's like they were living on a diet of French Fries.

Stick with Martins Less Active, and they should be fine.

http://www.fosterbunnies.com/food.htm

Rainbows!

 

[Pipp]

Hard to tell in the photo, but if it's the consistency of toothpaste, it's definitely sludge, and while the new diet will help,it may be bad enough to require a vet to flush out hisplumbing with a SubQ infusion -- liquids admininstered under the skin -- and check for bladder or kidney stones. Is he straining to urinate? Does he seem uncomfortable?

Meanwhile, really get him drinking as much as you can. I find that by giving my non-drinker (Pipp) a litte carrot juice in her water-- probably 1/4 carrot, 3/4 water -- she drinks a lot more.Others have had luck with vanilla (none of mine like it, though), and fruit juices, although you have to watch for too much sugar.I dilute it even more than the carrot, but it depends on what it takes for the bunnyto drink.

Good luck!

sas

 

[Roibin]

It did look like he was straining to urinate a few days ago but I haven't seen him doing it lately. For right now I'm going to get his weight down and see what happens and if I notice anything abnormal going on then I'm for sure going to take him to the vet. I'm also going to try putting some carrot juice in his water but I was curious about 100% diluted cranberry juice...that seems to work for humans that have UTI's is it safe for rabbits as well?

 

[Pipp]

Yup, cranberry juice is great, I should have mentioned that! It will help prevent a urinary infection. My bunnies don't like the pure stuff, but maybe yours will. You can always mix it with a little apple juice.

Really watch closely for any signs of discomfort, straining or pain. Stones go hand-in-hand with sludge, and the earlier they're caught, the better the prognosis. Large stones or stones stuck in the wrong place can be very painful and very very dangerous.



sas