Please help!!! What's the best way to get rid of sludge?

[Allen Wrider]

My husband, unbeknownst to me, brought home a flake of alfalfa hay and promptly over-mixed it into the rabbits' Timothy hay bin about a week and a half ago. He's been feeding them lately, because of my demanding work schedule, and when I went to clean their boxes and living quarters today, I noticed abnormally dark, small poops and calcium deposits in their urine! My older rabbit, Quinn, was definitely more affected by this as she's had sludge problems in the past. Her urine is brown and full of calcium, though she's eating and drinking relatively normally.

My younger rabbit Skippy seems to be doing okay. I had originally gauged her at six months when I got her but while having a groomer over today he said she was under a year (she still has her baby nails and young teeth). She didn't have as much calcium in her urine, though there is definitely some deposits.

What should I do to bring them back to normal? Extra greens? More water? I'm very worried and I don't want them to have to go to the vet. I have thus far removed the alfalfa hay/Timothy mix from my feed bin and put fresh Timothy in their boxes.

 

[Preitler]

Sludge is when calcium settles in the bladder, that it is in the urine is completly normal. That's the way rabbits excrete excess calcium (humans and other animals have other proceedures to deal with that issue, we don't absorb all of it to start with).
Sludge settling in the bladder is what all the worry is about, that can happen for some reasons, like low activity level or not enough water intake..

With growing, pregnant or nursing rabbits it's even of some concern if there is no calcium residue in the urin, since you can't say if the rabbit runs into a deficit.

 

[Allen Wrider]

Sludge is when calcium settles in the bladder, that it is in the urine is completly normal. That's the way rabbits excrete excess calcium (humans and other animals have other proceedures to deal with that issue, we don't absorb all of it to start with).
Sludge settling in the bladder is what all the worry is about, that can happen for some reasons, like low activity level or not enough water intake..

With growing, pregnant or nursing rabbits it's even of some concern if there is no calcium residue in the urin, since you can't say if the rabbit runs into a deficit.

Oh thank goodness! I was so worried that it was serious! Thank you for your reply.