Preventing More Crystals

[Kipcha]

So for Ty's urine analysis, the vet mentioned that there was a high count of crystals in his urine. What should I eliminate from his diet to prevent this from turning into something more serious? She mentioned that the only veggie he should get is Romaine Lettuce, but I've been reading that you should eliminate pellets from a rabbit with this problem and if it is so, would he really be getting everything he needs?

So right now, Ty is on a diet of unlimited Oxbow pellets with a sprinkle of Masterfeed alfalfa pellets. This was done originally because Ty has always had a problem keeping weight on and this kept him in a nice balance and he never overeats... In fact, I'm constantly having to replace pellets because he has this terrible habit of peeing in his food bowl... Perhaps he just doesn't like Oxbow

For veggies, he gets a mix everyday varying from
Parsley (Curly or Italian)
Lettuce (Greenleaf, Romaine)
Kale (No more then 3 times a week, and in very small amounts)
Cilantro
Mint (Just started this and only gets one leaf as a bit of a treat)
Carrot
Carrot tops
Dandelion
Spinach

In terms of small treats they get,
Apple
Oranges
Banana
Blackberries
Blueberries
Strawberries
Pineapple

And of course, the unlimited timothy hay and occasional little bit of Orchard Grass.

Obviously, the first thing I am cutting out is the spinach and kale, but what else should I do for Ty to prevent crystals?

[align=center]

[/align]

 

[flopper671]

I think you would want to lower the calcium in your bun's diet. Kale, spinach, parsley, watercress, mint, and spring greens. Have a high amount of calcium. Cabbage, broccoli,celery, lettuce: round/flat, parsnip, swede, turnip, and oranges. Have a medium amount. And brussel sprouts,carrots,cauliflower,cucumber,ice berg lettuce,peppers: red and green, tomatoes,apples, apricot, banana, grapes. kiwi fruit, nectarines, peaches, pears,pineapples,and strawberries havelow calcium hope this helped!

 

[kaelyx]

I trust this website a lot. You can use this as a guideline:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-5/calcium.html

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Alfalfa is also a high calcium source--why you give it to growing buns. Did you ask your vet about diet?

 

[Watermelons]

I really have no idea how one would accomplish this in rabbits, but In cats the thought is to lower the PH of their urine (make it more acidic) so crystals cant form and typically this is done by feeding them a diet with a higher meat content (more true protein), not sure how raising the protein will work with buns if high protein can do damage to their kidneys... maybe theres a happy medium with enough of a pH knock down to help with the crystals but not to much protein to make those kidneys unhappy... Either way, best of luck, thats all I can toss in there lol