Very yellow and chalky urine?

[celineki]

Hi,

My rabbit have a very yellow and chalky urine for a while now.. i read that its normal, but i think its been like this for 2 months already.. i know that it might be because she does not have enough water.. how do i get her to drink more? i've put apple juice in her water before, she hates it.. . she drinks from a bottle.. however, i sometimes notice that she likes to go into the toilet and drinks water from the toilet floor. :shock: and she used to be toilet trained.. but she has been pooping all over the place lately.. maybe cos she's now 5 months old?? i need to get her spayed soon right..

one more thing.. she used to poop and urine in her cage.. but currently she loves doing it in the toilet instead.. and also pooped all over my house.. does she do that cos she know we do it in the toilet?? lol..

by the way, i feed her 2 table spoons of pellets 2 times a day, with unlimited hay.. i intend to give her a some brocolli everyday too since she loves it so much.. and also maybe 3 stalks of xiao bai cai (aka celery mustard/chinese chard).. is that ok?

 

[irishlops]

i dont know about any of it. but yes u need to get her spayed. i wnated to get my 1 spayed. she is 5months now aswell, but the vet saaid no, to the male and the female.he might make u wait till 6months.
im unsure but maybe its her hormones making her poo/pee in wrong places.
and some bunnys like bowls... so keep the bottle in her cgae thenput in the bowl. make sure she is drinking fro the bowl before u take out the bottle.
good luck

 

[polly]

I would give her a bowl of water they can get more out of that than a bottle. I would also maybe not give so much of just that one veg and add in some carrot or something else variety is good for them. A good way to get more fluid into her is to put some basil in a bowl of water and let her eat it from the bowl.

I would keep her bottle there to though because if she is messy she may pee in the bowl or throw poo's in it!!

You will find it easier to toilet train her after she is spayed though and most good rabbit vets will spay a rabbit from 4-5 months old

 

[kherrmann3]

Spaying should help with the litter issues. Our old foster rabbit was a slob before being spayed. Once fixed, her litter pan habits were perfect!

As far as the chalky urine, I believe that it is from too much calcium in the diet. Bunnies excrete calcium differently than humans (theirs is excreted through their urine). What kind of hay are you feeding? If it is alfalfa, I would try cutting back on that. Same with the broccoli. I've heard that broccoli is high(er) in calcium and can cause elevated calcium levels in bunnies. I could be wrong on that, though. Alfalfa is also high(er) in calcium, so that could be causing the chalky urine.

I know that rabbits can get bladder stones (that need to be removed with surgery), so I would do everything that you can to minimize their calcium intake before it becomes a problem. Don't remove calcium from their diet completely, though.

Have you tried a water crock for your bunny? If you don't think they are getting enough water from a bottle, a bowl is the best option. They drink more that way. I hope some of this helps!

 

[Maureen Las]

This bun could be having either sludge or other kidney problems. It is difficult to know from the description; "not using the litterbox" in an an adult bun is often an in indicator of illness, ,bladder infection or some other health issue.
is their any odor to your bun's urine that could indicate a bladder infection? any signs of straining when attempting to pee? ordoes she look like she is in pain?
I would address the issue that you posted with your vet as there could be more going on here than just adolescent non spayed behavior

 

[celineki]

Thanks for all the replies.

I fed Owbox Oat hay, western timothy hay and orchard grass hay. Oh, i also fed her one papaya tablet every night..

i will fix an appointment with my vet when she is 6 months as that's what the vet advised me the last time and also i want to skip the chinese new year period (26 - 24 Jan) because a lot of kids will be coming to my house.. guess i will have to keep cleaning her poo off my floor first. thankfully she pees in the toilet. :biggrin2:

Her urine does have odor, but it is not too smelly though. and she doesn't seems in pain, really active, craving for attention and also gobbing up her food.. she ate a healthy amount of hay too.

I will put a bowl of water in her cage today. Thanks again!

 

[celineki]

I left a bowl of water in her cage and she almost finished it by the time i got back from home! (about 5 hrs) checked her urine, its still yellowish, but not so chalky as before.:biggrin2: but i saw her standing in the bowl with the water this morning.. :shock: dried her paws.. but as i'm working and couldnt check on her often, i'm afraid she will catch a cold if she keeps jumping onto the bowl of water.. :?

by the way, she completely ignores her bottle now.. guess she prefers the bowl more..

Thanks so much for all the wonderful help everyone!

 

[Maureen Las]

Most buns drink more when they have a bowl; it's just more work for us