White Urine?

[kherrmann3]

OK, it's Saturday. Saturday is cleaning day, so, I was cleaning up our bedroom and getting the pets settled when I found a white, chalky-looking urine spot in a cardboard box. I know this is from Toby (our 3.5 year old Nethie boy) because he is the only free-roaming animal in the apartment. The box has a urine spot in it that is white in the center, then has a clear-ish ring around the white spot. The white "stuff" is completely covering up the color of the brown cardboard box and looks somewhat chalky. It reminds me of thin bird-poo. The clear ring around it is where the liquid soaked into the box, but because the box is brown, it is hard to say what color the liquid is. It looks a little yellow-ish. No red-tinging or coloring at all. The spot is about 2.5 inches long and 1.5 to 2.0 inches wide. Most of the spot it the white "stuff" and there is about a half-inch of the clear ring around it.

Why would his urine be chalky looking? Is it even urine? Should he go to the vet ASAP? I have found these on the carpeting before, but I didn't think much of them because they did not look like this (our carpeting is white with other colors mixed in). When it was on the carpeting, the "white" part did not soak in to the carpet like urine would. It almost seemed frothy. There was never a lot of it (speck here and there), so I never thought about it.

What the heck is it? (I can take photos, but I don't know if I can upload them right now... My laptop isn't working, and I can't get them straight onto my roommate's computer).

 

[Happi Bun]

Hmm... I think it's probably just dried urine and nothing to be concerned about. In Dunkin's litter box, when I dump the soiled pellets out, the bottom is stained white and it's kind of crusty. It comes off easily with water.

 

[kherrmann3]

Is it OK if it's chalky too? I just don't want anything going wrong with my little guy's urinary tract and his "bunny bits". Is it OK if it's thicker sometimes? Like I mentioned before, it occasionally gets this "frothy" appearance to it when it's on the carpeting. It's like it's not quite liquid, so it won't soak into the carpet. It just chills on top of the carpet...

Could it be bladder sludge? The following text is from the HRS:
"... remains the consistency of chalk or fine sand, and is a white to gray color. Very thick sludge can have the consistency of toothpaste. When felt, this sludge can be smooth, have finely granular texture, or even have gritty texture. Sludge can form in the kidneys or ureters, but most sludge is noted in the bladder, and is suspected to have formed there."

I also read and it said that some of this is normal. He does not have any of it in his fur underneath. It said that bladder sludge tends to stick on the fur.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

If its bladder sludge it is usually more gritty then chalky, all my rabbits have had chalky pee when its dried on certain surfaces (like cardboard or thin carpet). The white is sometimes just extra calcium, does he get alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets? or veggies like kale, spinach etc?
Does he also have "normal" yellow pee? I think it would be best to keep him on a plastic surface for a day or 3 to keep an eye on his toilet habits, if its purely white and chalky all the time I would take him to the vet.
He may also get a dirty butt or feet so keep an eye on them aswell.

 

[paul2641]

Yes it's nothing much to worry about my first hamster did wees like that and he and a long healthy life of 2 and a half years and they normally only live for 3 years. And I got him at 4 months so that's nearly all the time he should of had.

 

[kherrmann3]

He does have normal yellow pee most of the time. Rarely, I will get the chalky ones from him. He never has had alfalfa (as a baby, he snubbed it) and has only been on Oxbow's Orchard Grass hay. I am in the process to switching him to timothy hay and Oxbow feed pellets...

 

[Phinnsmommy]

I bet it's just that he had a little bit too much calcium, I find pee's like that in my bunnies cage occasionally.

Did you give him any calcium rich greens like kale etc?

Or maybe its just from the switch over to the new pellets.

Either way it's probobly nothing to worry about, but if it continues, I would talk to your vet .

 

[kherrmann3]

D'oh! I forgot to mention that he doesn't really eat any greens. I can get him to nibble on romaine lettuce, but he never eats more than one leaf. I am switching him from SunSeed Vita Rabbit (don't hurt me!) to Oxbows BBT. So far, so good

 

[Maureen Las]

kherrmann3 wrote:

D'oh! I forgot to mention that he doesn't really eat any greens. I can get him to nibble on romaine lettuce, but he never eats more than one leaf. I am switching him from SunSeed Vita Rabbit (don't hurt me!) to Oxbows BBT. So far, so good

Sunseed vitarabbit is not a sin ... :biggrin2:

but bbt is probably better

Ihave one buns with chalky urine occasionally ..no problems with him , never went to the vet for it.

 

[kherrmann3]

OFF TOPIC:
On a positive note, I weighed Toby today. I've decided to start weighing him weekly (on Sundays) before he gets his food bowl refilled. Here's his "chart":

Last Week 10/27: 4 lb. 1.3 oz.
This Week 11/02: 4 lb. 1.3 oz.

Woohoo! He came down from 4 lb. 1.6 oz. in August lol. I think he's pretty much "leveled off" weight-wise... Yeah, I'm hijacking my own thread, oh well... Does that sound like a healthy weight? A four-pound Nethie?

BACK TO TOPIC:
Toby's urine looks clear and yellow again. I know this because I left him home alone from 5:15PM until 11:30PM and he wee'd all over mine and Will's bed. :grumpy: He left three nice big spots on the bed and ONE little pellet in the middle. I have to re-wash our comforter, and wash the freshly-put-on-the-bed top sheet. The piddles on the quilt were in the middle (one towards my side) and the one on the sheet was on Will's side. I thought we were over this...

OFF TOPIC... again:
If anyone wants to be OCD like me and keep charts for their bunnies (if somebun has stasis problems or whatever) I have files of blank charts for keeping records of feeding, intake & output, veggie amounts, and notes. I have another one for weight. Yeah... Just throwing that out there. Will thinks my charts are nice and that I should share them if anyone wants them

 

[Luv-bunniz]

I think everybody should weight at least every two weeks, the only pets I dont weigh weekly are the cats, but they get weighed every month and they are easy to tell if they have lost or put on too much weight. Guinea pig, rabbit, ferrets, birds and rats are weighed weekly. And, if he is having normal pee's I wouldn't worry. As for pee'ing on the bed, get a big table cloth, turn it up and stitch some elastic on the corners, put it on when you arnt in the room, put it on like a fitted bottom sheet, take it off, throw it in the wash on a cool wash done. The Guinea Pigs used to have a habit of going on to the bed and using it like a litter box when I had a shorter bed, now its 3' 5" high with they're cage underneath so they cant reach lol.

 

[kherrmann3]

Luv-bunniz wrote:

The Guinea Pigs used to have a habit of going on to the bed and using it like a litter box when I had a shorter bed, now its 3' 5" high with they're cage underneath so they cant reach lol.

Did you let your Guinea Pigs run around outside their cage? How were they getting up on the bed? I've never had GP's before, so I'm curious... If they are out & about, do they make messes everywhere? The only experience I've had with them was when I worked at the pet store(s). They made messes everywhere! :shock:

 

[Luv-bunniz]

kherrmann3 wrote:

Luv-bunniz wrote:

The Guinea Pigs used to have a habit of going on to the bed and using it like a litter box when I had a shorter bed, now its 3' 5" high with they're cage underneath so they cant reach lol.

Did you let your Guinea Pigs run around outside their cage? How were they getting up on the bed? I've never had GP's before, so I'm curious... If they are out & about, do they make messes everywhere? The only experience I've had with them was when I worked at the pet store(s). They made messes everywhere! :shock:

Yup, they free-roamed my room. The bed was only like 1ft 4" of the floor, so they would jump onto under-bed storage box then hop onto the bed. They didn't make any mess - apart from the odd stray poop, but the floor is linoleum and they had a hay tray with all they're food in that they used once I put the cover on the bed. They are actually very clean animals IMO, and as at the time I only had a pet-shop bought cage (wich was only 20"x30") it was cruel to leave them without free run time. With bedding they would make a hell of a mess, but I use fleece or bath mats wich work well.

 

[kherrmann3]

I guess I DO learn something new everyday ^_^ Thanks

 

[Nisha]

H

OFF TOPIC:
On a positive note, I weighed Toby today. I've decided to start weighing him weekly (on Sundays) before he gets his food bowl refilled. Here's his "chart":

Last Week 10/27: 4 lb. 1.3 oz.
This Week 11/02: 4 lb. 1.3 oz.

Woohoo! He came down from 4 lb. 1.6 oz. in August lol. I think he's pretty much "leveled off" weight-wise... Yeah, I'm hijacking my own thread, oh well... Does that sound like a healthy weight? A four-pound Nethie?

BACK TO TOPIC:
Toby's urine looks clear and yellow again. I know this because I left him home alone from 5:15PM until 11:30PM and he wee'd all over mine and Will's bed. :grumpy: He left three nice big spots on the bed and ONE little pellet in the middle. I have to re-wash our comforter, and wash the freshly-put-on-the-bed top sheet. The piddles on the quilt were in the middle (one towards my side) and the one on the sheet was on Will's side. I thought we were over this...

OFF TOPIC... again:
If anyone wants to be OCD like me and keep charts for their bunnies (if somebun has stasis problems or whatever) I have files of blank charts for keeping records of feeding, intake & output, veggie amounts, and notes. I have another one for weight. Yeah... Just throwing that out there. Will thinks my charts are nice and that I should share them if anyone wants them

Hey there in actually struggling with the same issue with my bunny having chalky urine but it's not entirely white. It's mixed yellow thick whitish kinda urine. But it's coz of my kale feeding as I can't find lettuce or grass to feed him here where I stay. How did you finally got your rabbit to urine yellow and clear again? Please advice me. I'm really worried about my rabbit. And here I can't get Timothy hay. I just buy this Kiki heno hay online that I can find

 

[Binky4eva]

The white urine is from too much calcium in the diet. Short term it is no problem. Long term, can cause bladder sludge, renal or kidney failure and lead to death.

If it continues for a while, may be worth looking at diet and feeding lower calcium choices. Only pregnant fe

 

[Nisha]

The white urine is from too much calcium in the diet. Short term it is no problem. Long term, can cause bladder sludge, renal or kidney failure and lead to death.

If it continues for a while, may be worth looking at diet and feeding lower calcium choices. Only pregnant fe

Thank you yes that is true I am worried that he might develop sludge. I hope I can really get him to eat more hay and drink more water

 

[Binky4eva]

Sometimes sprinkling veggies with a little bit of water can help increase water intake too. Does your bun drink from a water bottle or a bowl? 3 of mine are water bowl drinkers fortunately, but the other 2 are stubborn water bottle drinkers unfortunately.

 

[Nisha]

Sometimes sprinkling veggies with a little bit of water can help increase water intake too. Does your bun drink from a water bottle or a bowl? 3 of mine are water bowl drinkers fortunately, but the other 2 are stubborn water bottle drinkers unfortunately.

I trained him with bowl. But he drinks less water. Unless he eats too much dry food only then he drinks more water. That's why I can't get him to drink water when I give vegetables

 

[SharminsMagic8]

My lionhead Diesel has this. When we went in for our regular vet visit, the vet noticed it. It got pretty bad and he was still only 2 years old. They did surgery to clean it out but it came back. The vet said he is probably in a little bit of pain but she didn't want to open him up again. Its been over a year and he still has it but his demeanor hasn't changed, so I think he is managing the pain. Don't you wish they could talk?
In the meantime, I don't feed anything with high calcium (he loves broccoli but its a no-no), try to sprinkle water on his lettuce and playfully chase him around the room every night to keep him moving a bit.