why does my bunnies pee look like this

[pimsybunny]

As i was just posting about how good my bunny is a peeing in the litter box she peed on her blanket and i couldn't help but notice the white in her pee...it wasn't a foam or anything just whitish liquid. What does this mean?

She drinks water all the time, has unlimited timothy hay, and unlimited young rabbit pellets from the brand OXBOW.
She is about 3 and half months.

 

[Hermelin]

Look like sludge, maybe she get too much calcium from her pellets and might need to switch to some other brand or get less pellets. Because junior rabbit pellets have more calcium in it than adult pellets.

A link about sludge in urine but it have pictures, so if you are sensitive try to find another site :3
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm
No pictures:
https://sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/hypercalciuria_in_rabbits.pdf

 

[pimsybunny]

Look like sludge, maybe she get too much calcium from her pellets and might need to switch to some other brand or get less pellets. Because junior rabbit pellets have more calcium in it than adult pellets.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm

should i get her an adult mix of pellets that have less calcium in it? Then do half and half in her bowl?

 

[Hermelin]

I would just limit her pellets amount, she won't starve and will just compensate with eating more hay. Sludging can be because of other health reason but often it's caused by diet. Rabbits let out the residual calcium with the urine.

How do your bunnies dropping look like?

 

[pimsybunny]

they're all normal but i have seen a few while cleaning that are kind of crumbly and i did see one today that was fairly large and moist/wet but other than that they've all been healthy looking.

 

[Hermelin]

I would take away the pellets and see if the urine will improve and see if she will drink more water because of needing to eat more hay. Which could help her to flush out the calcium in her kidneys and restore the balance. Then you can give the pellets again or you do a drastic restricted diet with pellets. Myself never fed my kits with unlimited pellets, there no use with it. I just fed more pellets than what they would have as an adult and made sure they always got good droppings instead. That they had large yellow droppings, because kits only have hay and pellets, they often get big yellow droppings because of their diet is rich of hay. It's often a darker color when they eat veggies ^-^

 

[pimsybunny]

Okay so cut out the pellets for a few days and stick to just hay and water then slowly add pellets back. I never liked the idea of unlimited pellets so this makes me feel better!

 

[Hermelin]

I hope the sludge will become less and it's nothing dangerous with calcium in the urine, as long you can find what the problem and not a prolonged problem. Myself have seen calcium in the urine before after eating a few veggies among my bunnies

 

[JBun]

That's not necessarily sludge, so no need to be removing pellets from the diet quite yet. Is it just chalky or if not dry, just a regular urine consistency but with the white in it? Or does it seem thick, creamy, or gritty at all? It's normal for rabbits to excrete excess calcium in the urine, doesn't usually cause a health problem for most rabbits.

 

[pimsybunny]

That's not necessarily sludge, so no need to be removing pellets from the diet quite yet. Is it just chalky or if not dry, just a regular urine consistency but with the white in it? Or does it seem thick, creamy, or gritty at all? It's normal for rabbits to excrete excess calcium in the urine, doesn't usually cause a health problem for most rabbits.

its just like the rest of her urine but white

 

[JBun]

It's not bladder sludge then, so currently not a health issue. It's just excess calcium in the urine. It may never cause a problem for your rabbit, or it could eventually lead to bladder sludge,

For my rabbits, I don't like seeing that much excess calcium in the urine regardless of whether they do or don't have bladder calcium build up issues, just because it means extra stress on the kidneys and bladder to clear it out, and there's always the potential of it developing into a problem.

Your rabbit is still young and growing so does need more calcium than an adult rabbit, so I wouldn't cut out pellets completely. I would either reduce pellet amounts to a point where there is only a little calcium residue seen in the urine, or reduce the young rabbit pellets and then start transitioning off them and onto the lower calcium adult pellets.

 

[pimsybunny]

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[pimsybunny]

It's not bladder sludge then, so currently not a health issue. It's just excess calcium in the urine. It may never cause a problem for your rabbit, or it could eventually lead to bladder sludge,

For my rabbits, I don't like seeing that much excess calcium in the urine regardless of whether they do or don't have bladder calcium build up issues, just because it means extra stress on the kidneys and bladder to clear it out, and there's always the potential of it developing into a problem.

Your rabbit is still young and growing so does need more calcium than an adult rabbit, so I wouldn't cut out pellets completely. I would either reduce pellet amounts to a point where there is only a little calcium residue seen in the urine, or reduce the young rabbit pellets and then start transitioning off them and onto the lower calcium adult pellets.

Im giving her a small hand of pellets morning, lunch, dinner, and for overnight, so it's still mostly available for her just limited. I also just bought fresh timothy hay so she's more inclined to munch on that as well and some orchard hay that i mixed in, I read that it has the lowest calcium level of hay and bunnies love it.

Hopefully this all works and help relieve her kidneys and bladder, let me know if there is anything else you believe i should do to help her

Thank youuuuu