Advice on sludge in rabbits?

The "sludge" disease on rabbits is usually caused by urine restrain of the rabbit.When a rabbit restrains itself from urinating,the calcium minerals in its body slowly stocks up in the bladder.

The primary treatment is a vet trip for medical advise and diagnosis.You should try lowering the calcium intake of the rabbit through its diet.Most commercial pelleted rabbit food is made from alfalfa. Alfalfa is both high in calcium and high in calories. Changing the bunny to all timothy based pellet then has the affect of lowering the amount of calcium in the rabbit’s diet (and therefore less calcium should be excreted in the urine). A timothy based pelleted diet may also help those fat bunnies shed some ounces. Lower calcium greens such as lettuce, cabbage, and celery should be given instead of high calcium greens like turnips, collard, parsley, or kale. Dandelion greens may be an exception. They have moderate amounts of calcium but have been reputed to have a diuretic affect that may help increase urination and keep the calcium carbonate levels in the bladder down. Increase water intake should be encouraged as well for the same effect. Flavoring a bunny’s water with diluted fruit juice is one easy way to increase water intake.

However,typically,even through all the medications,the disease may reoccur after a while.It may be gone for about a month and then come back the next.There is no exact way to tell if a recurrence may happen or not.The primary treatment is not yet identified.So it is still unkown to mankind what kind of treatment the rabbit(with "sludge" should have).

VERY LITTLE progress is being done.

...

I've only ever come across sludge once in a rabbit, and that was a very long time ago, probably vet technology has progressed a lot since then lol.

I usually use dr squiggles to get any of my small animals to drink :

http://www.ratwarehouse.com/shop_detail.php?item=1...

My bunnies have this anyway for the vitamins (they are giant bunnies ;-D), and they do love it and drink it very quickly. Sadly the rat warehouse is closed at the mo, but you can get it from a lot of good pet shops or parrot shops.

A bit of honey in her water may make the water sweet enough for her to take a liking to it as well.

Dandelion leaves are a great food for rabbits, and are a natural diuretic, so they should help no-end, and also help with other ailments too:

http://www.healthypetcorner.com/rabbit.html

(Take care they have no pesticides on them though!)

I sure hope the poor little lady gets better soon :-D xxx

RABBITS

Rabbits need a high fibre, grassed-based diet.

Good quality grass hay and a little fresh green pick(fresh grass, clover,dandelion and dark green leafy vegetables) are all they need.

lucerne hay and pellets are useful for young growing rabbits, but the high calicum content can cause urinary tract problems in adult rabbits.

Foods rabbits should avoid

Vegetables such as Broccoli, Cabbage&kale can vause too much gas to be produced if fed in large amounts to rabbits & guineapigs.

High Oxalate vegetables

Greens such as Spinach, beet leaves & to a lesser extent parsley can have high levels of oxalates. fed in high amounts these can interfere with calcium metabolism and cause damage the kidneys. Carnivores are unlikely to consume enough of these to cause a problem, but herbivores such as rabbits and guineapigs could be at risk if fed these green as the bulk of their diet. they are NOT a problem if fed in small amounts to healthy animals

Grain based diets

These are too high in energy and do not contain enough effective roughage.the high energy result in fat pets and the lack of roughage contributes to dental disease and poor intestinal health.

Fresh hay & greens

Suit; rabbit,guinea pig, rodent

Short; 5-15mintues

500g grass hay

1 cup of freshly cut grass

1/4 cup fresh picked clover

4 green beans

2 celery tops(the leaves from the top of 1 stick of celery

6 carrot tops(the leaves from the freshly picked carrots

1/2 cm slice of carrot

Serving

Rinse your ingredients with clean water and serve immedately.

Tip,

Alternative greens include dandelion and radish tops.