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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE I don’t even know what to feed my rabbits anymore…

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    • GrumpyBun
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         As some of you may have seen, Oxo has bladder sludge. Therefore we need a low-calcium high-hydration diet. Simple, huh?

        No. They’ve gone on veggie hunger strike. 

        The basis of their veggie diet was varying mixtures of spring greens, kale, spinach and cabbage. They liked it so, along with other little bits and pieces, that’s what they ate. I may have been wrong or I may have been right but that’s irrelevant now. Kale, spinach and greens are banned as high calcium and cabbage, as moderate calcium content, must be very restricted. Can I even give him some cabbage as we’re trying to get him to pass sludge we know is in his bladder?

        We’ve tried celery, peppers, apple, pear, romaine lettuce, brussel sprouts (sliced up thin – lazy buns), tomatoes, carrots… they’re even refusing the carrots now. They literally didn’t eat *any* veg overnight, so I didn’t give them their pellets this morning. I took them out and rinsed them under the cold tap, put them back in thinking they wouldn’t starve: they have lovely hydrating veggies and plenty of  hay. Apart from celery these are all things they used to eat along with the now-banned greens.

        They’ve just filled up on hay – all day!  

        So, in summary we have a rabbit desperately requiring hydration refusing anything except hay, some grass, and pellets. We’ve given him extra bowls and a bowl of juice and water mix – he’s refusing to drink out if the juice bowl so it hasn’t got more liquid in him. I just wish he’d realise I’m trying to help. I can’t work out what to give them tonight – some wet cabbage for hydration? No pellets so they fill up on hay? Romaine lettuce in the hope they’ll eat it? 

        Rabbits, huh?


      • Sarita
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          Did you cut out the pellets?

          Did the vet do a blood test to see how high Oxo’s blood calcium level was?


        • Sarita
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            I suggest you read this article:

            http://www.rabbit.org/health/urolith.html

            I think you’ll see that they don’t really consider these greens to be such a culprit and that also exercise is important and this can help increase the water intake as well.


          • GrumpyBun
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              They have had pellets as usual, apart from today when they have had none.

              No blood test, it wasn’t my usual vet as Rachel is on holiday (always the way) but I am back on Monday to see her. The covering vet said she could feel sludge in his bladder though. Does this sound right? They are my first rabbits and the first time they’ve really been ill. Be blunt if there’s something I should have done – love for my rabbits and a bit of research doesn’t make me knowledgeable in all fields!

              EDIT: will read article, posted while I was replying. Thanks!


            • Sarita
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                I think the article will help you when you go back to your regular vet. Most vets will verify this with an x-ray, bloodwork, and urinalysis. Doing all of those is costly though so I would start with the x-ray and urinalysis – the sludge will show up on the x-ray.

                Most vets in the US who would suggest cutting out the pellets first and foremost as those are higher in calcium and more concentrated.


              • GrumpyBun
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                  Posted By Sarita on 10/08/2010 01:30 PM
                   Most vets in the US who would suggest cutting out the pellets first and foremost as those are higher in calcium and more concentrated.

                  I can see that. Plus, they can’t help hydration. I think I’ll give them some wet cabbage along with some other low-calcium veg tonight (gas from cabbage has been no issue) and plenty of fresh water. My vet are open saturday mornings so if they eat nothing I can phone in the morning, 

                  I am printing out the article to take with my list of questions on monday. 


                • Sarita
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                    I think green lettuces like romaine and green leaf and really most other lettuces would be fine as well.

                    I think some rabbits are just predisposed to sludge – I’ve had about 4 sludgy rabbits and the rest were fine – all on the same diet. Also age and activity level are a cause.


                  • Andi
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                      I’m with Sarita on this one.
                      I think before we panic get the urinalysis done, rabbits naturally have high % of calcium in the urine and many seem to be pre disposed to sludge (though it may never form into crystals/stones). I’m just not sure ‘feeling’ the bladder for sludge would be enough to diagnos this is a problem.

                      Stick to your regular diet, maybe take out the Kale and lessen the pellets (or look at the calcium % in it and decide if you should try another brand). The biggest thing I think is make sure he’s drinking enough, and if not syring some water into him if you have to. If he’s not a big mover, try adn get him up and moving around everyday.
                      Definetly talk to your regular Vet, ask lots of questions.

                      I have (and had) Rabbits with sludge, so far it’s not been an health issue and only recently has one had infection in the bladder and sludge at the same time.


                    • Nibbles_NZ
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                        What exactly is sludge? What are the symptoms?


                      • GrumpyBun
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                          Nibbles, please see the link above. It’s essentially extra calcium building up as small crystals in the bladder – if you’d like to see a picture of one type of sludge that has been excreted, please have a look at my thread in the Q&A section. The main symptoms with Oxo was more time being spent in his litterbox, not being ‘comfy’ whilst urinating and just being a bit quiet. Just my experience though – not an expert.

                          I’m going to bulk up with cabbage and romaine and just give them breakfast pellets (they usually only get veg with their evening meal). They grew up on cabbage, they know it, they like it, and it’s more hydrating then nothing. It’s only two days until we can see Rachel…


                        • Rippy
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                            What about dandelions ? They are very healthy and even if they contain quite a bit of calcium it is a diuretic herb. So the idea here is that your bunny will have to drink more because he will pee more. Basically it will move more fluid thru him and that’s what you want ? This is just an idea but someone else will have to confirm if its a good one or not.

                             

                            PS Healthy for a bunny and a human


                          • GrumpyBun
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                              They ate their veggies last night!

                              I think it was the familiarity of the cabbage? They even ate romaine which they’d completely rejected the past few nights. I don’t have great access to dandelions but I liked the idea so put in a bunch of parsley – I believe it’s a diuretic as well. Plus, Bisto hates it so I know it’s Oxo munching on it.

                              Thank you all for your help!


                            • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                                Sounds like you got the veggie thing under control! Sometimes they just refuse a new veggie for a few times but then will eat it later…after you’ve thrown a bunch out
                                Based on what they like though-and what you said you tried…might I suggest red cabbage, radicchio, bok choy (or other chinese greens) and cilantro, carrots tops? They might be close enough to what they like, but different enough to get him munching veggies more?

                                The other thing for hydration-I believe you said you were seeing a specialist so perhaps this is best to ask the vet about first-maybe putting diluted pedialyte or fruit juices (apple) into the water to encourage more drinking?


                              • GrumpyBun
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                                  Veggies are under control, well, as under control as anything related to rabbits is! I think they were just having a tantrum.

                                  We’ve tried mixing things in with the water but Oxo plain refuses to drink it, I’m thinking he’s doesn’t like it being altered. I can’t find pedialyte, I did want to try the grape flavour. I came to the conclusion it was a US product.


                                • Sarita
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                                    Yeah, sometimes just clean fresh water is the trick with no additives.

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                                Forum DIET & CARE I don’t even know what to feed my rabbits anymore…