Help, thick white pee

[bunnybell]

Hi, my bunny has recently been urinating a thick white pee. From what i;ve read, this is due to too much calcium in the diet. How do i decrease the amount of calcium she has?

Her current diet is bunches of Katee timithy hay (with mint in it) and a little more than 1/3 cup of Katee(brand) Timithy Complete pellets.
She’s about a few months old, probably around 6 or 7 maybe? I’m not entirely sure, shes a rescue bunny i got from my aunt.

 

I know that alfalfa hay is also a bit rich and i haven’t been feeding her that but today the neighbor who went to town picked some up for me(meant to get timathy hay but they got alfalfa instead) and i won’t be able to go to town for a while as we live far from any where that we could buy from. Is it ok to feed this to her while she is having this calcium issue? How should i adjust her diet?

[Sarita]

Alfalfa is high in caclium. First you should have a vet look at her to determine if this is indeed sludge.

Their is alot of controversy that sludge (if that is what this is) is caused by calcium, the new thinking is that it is genetic, due to decreased motility or even metabolic disease.

That being said, rabbits DO need calcium and you don’t want to change her diet unless you are instructed by the vet. I would cut out the alfalfa though…what type of greens are you feeding her if any?

[bunnybell]

carrots(no tops, i can’t find any with greens on it) occasionally, but i’m not entirely sure what i should feed her in terms of greens. There are so many contradictions so its hard to find 3 different greens to feed her.

I don’t feed her carrots all too often because i’m worried the sugar content might be a bit high, but when i do i feed her 1 carrot for the day with her normal diet.

what are three good veggies to feed often? there are ones that say “you can feed this but only in small amounts” then i try to avoid those because i don’t know what a small amount is.

Are herbs like rosemary and sage good to feed? my neighbor has tons of it to spare so i can use that.

[Bunnehs]

Is your kaytee pellets made of alfalfa as well? Also mint leaves are high in calcium too so that isn’t good. Feed it the alfalfa hay and give it only 1/2 a table spoon of alfalfa pellets until you find your timothy hay. Carrots are not good for your rabbit as their vegetable portions!!! Carrots are only suppose to be a thumbsized snack daily. Greens are leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, red& green lettuce, bok choy, spinach and stuff similar to that. Carrots are high in sugar and also small amounts are only about one or two pieces… Rosemary & sage are perfectly safe for your rabbit to eat! heres dah list:
https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=144

[Stickerbunny]

http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html <— suggested veggies, also flagged for ones to be careful of with an !. For the ones you should limit, just don't feed them more than 3 times a week. Veggies are an important part of their diet so I would start introducing some greens to your bun. Start with a small amount of one at a time until you know which ones don't cause an upset tummy, as some buns are more sensitive to certain veggies than others. Mine like cilantro, parsley, romaine lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, carrots (high in sugar, so limit), apple (same as carrots), pineapple (same as carrots), celery, spinach and watercress.

[bunnybell]

What do you guys feed your bunnies? give me an example of both daily feed and an approximate price per month of such a diet please and thanks

[Sarita]

The carrots are fine – I usually feed one or two of the small ones daily – they are not that high in sugar. The main reason that House Rabbit suggested limiting them is that they did not want rabbit owners to feed ONLY carrots (like Bugs Bunny).

Sage is fine, but rosemary probably isn’t enough green but the twigs would be good to chew on.

I feed daily romaine, cilantro and a mixed spring mix. And if I can get good herbs like Basil, Mint, Arugula, and Dill, I feed those (just depends on the quality and if the place I shop at has them in stock). I also have started feeding broccoli.

Whatever you feed, start slowly and try one green at a time until you get a nice mix.

[Sarita]

Your pellets are timothy based, but you want that to be the smallest part of your rabbits diet. The largest part needs to be a grass hay like timothy or orchard grass.

[bunnybell]

Thanks everyone, especially Sarita

can i feed her carrots every day with her normal diet(not in place of the other diet)? i’ve been trying to give it to her a bit later in the day so that she eats her pellets and stuff first and doesn’t favor the carrots.

is there a way to make sage more appealing? I think its a bit strong fer her, she leaves it be. I hear lettices like Romain and iceberg don’t have enough nutrients…i know iceberg at least is mainly water, but is Romain ok? any more advice?

Heres what i plan on feeding her till i can get some timothy hay:

For now i have a bit of timothy hay left before i switch to the alfalfa. I might be able to get more timothy hay before i actually get the alfalfa in her diet, in which case i plan to mix it like 50/50.
I’ll feed her less pellets(1/4 cup?) when shes on the 50/50.

For the pellets, they’re timothy based i think, but they also have like oats and stuff apparently, and a nutrient mix. This might be whats causing the think urine issue i think.

[Stickerbunny]

Romaine and other dark green lettuces have some nutrients and are fine to feed, mine get some with their salad cause they like it. Iceberg though has practically no nutrients, so don’t feed that, you want rich dark colored veggies. You can feed her the veggies whenever you want to, if she eats the vegs first she’ll eat the pellets later and honestly I would rather they eat veggies over pellets – but start with one new one at a time.

Today for an example of what my buns got was: Romaine (2 leaves off a head of lettuce), two florets of broccoli chopped up with the stem, 1 baby carrot each, 1 leaf of bok choy, a small handful of parsley and a small sample of cilantro since it’s new and since Stickers is getting medicine they each get 2 craisins because she has to have a treat to make up for mommy being mean and forcing the medicine (and since they are bonded, Powder has to have a treat too). Otherwise, they get 1/4 cup of pellets each and unlimited Oxbow orchard grass hay.

I am introducing some new stuff into their diet, in the fridge for them I have: Cilantro, parsley, mustard greens, bok choy, romaine lettuce, broccoli, carrots. The veggies will last about a week, but I eat them too, all together it was oh… $10 to buy it. If I didn’t eat it, it would probably last 2 weeks. So maybe $20 a month for them. Sometimes I get baby spinach, or some other greens, just depends on what is in the store that looks good.

Edit: Oh yeah, I also pick fresh grass out of our yard for mine (since it’s pesticide/fertilizer free and no other animals) and wash it, Powder loves it. And dandelion greens also from the yard. Occasionally I will buy them some wheat grass too.

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