Bunny undergoing surgery to remove a bladder stone

[KJenn]

Hi, all. My bunny is currently in surgery to remove a bladder stone the emergency vet found yesterday. Has anyone had a rabbit undergo this procedure and what was your experience?

I took him in yesterday immediately after I found bladder sludge in his cage. His vet is very experienced with rabbits — including providing voluntary care, neuters and spays for a local rabbit rescue. Baxter was still bright and curious this morning, but his appetite has decreased markedly, he’s only peeing a little and not pooping as much, and he’s not drinking water. The vet and I opted to get this taken care of immediately. Baxter is nearly 7. He’s a chocolate brown mini lop who lives indoors and is well taken care of.

[Ouisie]

Can’t provide any personal experience, but thinking of you and Baxter and hope everything goes well

[Sarita]

I have never had a bladder stone removed but I have had a rabbit with bladder sludge who had her bladder flushed a few times.

Did the vet do an x-ray to see if it was actually a bladder stone or just bladder sludge – bladder sludge does not necessarily mean there is a stone.

[KJenn]

@Sarita, the emergency vet (and the one who did the surgery) did an x-ray and it was pretty clear there was a stone in there. He removed the stone and a ton of thick sludge. Bunny did well during the procedure and he’s now home. On a separate note, I’m pretty careful what I feed the rabbit — unlimited timothy hay, Oxbow timothy pellets (about 1/8 of a cup) and plenty of fresh herbs and greens. I’m especially careful to limit any that are high in calcium. Is there anything I can do now to minimize the risk of more sludge building up? I know some bunnies are more prone than others, but I really don’t want to see my little guy go through this again.

[Sarita]

Glad he is doing well!

This is really a metabolic problem rather than a dietary problem from what I understand – it was thought in the past to be due to those foods high in calcium but I’m not sure that is entirely the case now.

I guess what I would recommend is you ask the vet if you can do fluids as needed at home for the bladder sludge problem – part of the problem with sludge for older rabbits too is that they just cannot posture correctly when they urinate to help eradicate the sludge. Sometimes that is due to things like arthritis…rabbits tend to be prone to arthritis.

Here is a very good article describing this:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

This article is very good as well and offers some suggestions:

http://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/

[jerseygirl]

I believe you can get the stone tested to find out what type it is and also any bacteria involved. Then further preventative measures can be made based on the results.

The site owner (BinkyBunny) had a bunny that had a stone removed. I think she was able to give Polycitra (sp?) after but this is only effective for certain types of stones.
I’ve also read about liquid magnesium helping reduce sludge too.

Glad to hear your bunny is now home. Hope it’s a speedy recovery. He should feel miles better having the stone & sludge out.

[KJenn]

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes! Baxter sends bunny kisses. @jerseygirl, The vet already send the stone out for testing (there’s a lab in Minnesota that will run the test for free). Once the results come back, we’ll know how to do long-term preventative maintenance. On the up side, the vet said everything else looks good with Baxter. @Sarita, the vet said he’ll show me how to administer fluids when Baxter has his next checkup. The good thing is, this vet is pretty much available 24/7 (the emergency on-call number is actually his cell phone).

I’m giving him Baytril twice a day and closely watching his eating, drinking and eliminating. He doesn’t seem too interested in his greens or hay right now (usually he’s a pig at feeding time). I did give him a little piece of apple and carrot as a treat, and he sure chowed those down. I do have some critical care formula I can give to him if he hasn’t eaten much by bedtime — just to keep his digestive tract moving. I figure tomorrow I can go to the pet store and pick up some Oxbow orchard grass for a treat, and swing by the store for some organic dandelion greens.

[LongEaredLions]

I have guinea pigs who are prone to bladder stones. They need the lowest calcium diet possible, I feed green/red leaf lettuce, and orchard hay. You may want to go pelletless if that’s an option. It certainly helps for me. While bladder stones are genetic and may happen to an animal even if they consume no calcium, lowering the calcium intake can slow the formation of the stones, which are almost always calcium carbonate. High water intake is also important, as it helps to flush out the bladder.You can also try the oxbow urinary support tabs. I can’t offer proof that they actually help, but they can’t hurt.
(((((Vibes for your bun)))))

[Kimomo]

As Sarita said, not really sure if there’s a link between bladder stones and a diet high in calcium, but I agree with LongEaredLions that giving less of high calcium veggies and more of other wet leafy greens would probably be a good route. For one of my buns, he had some calcium deposit in his tummy that showed up in the x-ray, so I decreased the amount of parsley celery and other high calcium content veggies he was eating. Hope your bun recovers quickly! ((Bunny vibes))

[BinkyBunny]

My bunny Jack had a stone that had to be surgically removed. And I agree with LEL – while diet isn’t the cause for bladder stones, diet can helpful in preventing further stones for bunnies that don’t process calcium properly. See what I ended up doing with Jack’s Diet –https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Diet/JacksDiet/tabid/186/Default.aspx

[KJenn]

UPDATE: Baxter is back to his sweet self after having his surgery on Monday. I’ve got a follow-up appointment in about 3-4 weeks once the test results come back on the stone the vet removed from his bladder. He’s urinating normally again, plenty, dilute and with no signs of bladder sludge. He gets the majority of his water from his greens, which I always wet down heavily before feeding him. (I tried the juice in the water trick — he wants nothing to do with that. When he does drink, he’s prefers the bottle. If I leave a bowl of water in his cage, he fills it with hay and poop.)

He’s always been on a lower-calcium diet with plenty of unlimited timothy hay. I do give him 1/8 cup of pellets daily, but they’re Oxbow timothy pellets with probiotics. That seems to help keep his digestive tract in order — especially when he’s still on the antibiotics. Giving Baxter his medicine (Baytril) crushed in pineapple juice or another fluid seems to stress him out more than it’s worth. So now I tuck a piece of the pill in a banana — his favorite thing on the planet — and it disappears without a problem. Yes, I know I have to be careful with sugary treats like bananas. He’ll take the pill inside a small piece — and it’s a temporary thing until his medicine is gone.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts.

[LongEaredLions]

So glad he is doing well!
He sounds so well taken care of, I hope he is free of bladder stones in the future!
What a brave bunny.::

[Nat]

How much did this cost? I know it’s a long time ago but my bunny passed blood in his pee today and he did pass a small stone. I am very concerned that he may need surgery.

[Bam]

Hi and welcome to BB, Nat!

This really is an old thread. Many of the members that were active on the forums back then are nolonger active. Procedures and prices have changed a lot since 2014. I recommend that you start a new topic about this. I think the chances that you get relevant answers are greater if you do!

 

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