Too Much Calcium/Refusing anything BUT Alfalfa

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This topic has 7sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 10 months ago by bpash89.

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- 06/27/2013 at 8:19 PM
  Jessie1990
  Participant
  393 posts
  Long story short: Ashe won’t eat anything other than Alfalfa… and she has calcium deposits in her urine…
  
  I cut Kale from her diet a long time ago, but she was still getting a couple leaves of spinach in her salad. I have now cut that out as well and I am going to get some new greens to introduce next week (this week she is getting parsley, romain, basil, and mint alternating between the last two).
  
  I have been trying to ween her off of alfalfa becuase she hit 6 months a couple of weeks ago… but she won’t eat any other hay. I have tried oat, orchard grass, timothy (oxbow and Kaytee). This is all I can find around here. I have tried mixing alfalfa in with the new hay to slowly transition until all she has is the new hay, but she just picks around it. She hasn’t had any kale or spinach in her diet for at least a week and I am still seeing calcium deposits in her litter box. It’s not alot but I know that it can cause problems if it continues.
  
  I am assuming it is from the alfalfa and that I need to stop feeding it, but she also needs her hay. Does anyone have any suggestions?
- 06/27/2013 at 8:20 PM
  Jessie1990
  Participant
  393 posts
  Pellets are timothy based and she gets 1/4 cup a day, and doesn’t even eat them all.
- 06/27/2013 at 11:04 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17242 posts
  What do you mean by calcium deposits?
- 06/28/2013 at 12:37 AM
  Jessie1990
  Participant
  393 posts
  White in her urine. It’s not solid and it’s not much, but I read that this means she is getting excess calcium that is being dispelled because she does not need it. I also read that this can lead to UT problems. BUT I have been changing her litter twice a day to monitor it and it seems that there is VERY little now. So, I’m not sure if I should be concerned anymore or not. Of course I will watch for it still.
  
  It looks like thin milk that dried in her litter. Like I said there isn’t much, but it’s been occurring for a couple weeks and I don’t want her to have any urinary tract problems.
- 06/28/2013 at 1:02 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17033 posts
  If you rinse her veggies in water right before you give them to her so they’re dripping wet, it will help rinse out the calcium. (People with kidney stones and realted issues should drink lots to rinse out the crystals). Some bunnies don’t drink as much as they “should” but with wet greens they “unknowingly” increase their intake of water. I do this with my bunny Bam whose urine can dry into a chalk-like coating in his litter-box sometimes. You’ll have larger volumes of urine to deal with which means you’ll have to clean her litterbox more often, but that is a small problem compared to thick urine, in my opinion.
  
  Rabbits are excellent at eliminating excess calcium and shed it in their urine. With extra water it flushes out better, so to speak.
- 06/28/2013 at 3:56 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17242 posts
  If it is just white powder, then I wouldn’t be overly concerned. Rabbits expel excess calcium through their urine, that is what is supposed to happen. Like Bam said, I would just try to up water intake. You can try to limit calcium-rich foods in her diet too. Like I said though, having certain things that are higher in calcium should not be problematic if they are part of a variety of things.
  
  If you want to switch her from alfalfa hay, you could try 2nd or 3rd cut hays to see if she likes those. They tend to be sweeter, so she might be more open to trying those to start.
- 06/30/2013 at 9:22 AM
  BabbeeyyBunZ
  Participant
  15 posts
  you should try giving oxbow oat hay, my buns loves it and its literally the only thing he will eat.. timothy hay just doesnt hit the spot for him..
- 06/30/2013 at 10:28 AM
  bpash89
  Participant
  307 posts
  My little one doesn’t care for timothy either but she loves meadow hay. But try out a few varieties and see what she will take besides alfalfa. You can always mix it too, add something else in with her alfalfa and get her used to other kinds, or at the very least, hope she accidentally eats the other along with her alfalfa.
  
  Since it’s very hot right now, the only treat I’ve been giving my little one is fruit juice in her water. I actually just make the diluted mixture it into ice cubes and she loves it. It’s nice and cold and it gets her to drink more water. Plus her veggies are always drenched as well. I definitely have to clean her box a lot though because of the urine but at least I know she’s drinking enough water.
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