I’m not too familiar with the cranberry juice thing, but the one you got sounds like it would be mostly sugar, so prob wouldn’t have the effect you’re going for. I’m sure she would like it, but it would just be sugar 😉

Can you post a pic of the possible sludge?

Not to detract too much from your primary question, but what type of water vessel are you using, and how often do you find yourself refilling it and/or cleaning it? Over 3 months, I would hope you’d see her drink water more than 5 times.

It may say no sugar added, but they get around this by using apple and grape juice as sweeteners, so it is still very high sugar. Straight cranberry juice is so tart that you wouldn’t enjoy drinking it straight.

If you find you are not refilling her water often, that’s a good indicator that she is not drinking a lot. Getting water from veggies can be a cause as well. I have two rabbits who have very different levels of water consumption, so it’s hard to provide what you should be looking for.

Hydration can be really important to ensure things the body is not using/wants to “flush out” get out efficiently. It doesn’t surprise me that her urine looked more normal when she had more water. In humans, it’s common to advise drinking a lot of water when you suspect having a UTI or something of that nature, because you want to assist your body in flushing out any bad bacteria/waste.

She also might not drink very much because she isn’t a great hay eater. Hopefully with more hay she will drink more water. And putting a tiny amount of juice to get her to drink is probably OK, especially with the sludge concerns. You might also try making mint or hay tea for her.

Hi there! I have two rabbits, and my male who I adopted a few months ago would barely drink water when I first got him. Turns out he didn’t like tap water, so when I started giving him water that had been sitting out and refrigerated or water from our fridge, he would enjoy it and I began to notice him drinking more. Since then I have been working on getting him to drink tap water, because it’s less of a hassle to give him, so maybe your bun is super picky with water? Another way I tried to get more water into Louie was by brewing some mint tea. It’s a tea that is made of only dried mint leaves, so I would make some light tea and Louie would try it. It doesn’t have sugar, as opposed to juices, so maybe its worth a shot?

thank you! I love the photo of your bun in your profile photo!