Bunny bladder and dental problems

[Brambino]

Hi everyone

Little Bramble has been having some real problems recently and any and all advice would be welcomed!

She is now 13 months old and as friendly as ever bless her. Bramble last week started having small poops and reduced eating so i took her to our emergency vet who inspected and said she had overgrown molars .

Bramble is fed a teaspoon of nuggets and has unlimited fresh hay every day (plus greens) so i think this must be malocclusion. Anyone with any help or guidance on how to deal with this i would be so grateful. I feel a little helpless and worry about her future if it means constant dentals into her old age.

Anyway, the vet gave Bramble a full once over when inspecting her and said her bladder felt very tender. The vet proposed whilst she was under doing an ultrasound and x-rays. She did this and found debris in her bladder. The verdict was that it might be normal or not but to treat and deal with the denatl first whilst she was in no outward signs of discomfort. 

Bramble’s litterbox habbits are normal, no dribbling and her urine is a orangey/red colour. Post dental she is her happy binkying self but i am concerned that the vet said her bladder was tender and that there was debris. I dont know whether to push for this to be investigated further. Does anyone have experience of bladder sludge? Was your rabbit very symptomatic? Bramble is fed such a low calcium diet i dont really know what more i can do. I have offered her chamomile and dandelion tea alongside her water each day to try and encourage her to drink. 

Any help would be so appreciated!

Thanks

[kirstyol]

I find our same named bunnies entertaining since they are also so similar! My Bramble also has maloccluded teeth, just the shape of his face apparently. I have had several discussions with our vet about the longer term, like you I am nervous about him being sedated in old age. Vet said it would be possible to remove molars if it was really necessary some years down the line to prevent him needing to go under all the time, but it wasn’t recommended to do it until age vs anaesthetic became a factor as it does affect their ability to eat hay somewhat.

We have managed to get the dentals down to being a lot less regular – we found a hay he will eat a tonne of and it has really helped him. we have gone from a dental every four or five months initially to us now being at nine months since his last one and no sign of needing another yet. We just tried lots of different hays to try to increase his consumption and it did eventually work so that might be worth a try.

I cant comment on the bladder sludge i’m afraid because ive never experienced it in bunnies, but based on my experience with humans (i’m a nurse) I would just watch for a change in urine output and go to the vet asap if it decreases.

[Wascally Wabbits]

My rainbow bridge bunny (he passed for unrelated reasons to bladder sludge) had bladder sludge for most of his life. If you only feed him one teaspoon of pellets a day, it could be the types of veggies you’re feeding. Keep in mind though some calcium in urine is normal. From my experience, i switched to the lowest calcium pellets I could get my hands on. Looked up calcium content of every vegetable I was feeding him to control calcium intake. I also made multiple sources of water available bc bladder sludge bunnies need hydration to pass the sludge with the most comfort. Dandelions are pretty high in calcium btw. I recommend you ask your vet for appropriate daily calcium intake.

[Brambino]

Thanks, both. Kirstyol, sorry to hear about Bramble’s troubles but glad to hear I’m not the only one. Is your Bramble a Nethie too?

[jerseygirl]

I would be careful with reducing dietry calcium. Rabbits are supposed to have a unique ability of passing calcium they don’t need via the urine. If there is metabolic disease, then it is a different story. But reducing calcium too much can impact on bone and teeth. 

It may be worth having her blood calcium and vitamin D levels checked, if possible. 

So Bramble had her molars looked at under sedation? Were the xrays taken also dental xrays? If so, how are the roots looking?

[Wascally Wabbits]

My post above shouldn’t be taken as medical advice btw. Any major dietary changes should be at your rabbit savvy vet’s recommendation.

With my Chicho we tried a lot of different things before we found a specific ratio that worked for him.

[kirstyol]

He is a mixed breed really. i saw both his parents and definitely not nethie plus his ears are far too big. He just has a very narrow face according to the vet which is why he will probably always have some teeth issues unfortunately

[jerseygirl]

I was looking for this page with info about calcium when I posted before. Turns out it was a tab I’ve had open for over a week!

http://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food

[Brambino]

Thanks, JerseyGirl. The website is fab. I think I will try and have another chat with the vet re bloods and see what we can do. Just worried, debris does not sound good but the website makes sensense, her bladders not being slushed around so much lol. Lazy bun

[jerseygirl]

Yes, it’s probably worth bookmarking her website as she’s adding to it a lot now that she’s retired from practice. She’s focusing on rabbit education for both owners and vets and hosting lectures a couple times a year that owners can attend.

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