Litter with Baking Soda

[emkvet]

 I was looking at litter online and saw that Petco is making a pelleted paper litter that has baking soda in it. Does anyone know if baking soda is toxic to rabbits? I looked online and got mixed answers. Just curious to know!

[3 buns mom]

I was at Petco last night and seen that as well. I was wondering the same thing, so I would be curious to hear what others think.

[bunnyfriend]

Someone asked one time here on BinkyBunny about that, and I think the consensus was that it probably would be too hard on their little bunny feetsies, but I don’t think anyone knew for certain. Are you having problems with the litter box stinking?

[emkvet]

No I’m not, I was just curious.

[MoxieSox]

I don’t know about this either. Isn’t baking soda very high in sodium? I’d be concerned about them ingesting some for that reason.

I think it’s silly, anyway. I have never noticed any smell from my bunny’s litterbox unless I was late on cleaning. IMHO the potential gain isn’t worth the potential risk.

 

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I used this litter for my bunny sunshine and it was very safe for her. When i rescued her from a rescue group they used wood stove pellets and sprinkled baking soda underneath the pellets. I used that for a while but currently am loving purina’s yesterdays news unscented pellets. They are cheaper and last me a long time compared to the baking soda kind. If that is all you can find then use that they are safe for rabbits.

[Monkeybun]

If there is no problem with odor, why get the baking soda kind? I would rather use a litter without it, as bunnies do tend to nibble on their litter. And baking soda wouldn’t be good for them to inhale.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’d phone my vet and ask. I doubt it would be harmful if ingested since it is like-magic (the baking soda that is!) but I don’t know. Just because it’s for sale doesn’t mean it’s harmless as we all still grumble when we see yogurt drops for rabbits in the aisle at the petstore. Monkey has a SUPER point about them inhaling it-that could be very dangerous. Perhaps best left on the shelf.

[BinkyBunny]

 I remembered reading somewhere to watch out for too much baking soda as it can cause gas.  That a little is okay but alot is not.  But what constitutes a little and alot..and if it’s mixed into the litter, what that means if a bunny eats it……I don’t know. 

I finally found where I read this and it was from one of Dana Krempels answers on allexperts.

 

She replies to someone who says their bunny seems to like the taste:  Source: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-…g-Soda.htm

 

Eating a *very* small amount of baking soda won’t harm him, but if he’s getting more than a tiny bit, then you will have to keep him away from it.  Sodium bicarbonate is used as an emetic (to induce vomiting) because it produces tremendous amounts of gas when it hits the acidic stomach.  Humans can vomit, but rabbits cannot.  So there is the very real risk of stomach rupture if the bunny ingests enough to generate too much for the volume of the stomach.

If he has just recently ingested a large amount of baking soda, please contact your rabbit savvy vet immediately:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

to ask if there is cause for supportive/preventive treatment such as subcutaneous fluids or other measures to prevent stomach rupture (intubation may be necessary if he starts to bloat) or sodium toxicity.

But from now on, please keep him strictly away from that baking soda!

Hope he will be fine.

Dana 

 

 

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