Rabbit Urine

[Elvis Monroe]

Hi, I am a first time rabbit owner of 2 months. I just changed Elvi’s box, and my stomach is in knots! He urinated right away. He peed in the corner of his box and there wasn’t much litter in that corner. I could see the consistency of the urine… it was extremely cloudy!! Is this normal for rabbits, or do I seek medical care for him!? He acts completely normal. He runs, jumps, binky jumps, eats a normal amount, and drinks plenty of water. I know with humans that it is not normal for the urine to be cloudy. We use shedded paper for his litter box so I don’t know how to keep an eye on this. Also, how does one get a urine sample from a rabbit to test? Please help! I’m a very concerned bunny mommy right now!

[Daisy]

Cloudy urine is because your bunny is excreting calcium. It’s not a big issue, but if your bunny always has it you may want to reduce the calcium intake in their diet as I believe it has been suggested that frequent cloudy urine can give kidney/blather stones. Feeding the wrong pellets can often contribute to cloudy urine. I would suggest looking at the calcium contents of your current pellets. It should not be higher than 1%.

[Elvis Monroe]

Excellent! Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll double check the bag when I get back up. We have also been feeding him a fresh salad at night. Are there any veggies and fruits to stay clear of regarding this?

[Sirius&Luna]

I’ve just looked into this a little, as I think that the only way rabbits can get rid of excess calcium is through the urine. So slightly cloudy urine occasionally isn’t always a cause for concern.

You may find this article useful it also has a list of high and low calcium veggies at the bottom

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/further-reading/calcium-reading-case-study/

[kurottabun]

How old is he? As what everyone else mentioned, cloudy urine is normally caused by a diet of excess calcium. Apart from the pellets and veggies, is he on alfalfa hay or timothy hay? When a bunny is young, they normally eat alfalfa hay or pellets as they need the extra nutrition/calcium, but it can become too much when they get older, so they should be transitioned to a timothy based diet as they grow

[Elvis Monroe]

Thank you guys. Elvi is almost 5 months old. He eats a mixture of Timothy hay and alfalfa. Same with his pellets. Thank you for the link as well!

[kurottabun]

In that case you can try weaning him off the alfalfa and transition to a full timothy hay diet. Having alfalfa in both pellets and hay form may be too rich for a 5-month old bunny

[Elvis Monroe]

Oh ok. I wasn’t sure if he was too young to be taken off of the Alfa. What is the typical age for that?

[kurottabun]

I can’t remember what was the typical age, but I recommend reading the House Rabbit Society’s website for general info on bunnies

Ultimately every bun is different so if you’re noticing chalky pee, it’s probably time to change his diet. Some bun owners feed their buns timothy hay from as young as 2-3 months but give alfalfa pellets. Hay can usually be switched immediately without causing tummy issues, but for pellets it’s best to transition slowly and mix the alfalfa pellets with timothy ones gradually until it’s 100% timothy pellets.

[Wick & Fable]

It can be a bit of a guessing game, but there are some indicators to help.

1) If there’s too frequent calcium pees, it’s time to switch to Timothy, either in the form of pellets, hay, or both.

2) If your rabbit is getting overweight, it’s time to begin limitting the pellets and potentially switching over to Timothy as well. If your rabbit still needs to grow (i.e. a bit skinny), rhen sticking with alfafa is still okay.

Wick was switched to Timothy hay and pellets at 3 months old due to calcium pees, but he did become underweight, which needed to be amended with one week of critical care feeding supplemented. So it was an easy “fix”, most likely needed because of an early switch.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Elvis Monroe]

Thank you. Elvi is still pretty skinny. I can still feel his ribs pretty well.

[Author]

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