Switching Hay with Older Rabbit

[Sheepoo]

Hi,

We are new and excited to be here. I came cause I have a question and need help… I have had my darling sweetheart Sheepoo for about 8.5 years now and I have been feeding him Meadow Hay in the past so many years along with Timothy Hay.

I was thinking about adding and/or changing the Meadow Hay to Orchard Grass Hay… Any thoughts?!

Note: He had a urine test done lately and they found calcium, but we dont know how as I do not give him veg. for that very reason!

 

Thanks,

Sheepoo and Mom (Michelle)

[jerseygirl]

I’m told rabbits really like orchard grass so it’s certainly worth getting a sample to see if he likes it. Are you looking to switch because of calcium content or is he showing less interest in his hay lately?

This chart has been around many years and gives a bit of an idea of the nutritional content of different hays. https://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html

Regarding calcium, it is normal to find calcium in rabbit urine. In fact, it would be more of a concern of the urine was absent of calcium! Rabbits are unique in that they get rid of excess calcium that they don’t need via the urine.  They pee out 60% of their calcium intake.

Had your boy been showing some bladder issues? Producing “bladder sludge”?

[LBJ10]

Calcium in urine is normal. As long as he doesn’t have sludge or bladder stones, I’m not sure why the vet would think this is an issue.

Meadow hay isn’t a specific type of grass. It can be a mix of grasses, which can vary, and may also contain things like clover. There is nothing wrong with feeding meadow hay, but it could have more calcium if it contains clover. Orchard grass is a good hay. It isn’t as coarse as timothy, but it’s suitable for rabbits and some seem to prefer the softer texture.

[Sheepoo]

Hey,

Thanks for the response.

The urine was a little cloudy and I think the vet might have thought there was more than the usual amount of calcium. She has been a vet awhile so I supoose I trust her, but Idk…

He had been on antibiotics for what we thought was too much bacteria in his poop and urine… I wonder if that antibiotic is why his pee seems different.

I took him into them Emergency Vet the 1st time cause he kept peeing out of the litter box. Then that’s when they put him on the antiobiocs…

Well, after the 10 days of antibiotics it seemed his urine started turning orang-ish red when it dried on the litter!

So, I took in another sample to my regular Vet and that’s when the calcium was mentioned.

I checked out the calcium content of Meadow vs Orchad Grass and from what I read it suggests that Orchard Grass has less calcium.

So, I suppose I wanted to know if switching an older rabbit’s hay was safe and how it is best to go about it AND if anyone else has done this and had postive results.

 

 

Also, since the other topic has been mentioned, I hope his urine is normal though I don’t remember much of this prior in our years with him. Like I say maybe the antibiotics caused this change of urine color? I was giving very small amounts of banana with it to get it him to take it, like a teaspoon of banana with a daily dose of the antibiotic.

But, at this point he has been off them since about the 17th or so. His diet is about the same except I am giving less supplements now… Hmmm…

 

 

 

[Bam]

Antibiotics as well as other meds can change the color of the pee. If it’s a uniform reddish orange color that deepens as the pee dries, it’s unlikely to be blood in the urine. Rabbits can pee reddish orange due to plant pigments in their food (often dandelion or carrots), certain medications, or spontaneously f ex after the first cold spell in the fall. It’s not a medical problem.

It is safe to switch hays, but to feel absolutely safe, you can mix his regular meadow hay with an increasing ratio of orchard. Orchard is often well liked by rabbits. As with all new food, rabbits can be highly suspicious of what they’re not accustomed to. If you mix he hays (meadow is a mix anyway so there could be some orchard in it already), he will be less inclined to refuse the new hay.

There should always be a little bit of cloudiness in bunny pee. All clear pee can  mean that the kidneys can’t filter ut the calcium like they should (causing too high calcium levels in the blood), or that the rabbit isn’t capable of getting rid of the calcium that collects in the bladder.

The best way to know if the bun has elevated blood calcium levels is of course a blood test. Cloudiness in itself is not bad. Caking, wet concrete-like calcium deposits in the litterbox are known as bladder sludge. Here is a link, with pictures,  from Medirabbit, a trusted source, regarding bladder sludge: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm

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