Solids in urine

Question
Our 8 year old rabbit has been having bladder troubles for several months now. Often, when we take him out of his cage to excercise, he occasionaly will just sit down in a corner of our carpet and urinate. Until now, we have not been overly concerned with this,and have just placed a sheet in the corner he prefers, and have just attributed it to his old age. However, recently he urinated and after he moved away from the spot, we noticed 2 spots of what almost looked like sediment in the center of the urine. These deposits were not here before he urinated, and we are concerned over this because of his old age.

Answer
Dear Sean,

At his age (which isn't necessarily old yet, depending on his genes), he might be developing a bladder sludge problem.  This could explain why his litterbox habits have deteriorated.  He might also have a bit of arthritis, and this could prevent him from posturing properly to urinate, allowing normal calcium salt residues to build up without being excreted as they should be.

Bladder sludge is composed of calcium carbonate and/or calcium carbonate crystals.  Bunnies normally excrete these in the urine, and a small amount of whitish residue is normal.  But if you start to see a thicker "paste" that's more the color of curry powder...that's "sludge."

You'll need a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to help you solve this problem.  A good vet can prescribe a short course of subQ fluids and perhaps even a bit of Valium to relax the bladder sphincter so your bunny can flush out all the sludge that's built up.  

If possible, try to ask the vet to show you how to *gently* express his bladder.  We've found that actually jiggling the bladder around a bit (to suspend the sediment) and then gently expressing the urine (it's best to do this when Bun's bladder is full) can really help get rid of the problem without resorting to a more invasive (and somewhat risky) procedure such as a full-blown bladder flush.  But you'll have to consult with the vet to know the extent of the problem and see what course of treatment works best.

You can read more about urinary tract problems in rabbits, their diagnosis and treatment here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have more questions.

Dana