On Dec 23, 2020, at 3:19 PM, Brenda B Delaney via groups.io <bennettbs@...> wrote:



Did you get the stones tested to see which kind they were?  There are several different types that rabbits can get, so if you know which kind then it might help determine how he got them.

My 8 year old holland lop, Frodo, had a bladder stone this June.  He didn’t seem to have any indications of bladder sludge so it was a big surprise to me.  He wasn’t eating and acting well so the vet did and X-ray and discovered it.  I also saw a holistic vet who recommends a chinese medicine formula called “Amber Stone Transforming Formula created by Jake Paul Fratkin for bladder stones; she says it works in cats and other animals who get stones from low urine pH ( oxalate stones?).  I didn’t use it  so I can’t say if it works.  What worked for us was a few weeks of cold laser treatments and subcutaneous fluids and/or a mighty seizure during the pre-op for his bladder stone surgery — which cancelled his surgery but also may have expelled the stone.  We don’t know exactly when it disappeared, but it did.  

Some people say he got it because his urine pH was too high due to too many greens.  He doesn’t usually get many greens though and his urine pH has been 8 to 9 or 10 according to pH strips.  I took him to Cornell Veterinary College and Hospital, where the chief of Exotics took care of him.  He thinks it wasn’t diet related, but rather exercise and lack of water related.  He says wild rabbits don’t get bladder stones because they are running constantly and it jiggles the contents of the bladder to keep any sediments from forming into stones.  So he suggested lots of excercise and/or jiggling Frodo’s bladder regularly.  

He also prescribed something he uses with rabbits with bladder sludge or stones, or when rabbits have bladder surgery because that itself can cause stones due to the inflammation of the lining:  Potassium citrate (V)  100 mg/ml.  I got it compounded at a local pharmacy with banana flavoring. For a 4 pound rabbit I was to give 0.5ml by mouth twice a day.    He said to give it to Frodo if the urine pH falls BELOW 8 or if I see urine sludge or if sludge shows up on X-rays.  He said to get follow up X-rays at 3 months and 6 months to see if the stone or sludge returns.  Besides not giving Alfalfa hay or too many treats, he wasn’t focused on diet as the cause.

I can look up my notes if you need more info.

Brenda