
Hutches are still a permanent home for many pet rabbits, but they come from the old days of rabbit farming and the lab animal world. They are not a suitable home for rabbits. They can cause a myriad of health problems, one of which is bladder sludging.
Rabbits absorb dietary calcium efficiently from their gastrointestinal tract, with the excess being excreted by the kidneys. However, once it ends up in the bladder, it needs to be effectively voided.
Wild rabbits are always on the move, hopping, and sometimes they urinate mid-air, while their bladder is being shaken up! I explain this to owners as a snow globe being shaken up. Rabbits that are confined to hutches are unable to do this, so the urinary calcium settles, weighing down on the bladder, causing irritation and eventually bladder atony. Rabbits need to have an opportunity to exercise, hop, and do zoomies and binkies.
Attached is a radiograph of a rabbit with limited opportunity to exercise due to hutch confinement. Yes, that is a large amount of calcium sludge in the bladder, not contrast material!
The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund run “A hutch is not enough” campaign. Click here for more info: A Hutch Is Not Enough campaign | Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWAF)