Kidney Problems

Herbert is getting to the stage when I am expecting age related problems to appear. I have had him for nearly 6.5 years, however, it is possible that he is a couple of years older as he is a rescue rabbit. Ironically, he recently went for a routine check up and all was declared well, however, for the last week or so I have noticed that he is drinking more than usual for him......I'm not talking bowlfuls, just the odd extra slurp here and there whilst eating. His appetite is good and he is still pottering around as normal. He's due to go for another check up in a few weeks time for his teeth and I will mention it to the vet then, however, in the meantime I was just wondering what to expect with a rabbit who has kidney failure and whether anything can be done for them medically or it is just a case of keeping them comfortable with a ready supply of fresh, clean water? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

no advice, sorry, but just wanted to say hope its nothing too serious

tomhighway said:

no advice, sorry, but just wanted to say hope its nothing too serious

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Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Older Rabbits do tend to drink more as their Kidney function becomes less efficient. But there are other causes for an increase in drinking. Dental problems mean if the Bun is not able to eat as much as before they 'fill-up' on water.
Bladder sludge and urinary tract infections can also lead to increased water intake.

I would just keep a check on your Bun's weight and food intake. I have had several Buns who have developed chronic Renal Failure ( I am not saying I think your Bun definately has this). These Buns were treated with Anabolic Steroid and Multi Vitamin injections along with various dietary modifications.
Although this did not 'cure' them it did buy them 6-8 months more good quality life

Jack's-Jane said:

Older Rabbits do tend to drink more as their Kidney function becomes less efficient. But there are other causes for an increase in drinking. Dental problems mean if the Bun is not able to eat as much as before they 'fill-up' on water.
Bladder sludge and urinary tract infections can also lead to increased water intake.

I would just keep a check on your Bun's weight and food intake. I have had several Buns who have developed chronic Renal Failure ( I am not saying I think your Bun definately has this). These Buns were treated with Anabolic Steroid and Multi Vitamin injections along with various dietary modifications.
Although this did not 'cure' them it did buy them 6-8 months more good quality life

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Oh, he's def eating!!!. As said, his appetite is good. In fact, he's just come back from his holiday home and has put on weight so he's now on a diet.

Regarding his teeth, I'm very pleased with his progress considering that his prognosis was originally poor. I've found an absolute gem of a vet who has identified and sorted his teeth problems, and was told after his last dental that his teeth were the best she has seen for a while. His condition at his last routine check up was listed as 4/5 which too me isn't bad for an older bun.

His urine isn't sludgey and he's not going to his litter try any more than usual or straining/having accidents around the house. Are there any other signs of a urine infection?

Apart from the slight increase in water intake which I've noticed to be mostly when he is eating, the only other thing that I would say is that he appears to be snoozing more, but again isn't this just a natural progression with age?

At the beginning of the year he had three molars removed and also a bottom front tooth removed a month or so ago which has healed beautifully, but the increased drinking has been since his point......don't know whether it could be linked or just coincidence. Maybe he now needs to have more water to get his food digested properly as he's not chewing so efficiently??

Anyway Jane, thanks for your much valued advice. I know that Herbert's not going to be around for ever and that such problems are going to arise but his quality of life is my main concern and I just wanted to know what the future might hold. Will keep an eye on him as you suggested. Thanks again.

what's the color of his urine?

One of my bridge bun, Little Happy, had kidney problem. His cause of death wasn't due to kidney problem, but since then, I change the way I take care of my buns.

Rabbits loves to sit on 1 spot for hours. And there is urine inside them. So what I do since then is, w/ all my buns, I take them to their pee spot where there is always a towel soaked w/ their own urine. Once I take them there, they know it's time to pee. I do that every few hr. So there is no urine inside them. It's a neat trick.

If you want to prevent kidney failure, try the above trick

If you want to prevent kidney failure, try the above trick

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Kidney failure is not caused by retaining urine, it it caused by progressive destruction of the functional tissue of the kidneys, way higher up the system than the bladder. Do you mean sludgy bladder syndrome where crystals build up in the urine in the bladder? This can be exacerbated by retaining urine.


I wouldn't get too stressed about the odd extra slurp of water, it's not unusual in elderly buns. I would recommend getting his teeth checked at your visit as I've seen a few rabbits that drank a little more when due dentals and had normal drinking after dental treatment - the only reason I can come up with is that the cool water was soothing to a sore mouth.
If you or the vet are concerned about renal failure then blood samples can be taken to check how the kidneys are coping with filtering the blood, and would be sensible to check for E. cuniculi if blood is taken as it is a common cause of kidney problems. I wouldn't treat without getting a firm diagnosis first.

Happy Hopping said:

what's the color of his urine?

One of my bridge bun, Little Happy, had kidney problem. His cause of death wasn't due to kidney problem, but since then, I change the way I take care of my buns.

Rabbits loves to sit on 1 spot for hours. And there is urine inside them. So what I do since then is, w/ all my buns, I take them to their pee spot where there is always a towel soaked w/ their own urine. Once I take them there, they know it's time to pee. I do that every few hr. So there is no urine inside them. It's a neat trick.

If you want to prevent kidney failure, try the above trick

Click to expand...

He's trained and very good about using his litter tray. If he's sat upstairs under the bed and needs to go he will make the journey downstairs to use his tray and then go back upstairs again. I don't feel that he holds his wee in. It is a light yellow colour apart from when he has had dandelions/beetroot and then it is more orangey.

marie_kubiak said:

Kidney failure is not caused by retaining urine, it it caused by progressive destruction of the functional tissue of the kidneys, way higher up the system than the bladder. Do you mean sludgy bladder syndrome where crystals build up in the urine in the bladder? This can be exacerbated by retaining urine.


I wouldn't get too stressed about the odd extra slurp of water, it's not unusual in elderly buns. I would recommend getting his teeth checked at your visit as I've seen a few rabbits that drank a little more when due dentals and had normal drinking after dental treatment - the only reason I can come up with is that the cool water was soothing to a sore mouth.
If you or the vet are concerned about renal failure then blood samples can be taken to check how the kidneys are coping with filtering the blood, and would be sensible to check for E. cuniculi if blood is taken as it is a common cause of kidney problems. I wouldn't treat without getting a firm diagnosis first.

Click to expand...

Thanks....it's just worrying to notice something not the norm for your bunny, however, if it is the norm for elderly buns I will try not to stress and just keep an eye on his weight/general well being. At the moment he's in the garden eating dandelions/grass and having 'relations' with his toy wife!

He had his teeth checked a couple of weeks ago and has some upgrowing spurs on one side which will require burring in approx 1 months time. He had a dose of Panacur at the end of May. I might mention to the vet about having some bloodwork done next time he is under just to check.

Thanks for the advice.