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Rabbit drinking more?

L

lilgems91

Mama Doe
I have noticed that my bun has been drinking more water over the last 3 weeks, however I am not sure whether this is due to the hotter weather.

He has been to the vets twice (snuffles problems) and each time he has gone I nhave mentioned to my vet he has been drinking more and the vet has not appeared concerned at all.

He has got a brilliant appetite, and seems his normal self, I am just really paranoid now that he has got something awful wrong with him such as kidney failure :(

What do you guys think?
 
Is it drinking way way more? And how much exactly is it drinking? Cuz I wouldn't worry too much better to be drinking a lot than not at all. My rabbit drinks about 2/3 of a bottle a day and she's tiny and when I was taking care of another rabbit for a little while I noticed that rabbit only drank about 1/10 of the bottle a day. Same sized rabbit, same food, same sized bottle. I guess it just just varies.
 
Hi, thank you for your reply.

He has got a medium sippy water bottle, and he used to drink about 50-75cc a day (I think the cc stands for ml!) and now he is having between 150-200 cc a day! Its probably just me being paranoid but I just thought it was strange how it suddenly increased :)
 
How is bunny's output? If you are worried it's best to have a word with a vet. Mine started drinking more when they started having more hay, got it checked out but all the tests came back negative.
 
Hi schuette, what tests did you have done?

He has been eating more hay recently, can this make them thirsty.

Each time I have been to the bets I have told them about it but they dont seem bothered..but it bothers me a little bit sometimes.

He is eating, and weeing and pooing fine, sometimes he seems a bit sleepy, but he has always been like this, its just staying in my thoughts more as I was worried about his water intake increasing.
 
The vets asked me to get some urine tests. Basically they gave me a couple of syringes (one per bunny as both were doing it) and I got them (somehow!) to wee in an empty litter tray and syringes it up and they did the tests at the vets surgery, it was very quick.

Having more dry foods can make them thirsty. If you put a pellet in water it soaks up a LOT of moisture.
 
I may ask my vets if they could possibly do one for ben, just to put my mind at rest.

He has newspapers as he wont use his litter tray I bought for him :( Do you think I could get a good enough sample from that?

How much did they charge for checking? I dont suppose the test also checks for blood does it? Another thing Ive always been paranoid about :s
 
I'm not sure about if it checks for blood or not sorry. I don't think they charged but we had paid for a consult so I think they included it in the consult price. One of the samples I did I syringed out of a towel, one of them (can't remember who) wouldn't pee in the empty box :roll: I told the vet nurse and she said that was ok.
 
Ahh I see, your vets sound reasonable! Mine charges £28 per consultation but I dont mind paying it for Ben.

I might give them a ring and mention getting a urine sample from him and taking it for his next appointment, he was given metacam a few weeks ago with suspected urine/bladder pain and I suggested they do tests then but they werent too fussed.

They sometimes act like I go way over the top with him :(
 
My old vets used to be like that, are you confident in their experience with rabbits? If you would like a vet recommendation we normally suggest that you start a new thread with something like 'vet recommendation need in *** area' that way people can see exactly what you are after in the thread title. :)
 
Well I have thought about getting a second opinion, I have already tried to find a rabbit savvy vet by posting but the ones suggested were quite far away :(

There are 2 vets that he sees, one is a surgeon and the other one used to breed rabbits, so you would think she could be abit more helpful :?
 
Oh :( I'm not sure what else to suggest tbh. Out of interest have you tried measuring it? The vets asked me to do a 24 intake test. I filled their bowl up with a litre and measured how much was left the same time the next day. They drank (and still do, more or less) about 750ml between them.
 
Ats a good idea, I filled up to 200 ml at quarter to 6 tonight, I shall leave it until that time tomorrow! It won't matter that there's a pro biotic powder in the water wiLl it? I'm not sure if they drink less because it tastes different or whether it doesn't affect their drinking at all :)
 
Ah! Mine drank more when I put a probiotic in, it has a bit of sugar in so it's sweeter and they drink more ;)
 
Ahh I see! Ill do 2 one with the prebiotic and one without. Then find a median! do you think it would be a good idea to have the urine tested next time i go to the vets?
 
I'm always paranoid by bunnys that suddenly begin drinking more.

Mainly 'cos of Ginger i guess.

However, it could be dental related, it could be some kind of internal issue, or it could simply be more dry hay = need more water, or more humidity in the air = need more water.

If you are truly concerned, i'd recommend speaking to a 'rabbit savvy' vet.
 
Am I right in thinking Ginger has kidney problems Graham?

The vets I am at are supposed to be "rabbit savvy" but I have my doubts. Only trouble is that there seems to be no rabbit savvy vets in my area :(

His teeth are now back on form, fingers crossed they stay that way!

Did gingers water intake just suddenly increase? And by how much?
 
Pie upped her water intake to almost 500mls a day at one point. I took her to the vets for tests and they could find nothing (apart from her 'usual' gut problem) - no UTI, no kidney problems, nothing. But I did start giving her a new type of meadow hay that had a lot more stalks in.
After 2 or 3 weeks it went back down to approximatly 200mls a day. She drink no less than that.
I thnk she needs to drink more because of her stasis issues so it's her body telling her she needs to keep the digested food wet. *shrugs*

Schuette said:
Ah! Mine drank more when I put a probiotic in, it has a bit of sugar in so it's sweeter and they drink more ;)
Click to expand...

Yup this too!
 
lilgems91 said:
Am I right in thinking Ginger has kidney problems Graham?

The vets I am at are supposed to be "rabbit savvy" but I have my doubts. Only trouble is that there seems to be no rabbit savvy vets in my area :(

His teeth are now back on form, fingers crossed they stay that way!

Did gingers water intake just suddenly increase? And by how much?
Click to expand...

Yeah, they just don't work, genetic malfunction :)

Have you tried putting a thread up in 'rabbit chat' for 'Rabbit Savvy vet recommendations in <your area here>' ?

And no, Ginger's increase wasn't sudden, but it was increased dramatically. Blood tests confirmed pathetic kidney function.

She's such a clever little girl, she manages her condition (the kidney part of it) on her own anyway. Between the two of them, they get through ~1.8litres per day right now, when she first arrived, she would be having ~300ml/day (she was seperate to Biscuit, pre-bond). Thats the most its ever been and it is increasing. Most of that is Ginger, you can almost always find her near the water bowl having a huge drink :) But all the time she CAN do it herself, we don't worry.
 
lilgems91 said:
Ahh I see! Ill do 2 one with the prebiotic and one without. Then find a median! do you think it would be a good idea to have the urine tested next time i go to the vets?
Click to expand...

I think you'll find they will just drink from the probiotic water ;) Can you stop the probiotics for a day or two? I use the Pro fibre pellets now instead. :)
 
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