A couple of months ago I got Sheffield (7 months, neutered) from a rescue centre. He started out as a very frightened and aggressive little rabbit, but he's finally settled in and is fast becoming my best little cuddle bunny. Anyhoo, I noticed that he was drinking huge amounts of water and leaving clear puddles the size of small reservoirs wherever he went. He also had a few little dry patches of skin on his head. He's bonded with a little girl called Monopoly (~4 months, unspayed) and she's fine, no health worries.
So they went off to the vets today, had their myxi jabs and I told the vet about Shef's drinking problem. Her first thoughts were obviously of the kidneys and she suggested he might have a parasite. So my options were to get his blood tested for the parasite, to get a general blood test or to just go ahead and treat for the parasite. As the treatment won't hurt him and it only costs £3, I opted for getting him treated right away and if he doesn't improve I'll take him in for the general blood test. Didn't go for the blood test today as he's a nervy little bunny and the vet wasn't too confident about getting blood out of him with him jumping about so much.
He's going back in two weeks anyway for his VHD jab, so I thought I'd ask if anyone else has seen this in their bunnies and has any suggestions what's wrong with him. If someone's seen something similar in their buns then at least when I go back in a fortnight I can make the suggestion to the vet and go ahead with the blood test. He's insured, so I have no worries about it costing money to get him tested and treated, I just don't want him poked with more needles than necessary.
I'm currently dosing him up with Panacur once a day against the possible parasite. Other than the drinking and weeing he seems perfectly healthy. The vet found no sign of mites when I told her about the skin flakes, and in truth there were only ever a few on his head and they've mostly cleared up. But I don't want to be treating him for a month for parasites only to find out it was diabetes or something and have him suffer kidney damage.
I don't even know if bunnies get diabetes, but in the meantime I'm avoiding giving him any fruit or carrots. Because Monopoly is still quite young and has a sensitive tum they have probiotics in their water, but I wouldn't have thought they would cause a problem with his kidneys. :?
So they went off to the vets today, had their myxi jabs and I told the vet about Shef's drinking problem. Her first thoughts were obviously of the kidneys and she suggested he might have a parasite. So my options were to get his blood tested for the parasite, to get a general blood test or to just go ahead and treat for the parasite. As the treatment won't hurt him and it only costs £3, I opted for getting him treated right away and if he doesn't improve I'll take him in for the general blood test. Didn't go for the blood test today as he's a nervy little bunny and the vet wasn't too confident about getting blood out of him with him jumping about so much.
He's going back in two weeks anyway for his VHD jab, so I thought I'd ask if anyone else has seen this in their bunnies and has any suggestions what's wrong with him. If someone's seen something similar in their buns then at least when I go back in a fortnight I can make the suggestion to the vet and go ahead with the blood test. He's insured, so I have no worries about it costing money to get him tested and treated, I just don't want him poked with more needles than necessary.
I'm currently dosing him up with Panacur once a day against the possible parasite. Other than the drinking and weeing he seems perfectly healthy. The vet found no sign of mites when I told her about the skin flakes, and in truth there were only ever a few on his head and they've mostly cleared up. But I don't want to be treating him for a month for parasites only to find out it was diabetes or something and have him suffer kidney damage.
I don't even know if bunnies get diabetes, but in the meantime I'm avoiding giving him any fruit or carrots. Because Monopoly is still quite young and has a sensitive tum they have probiotics in their water, but I wouldn't have thought they would cause a problem with his kidneys. :?