Thirsty bunny

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. :?

I think the best thing to do would be to actually try to meaure how much he is drinking so you know whether it really is excessive or not, and also to try to collect a urine sample from him so the vet can check for signs of cystitis and also to see how concentrated his wee is so that will give you a good idea of whether his kidneys are working. Buns can vary in how much they drink, my one boy hardly ever drinks whereas my other drinks a lot. If they do decide to blood sample him if they do it from his ear vein, put on some local anaesthetic cream then leave for a few minutes for that to work they should have very few problems, but they will need to use a fine needle and small syringe to avoid collapsing the vein.

He's getting through about 800ml to a litre in a day on average, though he was breaking the 1L mark one on odd days. And the wees he leaves are huuuge. About an 8 inch diameter puddle that look completely clear. I've got 6 bunnies in total and even the thirsty ones don't come close to drinking as much as he does. The vet weighed him and worked out how much he should be drinking on average, and it's definitely an excessive amount that he's getting through.

my rabbit cheeky had a blood test taken a few month ago and he seemed ok afterwards . the vet shaved his neck to get the vein and it was over in a few min . Rabbits can get diabetes so if there is no improvement then the vet will probably have to do blood tests anyway . If the vet thought for one minute it was defo his kidneys or diabetes then I think that they would have had no choice but to do the blood test there and then . If I were you , I would just continue with the treatment that the vet has given him but also keep a close eye on him too . You will know best if he has to go back b4 his next appointment as he will still be the same. My bunny drinks quite a lot and the vet said that it is due to the food that eats , he eats the burgess excell which in itself can increase thirst , but he,s totally fine . I,m not saying that its just normal thirst with your bun but hopefully there is nothing wrong like with mine . and cheeky also leaves wee wee puddles that resemble a lake . :lol:
good luck .
Gina

I'd be very happy to find out that he's just ridiculously thirsty, or on a health kick. For all I know he might have eaten a magazine article that told him to drink 8 glasses of water a day. He seems healthy in other respects, but we're on a water meter, I just don't know if I can fund his habit.

I don't want to worry you but could it be Cushings diesease.

Here is a list of other symptons

# Polydipsia/polyuria (excessive drinking & urination)
# Polyphagia (increased appetite)
# Abdominal enlargement ("potbelly")
# Weight gain (may look like loss due to decreased muscle mass)
# Decreased exercise tolerance/weakness
# Lethargy
# Panting
# Symmetrical alopecia (hair loss) on the body
# Slowed hair regrowth
# Hyperpigmentation (darkening) of skin
# Thin skin, bruising
# Sterility/lack of cycling
# Infections, skin and urinary tract

Of course it could also be a habit we had a pair that went through bottles of water aday and it was all down to boredom once they were taken out of the enviroment and given a different life things improved greatly.

Bertie said:

I'd be very happy to find out that he's just ridiculously thirsty, or on a health kick. For all I know he might have eaten a magazine article that told him to drink 8 glasses of water a day. He seems healthy in other respects, but we're on a water meter, I just don't know if I can fund his habit.

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ha ha , you never know he could be on a health kick or just drinking his daily quota plus alot more to impove his skin , maybe he,s got spots . on a more serious note i hope he,s better soon and you find out if anything is wrong .

He doesn't have any of the other symptoms, so I don't think it's that. It's really just the first thing on the list. I think his lack of symptoms is probably why the vet didn't opt for diabetes. I don't think it's boredom. I hope it's not boredom. He has lots of toys, and Monopoly's there to play with. Because of his wees they're currently living in the bathroom, the tiled floor means his puddles aren't a problem, and because there's nothing to hurt themselves on or anything they can damage it means I can leave them out all day long. And then in the evening they're both let out for a proper play in the flat and he enjoys exploring and destroying stuff. So they're getting plenty of play time and they have loads of room. The only thing they're lacking is a garden, but I'm moving soon so that won't be an issue, and at the moment my partner's mum lives just around the corner so they get to play out in a run at the weekend, weather permitting. But you're right, it could just be a lingering habit from back when he was stuck in a tiny garden hutch all day long.

I dunno. It's nice to be reassured by other owners with thirsty bunnies, but at the same time it's good to be prepared for something a little more serious. I'm not overly worried about him at the moment, but I just want to know that my little fellow is ok. I'd hate to put it down to habit only to find out later that it was something more serious. So I suppose, if the current treatment doesn't work I'll be going for the tests, but it seems that vets can be a bit hit and miss with diagnosing bunnies, so I just want to at least have a list of possibles in case the vet comes up with nothing.

gina paul said:

maybe he,s got spots

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Absolutely. He was a loner when I got him, but now he's got a sexy young lady friend to keep happy he probably wants to look his best. If I catch him doing chin ups in his cage I'll know that it's all just to impress the birds.

Bertie said:

gina paul said:

maybe he,s got spots

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Absolutely. He was a loner when I got him, but now he's got a sexy young lady friend to keep happy he probably wants to look his best. If I catch him doing chin ups in his cage I'll know that it's all just to impress the birds.

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lol :lol: