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Excessive drinking- over 1 litre in 24 hours *update*

Jasperello

Warren Scout
Hi guys :wave:

We've had Charlie since mid December. He's around 1 year old, is neutered, and was abandoned so no known details about prior health etc.
He is quite the drinker, and has been getting through at least 3 normal rabbit sized bowls of water a day (by himself, single bunny at this point)!
In the end I got a big dog sized bowl for him that holds over 1 litre. He now lives with Poppy so she does contribute a little bit to the water consumption, but he is getting through up to a litre in less than 24 hours.
He is indoors, has a very good appetite and eats a lot of hay. His litter tray is obviously absolutely soaked!
None of my other 4 are like this.

Drinking that much is really excessive right? Starting to worry now.
I should have acted on this sooner but what with everything going on with Millie I didn't really get round to it other than briefly mentioning it to the vet.
I'm not over reacting am I? He needs looking at? Just concerned I'm still a little sensitive and on hyper-alert still for every little thing with the buns because of Millie and don't want to subject him to a vet visit if its not necessary.
Any ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Laura
 
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Thank you, that's an interesting read.
I've been up and down but really trying hard not to think about it. That's why I've not been on here since. I miss her so much though. Zuccy seems to have been coping ok, but I'm keeping an extra eye on him because he's not eating very much the last few days
 
It sounds like a vet trip is in order. Excessive drinking and reduced eating need checking out properly - and today if possible.
 
Average water consumption is 50ml/kg- 100ml/kg/ 24 hours. Rabbits who are fed a lot of veg/fresh herbs/fresh grass tend to drink less than those who only have a minimal amount of fresh food.

I too think that a Vet check would be a good idea. Have you noticed any unexplained weightloss and has he become less clean with his litter tray habits ?
 
Hi guys :wave:

We've had Charlie since mid December. He's around 1 year old, is neutered, and was abandoned so no known details about prior health etc.
He is quite the drinker, and has been getting through at least 3 normal rabbit sized bowls of water a day (by himself, single bunny at this point)!
In the end I got a big dog sized bowl for him that holds over 1 litre. He now lives with Poppy so she does contribute a little bit to the water consumption, but he is getting through up to a litre in less than 24 hours.
He is indoors, has a very good appetite and eats a lot of hay. His litter tray is obviously absolutely soaked!
None of my other 4 are like this.

Drinking that much is really excessive right? Starting to worry now.
I should have acted on this sooner but what with everything going on with Millie I didn't really get round to it other than briefly mentioning it to the vet.
I'm not over reacting am I? He needs looking at? Just concerned I'm still a little sensitive and on hyper-alert still for every little thing with the buns because of Millie and don't want to subject him to a vet visit if its not necessary.
Any ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Laura

Joey&Boo is absolutely right, there's a fair range in drinking habits. Given that he's indoors, it's going to be a bit warmer, right? Also, if he eats a lot of hay then that will mean a lot more drinking.

I have one rabbit who gets through a big dog bowl of water a day and that's perfectly normal for him. Size is also a factor - my drinker is a small breed.

But if he's constantly drinking 3 rabbit sized water bowls to himself, doesn't live in a very warm house and doesn't eat masses of hay, then yes, I would certainly ask the vet to give an opinion on what might be going on.

EC can give rabbits a thirst, and is sometimes accompanied by weight loss. Would you consider the vet running a blood profile to check the kidney function?

http://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/urinary/c_rb_polyuria_polydipsia

How are you doing these days? It's good to hear from you again, and hope your rabbit gets sorted :D
 
Is he peeing a lot as well?

Bobo started drinking loads over a year ago - and peeing loads. He went in for blood tests and they looked at his kidneys too - turns out he has EC. He goes through over a litre of water a day nowadays (he didn't respond to the EC drugs so we're just monitoring him now).

Either was - it's worth getting the bun into the vets to rule out stuff.
 
There's that dreaded word again... EC :? We never did get to the bottom of if Millie had that or not and look what happened to her :(
Not getting ahead of myself though, will stay calm and rational!
 
Average water consumption is 50ml/kg- 100ml/kg/ 24 hours. Rabbits who are fed a lot of veg/fresh herbs/fresh grass tend to drink less than those who only have a minimal amount of fresh food.

I too think that a Vet check would be a good idea. Have you noticed any unexplained weightloss and has he become less clean with his litter tray habits ?

No Jane, not noticed either, he's got very good & clean litter tray habits. Haven't actually been really weighing him, its something I was doing with Millie but I should probably start doing it routinely with them all to keep an accurate eye on their weight.
 
Joey&Boo is absolutely right, there's a fair range in drinking habits. Given that he's indoors, it's going to be a bit warmer, right? Also, if he eats a lot of hay then that will mean a lot more drinking.

I have one rabbit who gets through a big dog bowl of water a day and that's perfectly normal for him. Size is also a factor - my drinker is a small breed.

But if he's constantly drinking 3 rabbit sized water bowls to himself, doesn't live in a very warm house and doesn't eat masses of hay, then yes, I would certainly ask the vet to give an opinion on what might be going on.

EC can give rabbits a thirst, and is sometimes accompanied by weight loss. Would you consider the vet running a blood profile to check the kidney function?

http://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/urinary/c_rb_polyuria_polydipsia

How are you doing these days? It's good to hear from you again, and hope your rabbit gets sorted :D

Thanks for the info :)
Coping ok most days, been keeping busy so that I don't have time to really think about it. Couldn't bare to come on here until now either. Made a nice memorial for her and I say good morning and good night to her everyday.
Thank you. Going to try and stick around on here a bit more and not just when I've got poorly bunnies!
 
Thanks for the info :)
Coping ok most days, been keeping busy so that I don't have time to really think about it. Couldn't bare to come on here until now either. Made a nice memorial for her and I say good morning and good night to her everyday.
Thank you. Going to try and stick around on here a bit more and not just when I've got poorly bunnies!



You're welcome :)

It's lovely to see you whenever you appear ... and do keep in touch :)

What you went through was so hard ... Millie was so well loved :love:
 
So a long, belated update: went to see our vet last week about his excessive thirst and urination. She weighed him & he hasn't lost weight. Took bloods and sent them off. Urine sample done in house.
Got the results yesterday:
Bloods- something was a little higher than normal and something was low that's normally high but according to the lab they were not concerned. (?! Not sure how that can work, how can it be abnormal but not a concern?!) and for the life of me I've no idea what my vet said they were now. Possibly liver related I think.
Urine- there was a small amount of glucose present.

So opinion was that it's not kidney or liver disease, had considered potential for diabetes (although I'm now under the impression rabbits don't get diabetes?) but another urine test would have to show a high glucose content for them to consider it again. He has no other signs of EC so not that either, so the vet & lab said further urine tests, sent to the lab for more in depth testing as the next stage.

Wasn't sure what to do tbh, and I questioned whether I was over estimating how much water he drinks but I started logging it now and yesterday he (with a normal amount of help from poppy) drank 1.5litres in 24 hours!!. I'm sure it would have been more had he not drunk the bowl dry overnight!
That's a LOT of water for a 1.9kg rabbit!
 
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