Is it true? too much water can cause diarrhea??

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

so right now i am visiting my relatives in a different country. i dont speak the language (its hard pronounciating the words but i understand the language very well) and today my mom, sister, aunt, and i went to this mall and on one of the floors they had a little animal section and i wanted to see the animals so we did. and everything seemed fine… 

day #2. we had to go back to the mall cause my aunt had to buy something again that she forgot the other day and that thing just so happened to be located on the same floor as the animals. so i decided to go back to the animals. well today (day#2) wasnt as dandy as day #1. the guinea pigs were fighting over the water bottle and their mouths were all very wet and one of them was sitting in a corner breathing heavily and it too, was wet at the mouth (probably due to drinking so much water). the other guinea pigs were all climbing on top of each other trying to get a drink of water from the bottle. i was very horrified and i looked at the other cages and saw that NONE of the animals had ANY water (the water bottles were gone but the water bottle holder was there)

as i was watching lots of people who were walking by muttered in, what i assumed to be, concern and so one of the employees working in the animal section took the water bottle away from the EXTREMELY thirsty guinea pigs. seriously… how could anyone take away their water when they were so thirsty they were litterally fighting over WATER. food might be a little more reasonable. water should be there 24/7. my mom asked the employee why she took their water away and the employee said that they were drinking too much… uhm… they are drinking too much BECAUSE you dont provide water for them 24/7 LIKE YOU SHOULD. there were bunnies next to the guinea pigs and my mom told them that bunnies need a LOT of water all the time. the employee said that their bunnies will get diarrhea if they drank too much water since they are so young. and that they are “acting” like a mother bunny would by giving them water at “appropriate times” like a mother bunny would give milk to their rabbits. my mom kept on complaining and saying that this IS animal abuse and so the employee gave a small water bottle to the rabbits and the rabbits all ran over to the water bottle and drank and all the while my mom was educating them a bit about rabbits (even their feed was wrong- nothing but seeds and some weird nut looking things, although they did have SOME hay. nothing but a thin layer in a small bowl). so we left cause they had some water and before we left the mall we checked the animals again and the water bottle from the rabbits cage had been removed and a lot of complaining happened and my mom called the mananger and the manager told my mom that too much water WILL kill the rabbits. and a bunch of other crap. and the employee was laughing and ignoring us the entire time we were telling her how bad these animals were treated. 

there really is nothing more we could do, so we left. now i just want to know if what the employee said was true. i dont think she is because: if those rabbits need to have limited water like a mother rabbit would limit her milk then they should still be with their mother. and also i think the rabbits are already sick from something else; not because they have too much water. and its not just the rabbits and guinea pigs. the mice and hamsters had no water too. and the other land (small) animals had no water either. i cant believe i was there yesterday and i didnt even notice. is this true? they werent terribly young. they looked to be a mix. they were def part dwarf hotot but the ears were black so its a mix most likely? there was only 3 in the “cage” but one was sold yesterday after we left. the cage is awfully small. maybe around the size of…  eh not sure. but it couldnt have been bigger than a 2’x2′ cage. 

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I have never heard that. I have read lots of books and have had rabbits for over 20 years. In the books they say to provide rabbits with water 24/7 because if rabbits don’t have water it isn’t good. What country did you say you were in?

[Stickerbunny]

No. No, no and no. Call up the better business bureau, corporate office of the store, humane society, whatever place there is for you to report that stupid store to. Animals should have water 24/7. Only way they could need “treated like a mother” was if the babies were not weaned and if they were that young, they shouldn’t be there anyway and should be getting formula not water. Too much water can cause runny droppings but an animal isn’t going to over drink, the problem is if you provide too many high water veggies, like a ton of cucumber/celery.

[LittlePuffyTail]

That’s awful. It’s often heartbreaking going into a pet store because the staff just doesn’t have knowledge and they often don’t care.

I also disagree. Animals drink what they need. They won’t make themselves sick with water.

[Sarita]

Stickerbunny, this is in another country and she doesn’t speak the language so it’s probably not possible for her to do any of those things and she certainly wouldn’t be able to follow up.

But that being said and not knowing where you are, they don’t sound like they know anything about animals. All animals should have fresh water at all times.

[peppypoo]

That’s so sad…in some countries animal care is perceived very differently than it is here . But no, too much water will not cause diarrhea unless the animal is already sick.

[Stickerbunny]

The relatives could follow up, if email follow ups wouldn’t work, if they all got on board reporting. A lot of countries have rules against neglect the same as we do over here. Actually, in some countries they have stricter rules since the animal rights act passed in Europe.

[DutchRabbitsFtw]

i knew it. how sick of them to actually take away water from EXTREMELY thirsty animals. and even then the water wasn’t clean. it looked like it had some white cloudy debris? in it. probably some gunk cause they don’t care enough to actually take care of their animals. and to think the employee AND manager said that the animals WILL die if they give them free flow of water. my mom (who speaks the language) called the manager and told him how animals need water and etc and HE got mad and told her that the animals WILL die if they listen to us and give them water.

gah. people these days. my aunt hates seeing animals in pain and i highly doubt we’re going back there, but it is the truth and it makes me think that all she wants to see are happy healthy animals when really the sick and helpless animals are the ones we need to help and see in order to realize the horrid truth of animal abuse.

[Stickerbunny]

The white cloudy debris may be a vitamin supplement, some pet stores use those in animal water.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Since this isn’t something like oh, suggesting the wrong litter or feeding alfalfa-start phoning around. It is illegal in most places to not provide water 24/7 so you should get quick responses. Phone the corporate office of the store and phone the spca/humane society, phone the police and see where you would report something ike this. It isn’t sort of bad advice they are giving, they are mistreating those animals. Good luck!!

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