Poor Hydration Concerns

[Autumn's Dad]

Hello,

Just a small query; Autumn has not been drinking much lately and has very dark bright orange urine, despite having a glass of water that gets refilled daily. (did away with the bottle months ago) She is lethargic in the heat but still won’t drink much or will drink a good amount one day and literally nothing the next. Is the water not hygienic enough for her? It’s just regular tap water but I don’t wash it/ use dish soap as I worry it may harm her or she’d not like the smell/ taste. Thanks for your time

AD

[RabbitPam]

Hi, AD. I would like to leave this up because many bunny owners notice a color change in a bunny’s urine and worry. Orange, even red pee is usually quite normal. If it is accompanied by other symptoms, or persists for more than a few days, it is a good idea to see a vet. Otherwise occasional color change in bunny pee is ok. If your bunny drinks less, you may have washed greens more that day so the bunny is getting hydrated that way. I use regular tap water. If it is safe for humans to drink, it s safe for bunnies.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Zou does wicked red fluo pee after carrots !!

[Bam]

Dandelions give very red pee too. That’s normal but you don’t really expect it since dandelions don’t look red. They have lots of carotene in them though, and that’s what colors the pee red.
Buns can also spontaneously produce orange/ red pee. They can have many color pee and they often have “chalky” pee – that’s perfectly normal because buns can only expel excess dietary calcium via the kidneys, that’s a peculiarity of the species. Worrisome pee is speckled with red (indicates blood) or thick gray wet-concrete like “pee” (means bladder-sludge).

As Pam also says, if you rinse her veg just before you give it to her she’ll get lots of water from that and barely touch her bowl. On hot days it is a good idea to serve greens wet.

[cinnybun2015]

My Chom has orange/reddish pee every now and then. I wouldn’t worry about it unless there are streaks of blood through the pee, or like Bam said, speckled red.

[beebun]

Chito used to drink only a little because I used to give him more veggies than hay. At that time, I mix a drop or two of honey to 250ml of water, and he drinks more. Granted, he loves the honey so much he refused to drink when I pulled the honey out of the mix due to his medication.

After a tummy scare two months ago I began to decrease the veggies and put more hay to his diet. Boom! He drinks more because hay is drier I think. Now he doesn’t even need honey in his water. Healthier for him, less expense for me :>

I use drinking water for him because in Indonesia it’s not safe to drink tap water, but I rinse the dish he drinks from with a food grade liquid cleanser in a very low concentrate once a week, and give it a thorough rinse.

Hope this helps add a bit more info for you and autumn!

[Autumn's Dad]

Hello all,
I apologise for the late reply, I thought this was deleted long ago as I felt I would have wasted peoples time, I was wrong.
RabbitPam- No problem. The symptoms have subsided now, I was overreacting as most rabbit carers do

Vienna- haha, like a carrot juicer then

bam- Oh, that’s interesting I fed her a lot of the stuff on account of it growing like wildfire here, that was probably it! Thanks for the tip

Cinnybun2015- Thank you for affirming that

beebun- I will remember that if/when scamp needs meds, thanks. Yep, like Pam said what water is safe for us is safe for them.

Thank you all for your comments
A.D

[Vienna Blue in France]

AD – Any luck with your earphones protection ??

[Autumn's Dad]

Vienna- no unfortunately, just managing best I can by putting them through shirt sleeves when near her, this helps but its not bite proof.

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