Bunny drinks a lot of water?

[Anniesmom]

Hey everyone! 

Just a quick question to help out a new bunny mom. I’ve had Annie for about 3 weeks, and consistently, she’s been drinking a lot of water. Like, I fill her 10 oz bowl at least 3 times a day. Otherwise, she’s totally normal, active, playful, and happy. Is this normal for rabbits? 

Also, my home is very dry right now, with the seasons changing, and the heat coming on didn’t help. I know I’m drinking more water, could that be contributing? Also, she’s rather defensive about food, especially pellets and veggies, since her last owner didn’t feed her properly . She scarfs them down immediately. Could she be drinking water in the same manner, trying to protect it? She’s peeing and pooping just fine. And there’s no water in the cage, so I know she’s drinking, not just spilling it. 

She’s been like this since I brought her home, so I don’t really have a baseline to compare to. I just can’t seem to keep her water bowl full enough. 

Thanks! 

[Bam]

She could be trying to protect the water if she’s been used to not getting enough, same as with food.

A bunny should drink 100 cl per kg body weight and day. That’s like 1,5 fl oz per lb body weight. This is if she only eats dry food (pellets, hay). If she gets fresh greens, she should drink less.

How big is she? Heat will make a bun drink more, but not huge amounts more.

[Anniesmom]

She weighs about 5 pounds and I was told she is still slightly underweight from the last owners. The shelter got her up to a pretty healthy weight they said, and the vet there said she’s healthy. 

 I’m so mad that they treated her like this. The shelter said they didn’t know bunnies needed hay and veggies, and gave her pellets a few times a day like you would a cat. Now she’s super defensive over her food and water. 

Right now, she’s getting mostly hay with a tiny bit of oxbow pellets and some greens. We’re having trouble with the greens since she gets really defensive and attacks us when she sees us with them, trying to eat them. And she eats them all super fast and gives herself thoe soft poops. So she’s only getting small portions of greens right now. 

Like I said, she seems healthy and happy, but it does seem like a lot of water for her. Also, she was spayed less than a month ago, if that could have any impact? 

[Bam]

Does the spay insicion look good?

Any ongoing infection or inflammation can cause an animal to drink abnormal amounts of water. But some buns will drink lots of water to quench hunger if they’re not fed enough food, and animals that have gotten too little food and drink or had to compete for it can easily become food aggressive.

It’s great that you’re giving her lots of hay. Hay will help her develop a robust GI microbiota and she can hay eat more or less all the time without getting fat. She might be calmer after some time when her body realizes there’s an even and ample supply of nutrients and calories.

If she has no other symptoms of poor health, this could very well be about what she’s had to go through before she came to you. But if you notice other symptoms, she should see a (good) vet. She must’ve been checked by a vet at the shelter if she was spayed there.

Poor little girl, she’s so lucky to have you now! I hope you’ll get this sorted. Stick around on the forums if you like, it’d be really great to hear more about how you are getting on.

[Anniesmom]

Yeah, the spay incision is completely closed over. And the fur is growing back. No redness, swelling, heat or fluids from the site, I check as often as she will let me. She doesn’t like her tummy being touched. It seems fine. She’s not digging at it, or trying to scratch, and she doesn’t react with pain when I try to check it, she just doesn’t like having her feet off the ground.

I’ll keep a close eye on her, of course. What other symptoms should I be looking for? She was checked by a vet more than once during her shelter stay and they all pronounced her healthy.

I’ll definitely stick around, thank you so much!

[Bam]

Signs to look out for are the “usual suspects” – refusal to eat, lethargy, trying to hide and refuse to come out (not just sometimes, all buns try to hide sometimes, few of them want to interact with their humans all the time), poop irregularities (like very small, peppercorn-like poop).

She seems healthy judging by your description, so I’m hoping this will get better once she settles in properly and her post-spay hormone imbalance levels out. After a spay, buns can get what’s known as a “post-neuter craze” when they behave “weirdly” – they can become aggressive, territorial, unduly grumpy, prone to hump toys or engage in courtship behavior directed towards humans or other pets etc. It’s because they are on a “hormonal roller-coaster” for a while after the de-sexing. It’s normal and it subsides eventually, but it can in some cases take several months for a girl (it’s generally over sooner for a boy). Her spay could have some bearing on her drinking-behavior.

[Author]

Messages