Excessive drinking 500ml~. (bored or depressed)

[Rippy]

Well another month another problem and as hard as I try I just cant keep my bunnies healthy .

This time its Pika and I’m not sure what exactly is causing this. She is 9 months old now and 2,1kg still not spayed. She still has worms and I was planing to take her for another shot end of this week (10-14 day interval). But she does not take the vet trip well as she get so scared the poor thing.

Anyway I was worried about a similar situation a few months ago when she was drinking about 300ml /day when she had about 1,6kg. It lasted only a few days but corrected itself.  Now again and it is much worse…3 days ago it shot up from her normal 200ml/day to 450ml and today it increased past 500ml.

Her appetite is still great and she eats a ton of hay as always but there are a few behavioral changes. Her hormones (not fixed) are at an all time low and she is not territorial to Shmoo at all. She does not want to leave the room to explore and play because she is scared to go out. She is a bit more jumpy when someone enters the room which is unusual as well but she still does play now and then and is active. She does not look like she is in pain. Then again some of this might not be a symptom but a result of so much water cleaning her system. She might have some problems “going to the toilet”  as she will let loose a river when she goes during her play time…but I’m not 100% because I know Shmoo will hold it when its near his play time.

Because she is only 9 months I hope there is a low chance for a renal problem especially with such a sudden increase in water. Before she started drinking so much she might have ate a bit too much banana daily but I only gave them a thin 1/4 inch slice each day  for 4 days and she had bananas before. I doubt its heat related as we have AC but it might be stress related from the vet trips and it triggered something.

I will take her to the vet tomorrow morning for blood work to check if its a renal problem or not and one more worm shot. But remember my vet is not that experienced with rabbits and if its not a renal problem she might fail to diagnose it correctly. So I’m thinking of requesting a course of antibiotics to take home with me and start giving them if the blood is good.

Any help ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Update: After several tests we found out that it was probably depression or boredom related.

 

[Sarita]

Are you planning on getting her fixed soon.

Excessive drinking is also a sign of dental problems. They drink to soothe their mouth. Have the vet check her teeth too.

[Beka27]

I’ve never heard of a bunny who liked going to the vet, but it is a necessity sometimes. I’m not sure why she is drinking so much water, but teeth would be a good place to start. She is still eating a lot of hay?

[foxtailskies]

A sudden uptick in water intake is definitely worth checking out, but I’m not sure why you would also ask for antibiotics? They’ll only help if there is a bacterial infection, and in fact antibiotics can be very dangerous in rabbits with true kidney disease- many drugs are filtered out of the body by the kidneys, and if there is a problem with this system, the concentration of a drug in the body can get dangerously high even at normally safe dosages. A blood test should pick up renal disease to see if antibiotics are safe to give, but again, if the source of the problem is not bacterial they won’t help and can in fact do harm.

It sounds like you’re not overly confident in your vet though… are there any other rabbit-savvy vets in your area that you could try?

[Sarita]

I also have to say that if she is eating well, it sure doesn’t sound like renal failure to me. They usually have a depressed appetite. My rabbit who had renal failure would not eat anything. And he slept alot.

Nevertheless as foxtails states, you need to get a blood test to detect kidney and renal failure.

[jerseygirl]

Are there any difference in her hay or vegetables? Some veggies are diurectic.
A vet check is wise if you suspect she still has worms too.

[KatnipCrzy]

A blood test compared to normal rabbit values would clearly indicate an issue.  Unless you can pinpoint an infection I would not put her on antibiotics.

Have you considered cutting back on fruit completely?  Bunnies can do great with no sugary treats in their diet.

[Rippy]

Sarita: Yes she should have been fixed few months ago but then I used up most of my bunny savings on Shmoo’s daily vet visits because of a wool block. Then one month ago I noticed she had worms and I want her to be 100% healthy before.

Beka27: Shmoo hates going to the vet as well and he is quite scared there but he has great trust in me and as long as I am there things are not so scary especially the car ride. First time I took Pika (took her once when she was a baby but lil bunnies don’t get as scared) for a worm shot she was terrified for a whole day and very scared of us evil people…and it was just a shot and we weight her.

As for hay…a ton and it might have increased a bit since the increased water intake. Her poops are nice and big and I only wish Shmoo would eat half as much hay as she does. So if it is a teeth problem it is because of crooked back teeth not getting worn down correctly (front are great as I take a peak during yawns).

foxtailskies: I would only give her antibiotics if the blood tests for renal disease come back clean. I know that damaged kidneys cant handle medicine but then I would go with the assumption that the stressful vet visits decreased her immune system and resulted in a bacterial infection. I would consult with the vet first of course.
But I can’t change my vet as there are only two close by and this one is the best for small animals. Problem is that there are very few test he can run to pin point the problem in a rabbit as there main focus are cat’s and dogs. The problem is that I live in a small town and there are very few exotic pet owners here. When I brought Shmoo in with a wool block it was the first time they had to deal with such a problem and for the first 3 days he was treated just with antibiotics for Coccidia. It was not till the 4th day when a specialist came and felt a blockage when he got probiotics and lactulose. But still Simethicone, daily sub-q fluids where given on my request even if he was drinking but not eating.

jerseygirl: I give her dandelions, red radicchio, endive, butter lettuce…last two weeks I started giving her more of the last two (before she only got a leaf now and then). Dandelions are “home grown” but few weeks back she might have got a few leafs that where sprayed with herbicide as part of the garden was treated by weed killers and that information was not shared to me because or pure stupid. Shmoo got the bulk of it but it did not cause any problems with him.

KatnipCrzy: I did not give them any bananas for the last 3 days but I do sometimes give them small bits up to 3 times a week as a treat. I know that they don’t need it and its not very healthy but they love it so much ! I did not give any to Shmoo past 3 days because if she would smell banana in the room she would go nuts till she gets some…you can’t fool Pika .

[Karla]

Jack drank the same amount of water the last few months of his life – possibly caused by his renal failure. It’s a good thing that you have it checked by a vet. My fingers are crossed for you!

If I remember correctly, I think the general rule is that, if the urine is not watery and there is excessive drinking, there is a high risk that it is renal failure.

[Rippy]

Karla how old was Jack when you noticed the problem ? And did his drinking skyrocket in a day or was there a gradual increase? Pika’s urine is light green at the moment but very “liquid”.

It is her play time now and she gave me quite a scare…it seems she was still sleeping ears semi cold to the touch and I thought it was her feeling very bad. Woke her up with a vegetable and now she is poking around the room. I removed the endive and butter lettuce from her diet today to check if its the thing that is causing the problem. It might be it but we will see. I’m not sure if I will be able to take her to the vet today.

One other thing I noticed is that her cecum is quite hard…because of so much hay ? Her belly is always a bit on the hard side but this feels  somewhat unusual. She has yet to go to the toilet today.
 

[Rippy]

Took her to the vet yesterday and there is some good news. Blood came clean for kidney disease and the vet could not feel any problems with a physical exam. Diabetes test was within normal as well even tho just one test can’t be accurate but should be enough to rule that out as well. I got a test leaf for urine and will check that today if there is an infection but I doubt it.

She still has a huge worm infestation so I got some other worm medicine. She will get it today and I got Paraffin oil which she should get 1ml after an hour to help pass the worms. But her drinking was fine yesterday after we came home…she had about 100-125ml in the same period where it would be more then double that last few days. So it might very well be psychological from being bored or depressed. And I really need to get her a much larger cage but I have no idea where to place it.

Endive and butter lettuce I increased in the last 2-3 weeks and took out 4 days ago had no effect on her water consumption. One interesting thing I noticed is that she started exploring again yesterday…left the room and was much more happy and less scared. The only thing that changed is that my mother spent about 1h playing with her and petting her. She really likes her but the last two weeks she did not play with her at all.

[Sarita]

I imagine it’s the worms that are causing her problems more than anything. Diabetes is extremely rare in rabbits.

What kind of worms does she have?

[Beka27]

Interesting thought about the boredom too. I know boredom can cause destruction, but maybe more water intake can be another sign. Just hypothesizing. Either way, it won’t hurt for her to have more attention if possible. I know life can get hectic and it’s easy to skip playtime some days, but if you know it has an adverse effect on her, you can be sure to make it a priority.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Beka27 on 08/06/2010 06:21 AM
Interesting thought about the boredom too.

Ditto.  I’ve even heard mention that some rabbit find drinking water fun.  My girl Jersey started upping her water intake a while ago and she had a habit of going straight for the bowl when entering the living room. She is also a food beggar and if I denied her she would automatically go drink instead. Sometimes I think it’s just to fill her belly.  As Sarita said, maybe Pika’s drinking is to do with the intestinal worms. Or the medicine she’s on.

[Karla]

Good that it was “just” worms!! I am happy for you Is her light-green urine due to the worms as well?

Mine sort of have drinking-periods. They seem not to drink for perhaps 2 weeks and then suddenly they drink a lot.It’s only when it goes on for a very long time, I would worry.

I think Jack’s drinking sort of increased from one day to another. Suddenly he drank about 1 l a day…I had to change litter in the box all the time because of his peeing. But most likely, it has increased slowly and then suddenly a lot. It is difficult to see when you have more than one bunny. He was 5 years old, but renal failure can come at any age, I guess. His was due to leuchemia.

[Rippy]

Im quite happy as well…I did doubt she had renal failure but I was nervous when the numbers came out. Her drinking is still sub 250ml/day for a few days now so I’m quite certain that it was not a disease but something she wanted to do. I don’t know why she reduced her drinking so rapidly…it might have been “vet shock” .

Beka27 both of my rabbits have 2h play time each and even when they are in there cages I still spend time with them. I never skipped there play time unless one of them had to go to the vet but even if I was not home there is usually someone to watch over them as they are out. Food is also given at regular intervals and if I forget to check the clock they make sure to remind me . It would be very nice if Pika was spayed and the two bonded which would give them more play time. But I think the problem with Pika’s is that its at a time when she would rather nap for an hour or so then play. But last few days I gave her an additional hour at about 9pm and she is much more active during that time. Would love to have them out for a bit more but they are in my room and they they love to do there thing on my bed…but now that I look back I would never guess that my bed would also be a toilet some day… but I guess that I’m not the only one with bunnies and this problem.

[Karla]

If they are neutered, you won’t have to worry about them using your bed as a toilet. Mine never use anything other than their cage to do their business and they have access to all furniture. So once she is spayed, it should improve, and she can perhaps get some more time out.

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