Rabbit OCD – Excessive Drinking

[Ernesttherabbit]

I have a lovely rabbit named Ernest, he is quite old now, and within the last few months he has started drinking excessively. The original cause for this was a UTI that he had and was treated. However, the drinking continued.

He has had detailed urine samples and blood tests with no irregularities found and he is otherwise entirely healthy and happy.

He does have quite severe OCD and PTSD from the home life he had before we adopted him. Usually his OCD is harmless, falling under the behaviour of excessive cleaning, licking his paws three times before standing up, walking the exact same route to his food bowl, and other little things.
I am worried that the excessive drinking, originally caused by the UTI, has resulted in an obsessive loop that I don’t know how to break.

He drinks, he goes to the toilet, he eats more hay, dries his mouth out and then repeats.

I can’t help but feel it is wrong to deprive him of water or hay if he wants them, but I have no idea how to correct this behaviour either.

Does anyone have anything to suggest?

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, have his teeth been checked? I had a bun with dental issues that drank TONS of water, probably to sooth his mouth.

I’m assuming his kidney function has been checked?

Drinking lots of water is not a bad thing in itself (most of us are trying to get our buns to drink more, and drinking after eating hay is also normal), but I think you’ll just want to make sure there’s not a medical cause for it. You definitely should not deprive him of hay and water. If it truly is OCD, it’s about the healthiest OCD behavior I could think of.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ernesttherabbit]

Yep, his teeth have been checked, they’re all fine, and yes his kidney function has been checked too, first thing we did.

As long as there’s no risk to his health from drinking so much I’m not concerned, I was just worried that it would lead to issues further down the line.

[DanaNM]

My understanding is that if the rabbit is drinking a lot but not peeing a lot, that is cause for concern. And drinking a lot can be a symptom of other issues, but the drinking in itself isn’t bad.

Is the vet 100% sure the UTI is cleared?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ernesttherabbit]

Yep, we had it checked.

We are getting him tested again in January, just to make sure it hasn’t reoccurred, but his urine tests showed 3 weeks ago that it was gone.

He is peeing as much as he’s drinking, so I don’t think any of its getting stuck or lost anywhere.

We’ve had everything checked with the vet, two detailed urine sample tests, and five tests performed on his blood. He has not symptoms of being unwell and seems quite cheerful and active (As much as you can expect from an 8 year old at least).

[Wick & Fable]

Rabbits drink a surprisingly high volume of water. Have you gotten a measurement of actually how much he drinks in a day? https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Diet#Water

What color is his urine typically? If it is indeed excessive water intake, the urine will be more clear rather than colored, since the body is taking in more water than necessary.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Ernesttherabbit]

I don’t have the exact measurements, but he drinks a bowl and a bit each day. About 6 months ago he only drank about 1/3 of that. However, that article is reassuring, thank you for linking it.

His urine is coloured, and the vet thought it was a good healthy colour.

We were just alarmed at the sudden change in the amount he drank, which made sense when he had the UTI, we just don’t know why he’s continued to drink so much more than he used to. It is possible that he’s eating more hay, which I suppose can only be a good thing.

[Ernesttherabbit]

[Message repeated by accident]

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