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excessive water intake

22 10:00:14

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,

I have a 4 month old mini lop that drinks alot and its got me worried because apparently it can mean diabetes and all sorts. he weighs 1.25kg and my vet said he shouldnt be drinking more than 187ml per 24hours. yesterday at around 5pm i measured out 250ml (to allow about 50ml of leakage from the bottle)and at 8am this morning its already empty. id say from memory he goes thru roughly 300-350ml a day. im feeding him a small amount of food plus a piece of broccoli and carrot a day with plenty of timothy hay. the weather isnt hot so it cant be because of that either. why is he drinking so much? is there something wrong?

Also he has had a damp nose for the past month or so but there are no other symptoms, it wont get better or worse, just staying the same, could it be a sign of snuffles?

thank you.

ANSWER: Dear Mona,

Diabetes is vanishingly rare in rabbits.  But renal disease can cause excessive drinking and excessive urination, and you might want to ask your vet about drawing some blood to check her kidney and liver functions, as well as getting a blood count to check for cryptic infection.  It would be pretty unusual for a bunny this young to have renal disease unless she has been exposed to some environmental toxin.  So it's wise to have this checked, just to be safe.

That said, I've noticed that very young rabbits sometimes do drink a lot, and wonder if this has to do with their growth rate. If the weather is hot, this can contribute.  And finally, since this is a lop bunny, I would ask the vet about checking her molars for spurs.  While she's also young to have dental problems, she might already have them if she has a very short face with too little room for proper molar occlusion.  Molar spurs sometimes cause enough mouth pain and irritation that a bunny will drink just to soothe the sores in her mouth.  :(

So there are several things that you need to ask the vet to check.  If you're not sure your vet is a rabbit expert, check the listings here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to find one who is.  Your bunny deserves the best!

Hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Dana, I will raise these issues with the vet.

Renal disease isn't curable is it? The vet did check his teeth the other day but not sure how thorough it needs to be to spot molar spurs.
Finally any thoughts on the damp nose at all?

Thanks

Answer
Dear Mona,

Chronic renal disease is worse than acute "toxic insult" renal disease, as the latter can often be treated with fluids and other supportive therapy.  Chronic renal disease is degenerative (and rare in young animals), and treatable only with palliative care in most cases.

Molar spurs must be visualized with an otoscope, and sometimes this is really difficult.  The front teeth can look perfectly fine, but the molars can still have spurs. That's why it's important to have a vet who is very experienced with rabbits:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The damp nose could just be buildup from his fast, young metabolism as he breathes so rapidly, or it could be a sign of upper respiratory infection.  Call this to the vet's attention so it can be checked, too.

Hope all will be fine.

Dana