Diabetes?

Question
QUESTION: Dana,

We adopted a 6 month old female polish rabbit from a shelter after she was given up for not being the ideal Easter bunny pet. (Poor thing.) She's been an amazing addition to our home, and we love her. She's a doll, and loves everyone. She has been quite the expensive little girl though. She's always had eye problems, which we had home treated for a while until it got so bad her eye was swollen up. She went to the vet and they gave us high strength antibiotics to help calm her blocked tear duct. We now know how to treat her for that. She's also gotten blocked up after eating kitty litter, and had to be given a shot to clear her out. We've switched from kitty litter to wood pellets. She also went through a bout of sore hocks. The bottom of her feet went all raw, and one got bloody and scabby. We switched her wire cage to one with a toweled floor and cleaned her feet twice a day. The fur on her back feet is still thin, but no where near what it was.

Now our problem is that she has been drinking extreme amounts of water and peeing (what seems to be) twice as much than she's drank. She's gone through smaller spells like this before, but we haven't really thought much of it. Today, her whole litter box was soaked with pee. It had just been cleaned out the day before and I filled it with extra litter so it wouldn't be so bad! We've always joked that she has diabetes, but now it's kind of becoming true. I've searched around the Internet for help, but the best thing I've come across was your information on kidney problems. I don't want to sound like a neglectful owner, but I would really like to figure out what the problem is before we go to the vet. The local vets charge so much for a simple exam, then to add the blood work and everything, the price would just skyrocket. Plus, our vets know the basics on rabbits, but nothing in depth.

Just a little bit more about Twinkie to help you out! She's about 5 years old, 3 lbs, and an indoor/outdoor rabbit. She gets to stay outside when the weather is nice, and comes indoor when it gets too hot, and she stays in during the winter. She is given free feed for her pellets, which she normally won't eat much of, until lately. For the past few days she's eaten a quarter cup of pellets a day, when she normally would eat that amount in 4 to 5 days. We give all of our rabbits as much hay as they want, and they get just some basic treats (carrots, celery, lettuce, oatmeal etc) every other day. Twinkie's been a notorious eater of junk food though. She loves cereal, cookies, bread, and crackers. I do my best to limit her junk food intake. She only gets one junk food treat a day, if not less. (She hasn't had junk food for the past week, since the problems started.) She's always been an active girl, and gets to run around the house. She can't be left out all day though because she chews through wires, eats the carpet and poos everywhere.

We just want to help her! What would be your thought for her problem (or are we over-reacting?) Is there a way to treat her without bringing her to the vet? And is this problem serious enough to try and find a rabbit-savvy vet to bring her to?

Thanks a ton!
Taylor

ANSWER: Dear Taylor,

As you read in one of my previous answers, probably the most common cause of PU/PD (polyuria/polydypsia--a fancy way of saying "excessive urination and excessive drinking) is renal disease.  When the kidneys can no longer remove waste from the bloodstream effectively, the animal will usually drink large amounts of water to *flush* the dissolved toxic substances and waste out of the bloodstream through the kidneys.  (I'll spare you a boring dissertation on water potential...)

You're not overreacting.  But unfortunately, the only way to find out if her kidneys are failing is via a blood chemistry test.  A good rabbit vet can draw blood and have it analyzed for values such as B.U.N. (Blood Urea Nitrogen), creatinine, and other indicators of kidney function (e.g., certain electrolytes).  If the values are higher than the normal range, there's a problem.

Diabetes is not unknown in rabbits, but it is *very* rare.  Renal disease is by far more common.  And to know what's going on with your little gal,  you'll need to take her to a rabbit-savvy vet for bloodwork and a wellness check.  You can find a vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana

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

QUESTION: Thank you so much for the help!

From what I understand from a med tech (for humans, keep in mind) is that she should be able to control everything herself pretty good, but if her electrolytes get out of whack that there could be some problems.

If what you say is really what she has, then is there a way to treat her, or to control the problem, or is it better to just let everything run it's course?

Thank you so much for the help so far, I'm really appreciative of all of this.

Taylor

Answer
Dear Taylor,

Although our vets used to treat renal disease very aggressively with subQ fluids, most of them have since learned that it is, indeed, best to let the rabbit manage her own water and solute balance.  Excessive subQ fluids can throw lots of things out of whack, and actually hasten the bunny's demise.

Provide very large and very clean bowls of drinking water at all times.  Not sipper bottles.  Bowls.  She is more likely to drink from them, and it's healthier, as long as the bowls are washed and changed daily.

If she starts to act lethargic and lose her balance, she may not be keeping up with the problem, and may need intermittent fluids to help her flush things and get back on track.  So you'll still need to get her to a vet for bloodwork and prescription of fluids (you'll have to be instructed how to administer this subcutaneously by the vet, or have the vet do it, when necessary.  But it's definitely better to know how, since rabbits always seem to get sick at 3am on a Saturday night...).

Just be prepared, but let bunny do most of her own "medicating" by drinking what she needs.

I hope this helps.

Dana