drinking too much

Question
i own to rabbits and they have a big drink bottle but lately one of my rabbits i drinking lots soo much i have to re-fill it every day or even twice a day. the both seem fine in there self and are still eating. is this a sign of disease or anything serois? what should i do?

Answer
Dear Bryony,

Excessive drinking and excessive urination can be a sign of kidney disease.  Your bunny should be seen by an experienced rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can draw blood to check the parameters that indicate how well the kidneys are working to remove waste from the blood.  

Rabbits also tend to drink more when the weather gets warmer, and sometimes they will drink if they have tooth pain from molar spurs, in an effort to soothe the sores in the mouth:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

The vet should do a dental exam, too, to check for painful molar spurs that might need to be filed.

In the meantime, provide unlimted clean water in a heavy ceramic crock.  If your bunny does have kidney disease, the best way to manage it is to let *her* judge how much water she needs and not to force fluids unless the condition becomes very serious in its terminal stages.  I hope it's not that, but the vet will be able to tell you more.

I hope this helps.

Dana