Excessive drinking

Question
My mom has a 2 yr old Holland Lop.  The lop started excessively drinking in about October.  She was drinking about a bottle of water every day.  It has now steadied to about a bottle every other day or every two days.  In the past, her litter box was able to be changed once a week, but now it is every two days.  My mom was feeding her a lot of "treats" from her garden all summer, anything fresh (I am assuming a lot of carrots).  She also wasnt regulating her pellet intake.  It seemed like she gained quite a bit of weight.  Also, my mom let a coworker's daughter show the rabbit at our local fair in August.  We are wondering if the bunny might have picked something up at the fair?  My mom has now rationed her pellet intake, and is giving her timothy hay, and NO treats.  Her water intake has slowed, but is not back to normal by any means.  (About 1 bottle every other day or two days.)  We are not near any rabbit vets, and have been frustrated with the local vet in the past with a previous rabbit.  The bunny has a great appetite and is happy, so my mom doesn't seem overly concerned.  I know the "right" answer is to check with a vet, but could it be that the rabbit's diet was not controlled?  Thank you for your help!!!!

Answer
Dear Sara,

Excessive urination and excessive drinking (medically known as polyuria/polydypsia, or PU/PD) is not likely to be related to diet in rabbits.  But it can be a sign of renal malfunction, and this should be examined, diagnosed and possibly treated by an experienced rabbit vet.  I'm not sure if you've checked the referral list here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

but I'd do so and try to find an experienced rabbit vet within reasonable driving distance.

If the bunny does have renal disease but is managing it well herself with her own liquid intake, then I would not mess with her for now.  We don't intervene until a bunny in renal failure starts to show physical signs, since starting a subQ fluid regimen when the bun is doing well on her own can sometimes do more harm than good.

But the first thing you need is a diagnosis, and I'd get her to a good vet as soon as possible.

Hope this helps.

Dana