Rabbit drinking and urinating excessivley

Question
Hi Dana,

My 2 (almost 3) year-old spayed holland lop Sophie has always been good about urinating in her litter box. Recently, though, she has started drinking an excessive amount of water, which is causing her to urinate a lot. Although she mostly goes in the litter box, occasionally she pees on the floor or in her bed. We change the box daily but I think it's getting worse. We've taken her to see a vet in the past, and we can again, but his specialty is not rabbits and he is often puzzled as well. Is this something I should be really concerned about? Are there any at-home fixes we can try (ie: changes in diet?) before we go to a vet? I don't see any sludge or blood in the urine, there is just a ton of it. Also, how much water should she be drinking daily?

Thanks so much for your thoughts,

Meg

Answer
Dear Meg,

It's a little bit strange that the vet would not immediately suspect renal disease, as excessive drinking and excessive urination in *any* species is a classic symptom of this disorder.  To find a good rabbit vet, please use the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If the urine you see is dilute and clear, that's not a good sign.  The vet can check her renal function via blood test to see her values of B.U.N. (blood urea nitrogen), creatinine, total protein, and some electrolyte values.  The results will tell the vet whether treatment with subcutaneous fluids is warranted.

It may also help for the vet to measure the specific gravity of the urine (from a sample) to determine whether the bunny is concentrating her urine normally.

Kidney disease is generally not curable.  The most common therapy is subcutaneous fluids, but this must be done with *extreme* caution.  Too much fluid can throw the entire system out of whack, and too-aggressive treatment can hasten the bunny's illness.  In my experience, as long as a bunny with renal disease is acting normal and eating and pooping well, leave well enough alone.  Provide plenty of clean drinking water and let the bunny monitor his/her own fluid intake.  His/her own homeostatic feedback mechanisms are far better than our "guessing" how much fluids she might need on a daily basis to flush things out.

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana