rabbit drinking loads

Question
Hi,
I have a male mini lop rabbit who is 1 year old, he seems to be drinking a lot! We filled up his medium sized bottle last night and by the next afternoon he had drunk over half of it, he doesn't normally drink this much and has also been eating loads and weeing loads, his poos are normal but do you think there is something wrong with him? Do we need to take him to the vets?
Thanks
Katie

Answer
Dear Katie,

Although young rabbits rarely develop renal disease, it is possible that his kidneys have suffered some sort of insult and have been damaged.  Excessive drinking and urination are most often a sign of renal problems in rabbits.  

Your rabbit vet can test this via a blood sample in which the B.U.N. and creatinine are measured (also calcium, phosphorus, and a few other relevant values), as well as by checking the specific gravity of his urine to be sure he's concentrating it properly.  If the urine is very dilute and has little odor, he may not be concentrating it well.

If you don't have a good rabbit vet, you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

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

Dana