excessive drinking?

[xxtearxcatcherxx]

I bought a new bunny about 5 days ago. I'm not sure if its male or female...anyways, I call it a him and his name is marley.



Just over the past day or so, he's been constantly drinking out of his water bottle.



Is this normal at times, or should I be concerned? He hasn't seemed interested in food other than treats and carrots, and now this...help!

 

[Pipp]

Hi, can you put your location in the forum? That might help us help you.

How old is the bunny?

S/he hasn't been eating a lot of hay? Has s/he been straining to pee? What does the pee look like? What are his/her poops like?

Questions questions questions! (Sorry!)



sas :bunnydance:


PS: :welcome1

 

[xxtearxcatcherxx]

I'm pretty sure he's a young bunny, he's small, you know, looks like a baby. I haven't tried giving him any hay yet. His poops are a bit on the smaller side, and they have been since I got him.



He hasn't been straining, and everything looks normal- nothing bloody or strange-colored, if thats what you mean.



I have normal rabbit pellets with multicolored 'treat' pieces that he enjoys, but he won't touch the pellets. He ate quite a few carrots yesterday, and lots of fresh veggies in the days before that, but hasn't touched his pellets.

 

[Pipp]

Are you feeding him the same stuff the pet store was feeding him?

That multi-coloured stuff is not good at all for rabbits. They tend to pick out the treats and leave the heathy stuff behind, and not eat much hay/fibre.

You're going to have to keep a very close eye on the little guy. Young bunnies are especially prone togut imbalances and otherissues.

The drinking maybe signaling problems. Keep a very close eye on his poops. Listen for a gurgling tummy, too. (It is good that he's drinking tho, it's self-healign if there is a problem).

The carrots are very high in sugar and can cause problems especially if that's beena new thing for him.

The maindiet should be whatever he was being fed when he was with his mama (which is tough with pet store bunnies), they don't do well with change, butideally lots of hay, unlimitedplain pellets (good quaity ones with aound 16% protein or higher and 18% fibre or higher -- the higher the better on the fiber) and only just a few veggies (increasing it as he ages, although if he's used to them, not a problem, just introduce new types slowly to make sure they don't cause an upset) is the best.

Hope this helps!



sas :bunnydance:

 

[xxtearxcatcherxx]

okay, thanks so much for your help.

I'm going to look into scheduling a vet appointment for him, just in case...I don't want anything to happen to my baby!

I'm not sure what amount of protein/fiber is in his pellets, I bought it from the bulk dispenser at the store I bought him. I assume that is what he was fed before.

 

[Pipp]

xxtearxcatcherxx wrote:

He hasn't been straining, and everything looks normal- nothing bloody or strange-colored, if thats what you mean.

Actually, normal bunny pee can be all sorts of strange colors, so don'tpanic if you see that.At that age he's unlikely to have urinary issues, but he could be drinking a lot because of gut issues,or he just likes to drink! (Mine drink a lotwhen they have gas, though).



sas :bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

PPS: I remember when Pipp had dental surgery (molar spurs), I couldn'tget her to start eating again, all she'd take were fruit bits and carrots, it was very worrisome so I took her to the vet.

He examined her, frownedand announcedhe was sure she had SBS.

Ugh. "SBS? What's that?"I ask. :?

"Spoiled Bunny Syndrome,"he says. :biggrin2:



sas :bunnydance:

 

[xxtearxcatcherxx]

Pipp wrote:

PPS: I remember when Pipp had dental surgery (molar spurs), I couldn'tget her to start eating again, all she'd take were fruit bits and carrots, it was very worrisome so I took her to the vet.

He examined her, frownedand announcedhe was sure she had SBS.

Ugh. "SBS? What's that?"I ask. :?

"Spoiled Bunny Syndrome,"he says. :biggrin2:



sas :bunnydance:

haha yes, I suppose Marley could be suffering from SBS. The first night I brought him home, my mom had made a salad and gave him lots of the leftover veggies!



But I still want to take him to the vet for the drinking, his stomach was really gurgly a few days ago, and his poops are a bit on the smallish side...but he is a little guy, so maybe they're normal-sized!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Just fyi, hydration is key to getting those good sized poos. The fact that he is drinking so much could warrant a vet visit (UTI, perhaps). Keep an eye on the diet and see what he quits eating or what he alters in his eating.

Sounds like you're doing well with him.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

This sounds like a diet and stress issue. Carrots are not really health food and we limit them even in adult rabbits. Especially in a very young rabbit the carrots provide far too much sugar. That excess of sugar can have an effect on the kidneys and that could easily cause thirst and possible dehydration and that can lead to all sorts of problems. I would suggest doing what we do with incoming admissions of both domestics and wildlife. Allow them a few days to "destress" and become acclimated. Offer a basic "Bunny 101" diet. Since I suspect by your post that this is a very young rabbit, I would stick to high quality pellets and hay....and it's perfectly OK to offer unlimited pellets and alfalfa hay (and you can start mixing some grass hay in there too). I would not offer any treats and would be very cautious on any veggies/fruits. If I offered any of these, it would be a very small amount of something like dandelion greens or maybe a very small amount of kale. Both of them are very nutritious. Just keep in mind that a young rabbit's digestive system is even more delicate than an adult....try to keep it basic for a while. If he/she has been on the "treat" food....I would start converting him/her over by slowly changing the composition of the pellets from the treated food to the pelleted food.

Any additional info about sex, breed, weight and age might be of help.

Randy

 

[Nut]

I also have a young rabbit (my first too). Unfortunately, the store didn't even know what they were feeding her, so I just got a nutritious, non treat-mix pellet. Gray is the way to go in many cases. Right when I got her, I got her Alfalfa based pellet, because it still has proteins other health aspects to it than Alfalfa hay, and is formulated to fit young or active bunnies. I mixed this with Timothy hay, which has been working very well. She looks very healthy, is active, curious, and growing well. It keeps her around a good weight too. She has unlimited of both, but if the bunny is too young, you introduce hay slowly. Unlimited pellets are crucial though until about 6 months of age (from my knowledge but I could be wrong, it seems to be working well for me though).

As for the drinking, rabbits drink about twice what they eat. Maybe even the treats in the food mix or carrots are drying her out? Either way, I'd consult a professional, even just for the question. Good luck!

 

[xxtearxcatcherxx]

Here's a quick update on Marley:

When I got up this morning, he seemed to be eating, so I've just refilled his bowl with fresh pellets. He's just started to eat those (he's munching on them right behind me!)He's still drinking alot, but notquite as much as he was yesterday. Then again, in the first few days I had him, he didn't drink much, so maybe while he was stressed he didn't drink his normal amount, and now the amount he's drinking is normal for him?

I can't make an appointment for the vet until at least Monday anyways, so I'm going to just keep a very close eye on him until then. He's very perky and is acting pretty normally.



Thank you so much for everybody's help!

 

[gentle giants]

YOu said he is drinking out of a bottle? Have you checked to see that the water is coming out of it properly? I personally prefer to use a crock/bowl for water, it seems like they drink more out of them.

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat: You might be seeing him drinking a lot because it takes more work to get water out of a bottle. When it's in a bowl, they just do a quick big slurp and they're done. My foster bun actually slurps up water so loud she sounds like a dog!

I'd take the treats out from the pellet mix. I know it's a lot of work, but they're really unhealthy and it's hard to wean rabbits away from them once they're used to it. Talk about SBS! Someone just donated a couple bags of this kind of pellet mix to the shelter I volunteer at. Donations are great, but these went straight in the trash.

 

[maherwoman]

One thing I'll add...

We have eight buns...and with each and every one of them (except for Teeny the Flemish Giant AKA Piggy Boy), it took them about a week after being here to feel comfortable enough to eat their pellet food. So, that meant they weren't really eating any for the first week (about the time you've had him, so makes sense to me that he's eating now).

The drinking might have been a bottle issue, or could've been that he didn't get enough while he was at the pet store, so he was busy restoring the correct hydration balance to his system (another thing my buns have always done their first week, especially the rescue buns).

As far as the pellet food, and what's good, I recommend you check out the Feeding Your Rabbit thread in the Bunny 101 section of the Lagomorph Library here. I also recommend you check out these other two threads:

Pellets
Hay: All About It

And a good place to check the percentages of your pellet food content is this article on Commercial Pellets. When I joined the forum back in Feb of 06, Naturestee recommend the site, and I've been using it as a reference ever since.

Another great suggestion: Check out online and see if you can find a Tack & Feed place near you that carries bales of hay (we get 120lbs for $20, so it's a good deal) and might possibly order a good quality food for you. For example, our favorite feed place orders Oxbow Bunny Basics T (which is one of the best out there), and we just pay the cost of the food...not the shipping. We pay about $1 a lb for the food, which is about half what it would cost to order it online. Also, check out the Oxbow site to see if it's sold in any pet stores near you.

About how much food to give him...the usual advice is if he's still growing (which is usually under nine months of age), he'll need an alfalfa-based pellet food, and that'll be free fed until he's done growing (which varies by breed...smaller breeds finish growing earlier than other breeds). And then after that growth period, he'll need a Timothy-based food, and start to get his food amount cut down gradually to a daily amount of 1/4c per 5lbs (though that also varies per bun...some buns need more, some need less...also depends a bit on activity level).

I know, this is a lot of information...and sometimes it's a bit overwhelming...but just take things one at a time.

Hugs to you!

Rosie*

 

[lagadvocate]

The drinking might have been a bottle issue, or could've been that he didn't get enough while he was at the pet store, so he was busy restoring the correct hydration balance to his system (another thing my buns have always done their first week, especially the rescue buns).

:yeahthat:

When I got Carmel, she was very young and in a cage with a gaggle of littermates all trying to get a drink from one lousy bottle. When we got her home, it seemed like she did nothing but drink for 2 days, then she started to slow down a bit. She also seemed to appreciate the switch from a bottle to a crock.