Not drinking

[lovebunnyok]

Hey all

I am concerned about my Tupper. He doesn't seem to be drinking water at all! He has a bottle, but when I started noticing this, I got him a bowl for water as well. Now he has both, and I still don't notice the water decreasing, or him drinking. I just read about putting a little apple juice in the water, so I did that just now.
He is eating and acting normal, so maybe I am just being a paranoid momma?

PS..I didn't know where to put this, so if it needs to be moved, please do so.

Thank you

 

[tonyshuman]

At first, Tony never drank. I had a bowl and a bottle for him, but he got all his water from the veggies I gave him. I took the bottle away and he'd drink from the bowl a little bit, and then I got Muffin who only drinks from the bowl. It was at least a year later before I gave him a different bottle (for a car trip), and he started drinking from it. Now he drinks from both. It seems that they can change drinking habits at any time for no reason. I wouldn't worry about it unless he has any signs of urinary problems (straining to pee, thick or different-smelling pee, different-colored pee). Does he get veggies?

 

[lovebunnyok]

He eats lots of veggies every day. He prefers them over pellets, and will only touch the pellets when absolutely necessary.

I made an appointment with the vet today, just to make sure everything is okay. We are taking him on a big trip next week, and I don't want the stress of the trip magnifying anything he could possibly have.

 

[tonyshuman]

It's very possible that he gets all the water he needs from the veggies, then. That sounds good. I always would rather be safe than sorry too.

 

[lovebunnyok]

Got back from the vet. He said Tup has a respiratory infection. Poor little guy had a fever Gave him a shot of antibiotics, and told me to watch him. He's been in his house since he got home.

 

[tonyshuman]

Well it's good that you went in, then! Maybe his throat was sore. Did you get any take-home meds? Depending on the antibiotic, it's pretty rare that a single dose will do the trick. Do you know the name of the antibiotic?

 

[lovebunnyok]

Yeah, it's Convenia. Tupper has had this before, and the shot works. As long as I watch him and make sure that he doesn't stop eating, he will be fine.

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh good. That's the one that just one injection will work for.

 

[mistyjr]

poor little bun

 

[lovebunnyok]

He seems to be doing fine tonight. He shared a couple bites of banana with me, and is hopping around like his normal crazy self. Still not drinking any water, but hopefully the meds will kick in over the next few days.

Thank you for all your help!!

 

[ra7751]

Just for information....Convenia is a cephalosporin and is safe only as an injectable. For the vets that use it, dosing amount is per label but it works a bit different in a rabbit and should be dosed more often. In dogs and cats, it is dosed once with a second dosing possible at 14 days. In rabbits, I have dosed every 3 days. It is much like Penicillin but with a little different coverage. Other drugs we use with URIs (depending on the bacteria) would be Azithromycin (preferred against pasteurella), Zeniquin, Penicillin or Chloramphenicol.

Randy