stopped drinking

[Jon1234]

My rabbit recently stopped drinking (from his bottle) He is a male, almost a year old, neutered, I don't know the breed. He is still eating well, including fresh lettuce and behaving normally, but I have not noticed any drinking in a few days. I did see recent urine in his litter box and he still romps around. Any suggestions?



-Jon

 

[TinysMom]

The first thing you want to do is check to make sure that the bottle actually works. Sometimes the little balls in the tube can get stuck and make it frustrating to try and drink.

So I would start by offering a BOWL of water - if your rabbit has been unable to drink from the bottle due to a defect - it will lap up the water because it is thirsty.

Some other things I will do if I feel a rabbit is not drinking enough are:

Add a drop or two of vanilla to the water - they oftentimes like the taste

Soak their veggies in water for 15 minutes or so before feeding it to them.....carrots and lettuce and stuff can soak up some extra water and give them more fluids

I've also been known to add a bit of baby apple juice (you can buy tiny bottles in the baby food section of a grocery store) to their water - just a little bit to add some flavor

Good luck!

 

[rabbit_friend]

If the weather has gotten cooler and he gets big salads, he may just not need as much water. Or the water bottle might be imparting an "off" taste to the water. I notice mine drink more after I thoroughly clean their crocks with soap and water, even if they looked perfectly clean to me. I think bunnies drink more from crocks and they're easier to clean completely than bottles.

Two years ago, one of my bunnies wouldn't drink anything for 3-1/2 months. I wetted down all her salads and had to give subQ fluids about once a week.

When I posted for advice about her not drinking, I heard from someone whose neutered male bunny stopped drinking for 2 years. When he got him a girlfriend, the bunny started drinking again. After I heard that, I got a new male bunny from a shelter. After 3-1/2 months of not drinking, my girl started drinking again the day after their first bonding session. She never did go back to drinking water though -- only dilute apple juice.

 

[Maureen Las]

rabbit_friend wrote:

If the weather has gotten cooler and he gets big salads, he may just not need as much water. Or the water bottle might be imparting an "off" taste to the water. I notice mine drink more after I thoroughly clean their crocks with soap and water, even if they looked perfectly clean to me. I think bunnies drink more from crocks and they're easier to clean completely than bottles.

Two years ago, one of my bunnies wouldn't drink anything for 3-1/2 months. I wetted down all her salads and had to give subQ fluids about once a week.

When I posted for advice about her not drinking, I heard from someone whose neutered male bunny stopped drinking for 2 years. When he got him a girlfriend, the bunny started drinking again. After I heard that, I got a new male bunny from a shelter. After 3-1/2 months of not drinking, my girl started drinking again the day after their first bonding session. She never did go back to drinking water though -- only dilute apple juice.

Wow I never heard a story ( the one about the bun getting a companion) like this before ...

 

[rabbit_friend]

angieluv wr

Wow I never heard a story ( the one about the bun getting a companion) like this before ...

Neither had I. Maybe the bunny needed to be re-taught by another bunny how to drink?! My vet says it may have been the "competition" with my girl, but she didn't actually live with the new male even though we had some bonding sessions (he did too much chasing and humping). So she didn't even see him drinking. She had been mopey and depressed before that, though, and it seemed to invigorate her quite a bit, so maybe that had something to do with it. Or maybe it was just coincidence and she became more thirsty once the heat came on in the early winter! But it was strange that it was exactly one day after the first bonding session. She started drinking very tentatively at first, then was guzzling a day later.