# Too much water?



## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

Is it possible to be drinking too much water? 

I bought my 2 a gravity water dispenser because I thought it'd work well to replace the bowl that I was having to refill 2 sometimes 3 times a day.

It has about 2.5l of water and I noticed that they're going through it within 2 days. Of course now there's a lot more pee in the litter box I'm having to clean that out more. (kind of defeated the purpose of buying the dispenser to save me time) 

So is a lot of water okay? 

Also, if you're thinking of getting one Holly was terrified of it for an entire day and refused to drink from it. Of course now she's the one that's always running back to drink more lol


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

One could have a urinary tract or kidney infection. My girl gets them often and drinks a litre of water a day during a bout of infection. Because she's uncomfortable during she sits in an odd position to wee and it ends up all over her legs and back end which would burn the skin left untreated. 

I would check both there back ends to make sure there dry and clean. Keep a close eye on them see if one in particular is drinking more often. If one is unwell then it's a trip to the vets for a course of antibiotics and pain meds


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

farhana said:


> Is it possible to be drinking too much water?
> 
> I bought my 2 a gravity water dispenser because I thought it'd work well to replace the bowl that I was having to refill 2 sometimes 3 times a day.
> 
> ...


Did she still have access to water while she got used to the bottle?

I'm wondering whether she has a UTI triggered by not drinking for a while?

Any change in eating/pooing/drinking/weeing warrants watching.

Are they both acting normally in every way?

I would watch them as closely as you can, to try and work out which one is drinking more water - then I'd recommend a trip to the vets.


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

i agree it might be best to have her checked out for a uti just encase


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

Oh wow I'm glad I asked if there could be a problem. 

They're acting quite normally. Charlie is normal with the amount of water he's drinking. It seems like it's it's just Holly drinking more. 

She's always drank quite a lot of water since I switched them to a bowl from a bottle very early on. 

She had access to the water in the dispenser but after a sip and then hearing the dispenser weight drop to let more water through she'd freak out and run away. I syringed her some water and gave them greens with excess water that night but otherwise no she didn't have any other water source. But she was drinking from it happily in the morning so I'm assuming she did drink some during the time I wasn't watching them. 

Neither of them are behaving strangely. In fact everyone seems happier than ever (except me who is now cleaning the litter out almost every day!)


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Is your rabbit definitely eating and pooing as normal? Sometimes, a bun can appear to be eating hay all day, yet actually be eating more slowly, therefore then getting less.

They may then drink more to compensate.

Sometimes a rabbit will drink more water if they are in pain.

Tooth spurs could be another reason for excessive drinking, as well as UTI.

Could I ask if your bun is a rescue rabbit? We had a rabbit whose excessive water drinking was put down to a behavioural issue possibly to do with her having been deprived of water in her early years. It took her a year to settle down.

Certainly worth a vet looking at her.


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

Summersky said:


> Is your rabbit definitely eating and pooing as normal? Sometimes, a bun can appear to be eating hay all day, yet actually be eating more slowly, therefore then getting less.
> 
> They may then drink more to compensate.
> 
> ...


I got her from a family in Kent who no longer wanted her after her partner passed away. They didn't tell me much about her behaviour other than the fact that she's friendly. (Which isn't the case! She's not too fond of people but will try to creep up on you and figure out what you're about haha) Everything I tell you guys about her is stuff I've learnt from spending time with her!

She's definitely eating and pooing like normal. She tends to have big poos whilst Charlie has little unhealthy looking ones (he doesn't like hay too much and I've done everything I can think of to make him eat it) so when the big poos disappear I know something is wrong with her.

Odd behaviour I've noticed: she's starting to pee everywhere which is very unusual for her after getting litter trained. I'm going to make an appointment to see my vet for Monday or Tuesday. She also used the water dispenser as a stool to jump out of their pen a couple days ago so she could run around like a nut on her own -_-


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

If she is squatting often to wee in unusual places, I would suspect cystitis - a trip to the vet is the way to go, as she will need antibiotics.

She sounds a bit of a character.

Let us know how you get on.


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

I have to take Holly back in with a urine sample tomorrow morning. The vet thinks the dispenser might have stressed her out and triggered the problem. 

Unfortunately my inability to keep up with cleaning Holly's excessive peeing has led to Charlie getting sore hocks. The vet wants me to separate them but she goes mental if he's near her but she can't get to him. I'm going to have to change the flooring in their pen because the carpet squares are completely soiled and I don't want his sore hocks to get worse. He's also going back to the vet tomorrow for overgrown teeth. 

Questions:

What's the best way to get a rabbit urine sample? 
How should I treat his sore hocks? The vet didn't suggest anything but half the time you guys have better advice to give.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

If the hocks aren't too bad, just changing the surface they sit on may do the job. 

Is he a rex? They are prone to this.

A deep, deep bed of straw and hay everywhere will provide enough "give" to help his hocks. 

Or put in folded over soft fleecy blankets (but prepare to wash them often if she wees everywhere.

Re carpet squares, if you need more, try Carpetwright - you can often get them for a pound around here.

In our experience, some rabbits are fine on carpet, others are not. It's a case of seeing what works.

If the hocks are red and angry, and especially if the skin breaks down, you need to get back to the vets.

If at all possible, do keep them together, as separating them will likely be more stressful for them both.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Aah yes. Just seen his photo. Rex he is, which means he is more susceptible to sore hocks, and needs to be kept off of wet/hard surfaces.


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

I've separated them to get an "uncontaminated urine sample" and will put them back together in a bit once she does her business. Unfortunately she's refusing to pee without him there. 

Charlie has been on carpet for the past 2 years I've had him so he's generally fine. It's just that the urine everywhere has done some damage. The skin hasn't broken but it was verging on red at the vets. 

I think I might redo their pen floor. It was only ever supposed to be temporary. At the moment it's a mix of vinyl and carpet tiles on top of a couple of shower curtains. I just need to figure out what to put there! Both of them pee on fabric for some reason. I guess it's comfortable :confused1:

Any ideas for indoor flooring?


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

Just gotten back from the vets.

The total of the past 2 days is near enough £400  Definitely an investment for their future health! I'm so glad I have savings for these type of things!! 

As I suspected, Charlie is a dental bunny. Will need check ups every year for those teeth of his. Vet said he doesn't seem to have had the best start to life, so I'm pretty p'd off with his original owners.

Holly's urine shows that she doesn't have an infection. So the vet thinks she's got "sediment" build up. The vet said a food change should be enough to get things back to normal otherwise to go back in 2 weeks time. I think it's from the alfalfa in their pellets ([email protected] brand) so I'm looking to switch them to something "healthier". They used to have Excel but I remember someone telling me that it's got more sugar than they need. I had them on Supreme Science at one point but since Charlie eats slower he wasn't getting as much food as Holly since the sticks aren't a uniform size. Pellet recommendations please!

The vet also suggested switching them from meadow hay to timothy hay. From what I've read online, meadow hay seems to be better for buns? Any advice regarding this?


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Wow thats a fair amount of money!! They should check his teeth when he has his vaccination, hopefully with a good diet his teeth will be fine. 

Flooring I would look at Lino or there are non slip rubber matts designed for horses. 

Your vet can prescribe fuciderm a steroid cream for sore skin I've used it for urine burns. 

Diet wise, I give very few pellets and hand feed each one so I know exactly how much there eating. 

When Lottie has been unwell with UTI I have given her supreme science vetcare plus urinary tract. 

If Lottie wasn't so prone to urinary tract, stomach upsets and had a bit more weight on her I would keep her on fibre first sticks. she's currently on supreme sience 10 pellets a day, which I hate because its basically GM soya. I like Allen and page natural pellets but can get through a bag before it goes bad. 

We don't grow Timothy hay in this country, meadow hay contains a mix of grasses including Timothy but rarely contains alfalfa as farmers know they can charge more for this as a seperate feed. Timothy is higher in fibre, you can buy small bags in pet shops and offer a handfull a day along side there meadow hay. 

The main advice I can give you is to make any changes very slowly, fragile bunnies can get very unwell when there food is changed.


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## farhana (Mar 15, 2014)

emzybabe said:


> Wow thats a fair amount of money!! They should check his teeth when he has his vaccination, hopefully with a good diet his teeth will be fine.
> 
> Flooring I would look at Lino or there are non slip rubber matts designed for horses.
> 
> ...


Yup it's a lot more than I anticipated so I'm just thinking of it as an investment at this point. I'd give all of my money happily if it meant my pets would have a good quality and happy life. 

I heard lino isn't completely waterproof which is why I was hesitant to use it. If that's not the case I'd be happy to pick some up!

I've got FibaFirst but it's more expensive than I can afford for daily food. They get one a day each at the moment as a treat but ideally I'd like them on something around the Supreme Science price range.

I've had a couple bags of timothy hay for the buns in the past but I find that the quality _really_ ranges. The first time I got it it was almost all eaten. The last time I got it 70% of it was wasted because it was so strawlike.

Hand feeding is a great idea! I usually do it with a few pellets to get them more comfortable and happy to be around me and sitting on my lap  The only problem is now whenever I sit down they come running for food!


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