Baby bun is drinking & peeing a lot?

[sarah92lynn]

Seems like she's peeing more than usual..is this bad? I thought I might have seen somewhere that it could be bad if your rabbit is drinking and peeing a lot..

 

[Imbrium]

how much is "a lot"? I took my bunns in for needless urinalyses at one point (when they were 3 mos or so, I guess) because Gaz was drinking like 5-6 oz a day compared to Nala's 2-3 oz and someone (pretty sure Gaz) suddenly started peeing outside the box sometimes. turned out they were both totally fine, lol.

 

[sarah92lynn]

Sorry for the delayed reply, but a lot as in I change her bedding and it's completely soaked in less than a day! She also drinks more than my adult bunny Lilly sometimes. I'm extra paranoid with my baby CoCoa cause I got her from people that didn't know how to take care of rabbits and she didn't have a good diet until I took her in...she's been stressing me out about different things ever since lol

 

[sarah92lynn]

Oh yeah and other than her drinking and peeing a lot things seem normal. She's an extremely happy bunny and binkies all over the place when she's out, and she's super friendly

 

[Nancy McClelland]

As long as she's eating and behaving normally, I wouldn't worry. Some of ours seem to drink a lot and others not so much, but, all are healthy.

 

[grasspack]

When I first adopted my bun she drank all the time. I think she did it because she was nervous. Too much excitement. It has leveled out now though.

Alice

 

[ldoerr]

How does her poop look?

 

[sarah92lynn]

Thanks for the replies

Lauren, lately her poop has been probably the most normal as it's been since I've gotten her, but previously she was over producing cecotropes and two times she pooped out gel-like stuff. They didn't feed her hay where she came from so I've been kind of having a hard time getting her to eat a good amount of hay, but I've been cutting down her pellets a bit and it seems like that's been helping her poo get more normal.

I also want to mention that she had a bloated belly when I first got her. It's gone down A LOT since then but since she's having all of these problems should I take her to the vet?

 

[JBun]

When you say that she had a bloated belly but it's gone down, does that mean it is still somewhat bloated? Does she have load gurgling sounds from her stomach? What do her poops look like and is she still eating normally?

The mucous in her poop isn't a good sign. Was that very long ago? It might be that her stomach issues are affecting her drinking and peeing in some way too. Has she been to the vet at all? If she's eating well and pooping, I don't know if there is anything the vet would do besides having you change her diet, so I don't know if taking her to the vet at this point is useful or not.

Will she still not eat very much hay? What about if you don't give her any pellets at all, will she eat the hay or just not eat? If she's having these digestive issues, I would almost think that a hay only diet would be best to get her healthy again, but will she eat the hay? Are you feeding her grass or alfalfa? I have a rabbit that kept having problems with GI stasis and I couldn't give him pellets anymore, but he absolutely would not eat hay. So I found a compressed alfalfa/timothy horse feed pellet that he would eat, so that's what I did. Maybe you could try something like that.

There is a possibility that it's not the diet and that parasites or bacteria are involved, and in that case a vet is necessary.

 

[sarah92lynn]

I'm not sure if she is still a little bloated or if it's just her baby fat now..I can take a pic of her later today & post it up if that will help. But her belly is definitely looking more normal now. I do hear her belly making noises sometimes while I'm holding her and I've heard it when I lay next to her too. Besides cecotropes every once in a while her poops are pretty normal.

She goes crazy for pellets but not so much hay. At first I was feeding her alfalfa but she only seemed to eat the leafy stuff and not really the straw part. I started giving her little bits of timothy about a week ago and she seems to just pick out the fuzzy things in that and occasionally munch on the actual hay. She wont eat it if she has pellets though so I've been cutting her down a lot and it seems to help. She hasn't been to a vet yet but I will definitely take her if I need to. I just haven't found a reliable vet in my area yet, but I do have a place in mind that treats rabbits.

It was about two weeks ago when she pooped out that weird stuff. She has also slowed down on the drinking and is peeing a more normal amount now. There were two cecotropes in her cage yesterday though, I don't know if that's a bad sign? I see her eating her poop a lot. I hope she's ok

 

[sarah92lynn]

The pellets I'm feeding her are also alfalfa based.
Thanks for the help!

 

[sarah92lynn]

Here is a recent pic of CoCoa. Her belly has gone down a bit more since then but it's too dark in my room to get a decent picture right now.

Sorry you can't see her belly too well, I'll get a better one later

 

[JBun]

The mucous in the poop can indicate inflammation in the digestive system, so that is a little concerning. GI stasis is something that is a possibility of happening(and you really don't want it to), so she really needs a lot less pellets and lots more hay, but how do you get her to eat it? That's the problem. Do you think that she would eat more hay now if you didn't give her pellets, or do you think she would just refuse to eat the hay? Maybe instead of feeding pellets, you could feed alfalfa hay and timothy hay. That would be ok that she is eating the leaves, as long as it's not upsetting her digestion at all, and then maybe she will eventually eat the stems and timothy too.

Occasional soft gurgling from the stomach is ok, but if it seems fairly loud and you are hearing it alot, that's not normal and can be really serious. A probiotic might help.

She's a cutie! I really hope you're able to find something that works to help her get healthy.

 

[sarah92lynn]

Lately I've been giving her maybe ten pellets at a time, and a small handful of hay. I wait a few hours then give her a few more pellets and a little bit of fresh hay. It seems to be working, she's actually eating hay right now. So I think she would do ok if I didn't give her any pellets at all. Should I do that? Or just keep giving her very small amounts?

 

[sarah92lynn]

Does infant gas relief help? Or would something else work better?

 

[missyscove]

Increased urination and drinking (polyuria and polydipsia or PU/PD)can be anything from a behavioral thing to a sign of liver disease, but it isn't uncommon for young growing animals to drink a fair amount of water.
Your comments on mucousy poop and hearing gut sounds are a bit more concerning. What sorts of sounds do you hear? Is it like when your own stomach "grumbles" or more of a sloshing sound which can be indicative of gas? Looking bloated doesn't really sound normal to me either.

If it were my bun, I'd take her in for a check up to at the very least get established with a local veterinarian.

 

[JBun]

The only time I've given simethicone for gas, my rabbit atopped eating first. So I'm not sure it's something you need to do yet. Getting her diet sorted out will do her the most good I think, so that she won't have gas problems. Do you know how much she weighs and how much of the pellets you end up feeding her in a whole day?

 

[sarah92lynn]

Christina - whenever I hear her tummy it sounds like gas to me, not really sure how to explain it lol but it's not like a grumbling sound your stomach would make when you're hungry. I get paid tonight so I will probably be taking her to a vet this weekend.

Jenny - I'm not sure how much she weighs. Right now I'm probably giving her a small handful of pellets in a day. Every time I give her some it's only about ten pellets and I end up doing that around five times a day. She's definitely eating more hay now though which makes me happy

 

[sarah92lynn]

Soo in case anyone was wondering, CoCoa is great about her hay now and her tummy looks completely normal, I've been limiting her pellets ever since a hay-only diet was suggested. That helped SO much. She is much more active but she's also obsessed with pellets now.. I'm wondering if I should start giving her a little more now that her tummy troubles seem to be gone since she's a baby and I don't want to keep her from getting the nutrients she needs..

I'm still taking her to the vet for a check up but I probably have to wait until next Monday. Should I keep feeding her very little pellets and hay until I take her in or should I gradually add more pellets into her diet? I feel bad ! Every time she's out of her cage she's constantly trying to find the pellet bag. I feel like I'm starving her :/

 

[JBun]

Do you feed her unlimited hay and is it alfalfa hay? If so, then she is still getting enough protein for a growing rabbit. I think that you may want to stick with the limited pellets for now, especially since it seems like they were causing her digestive problems. I would at least give her several weeks of her doing well, then, if your vet thinks it's ok too, if her poops are completely normal and she hasn't had any more digestive problems, you could try increasing her pellet amount very gradually, keeping a close eye out for any degestive problems reoccuring. You still don't want to give her any fruit, sugars, or carbs, but if she's over 12 weeks you could maybe start trying some green leafy veggies like cilantro or green leaf lettuce. You start with one veggie and give a very small amount each day for several days. Keep an eye on her poops and if they change at all or get soft, then stop feeding that veggie. But if she seems to be ok with them after a few days, then it is probably fine to feed that veggie to her.

I'm really glad to hear that she's feeling better