I am very worried, I have caught my young bunny drinking her own urine two or three times now. She has water readily available and I see her drinking the water often. Is this okay, is it harming her health? And what should I do about it if so?
Thanks!!
How is it that she is drinking her urine? Rabbits routinely practice copraphagy (the eating of cecotropes directly from the anus). What type of cage does she have that would allow her to drink her own urine? (An all-wire floor would make this next to impossible.) Is she urinating on a resting board and then licking it?
Now there has been research in dogs (with inconclusive results) that suggests urine-drinking behavior may be linked with hormonal changes in unspayed females dogs. No studies have been done on rabbits. I will say this...While we tend to find this somewhat revolting, many human cultures practice urine drinking on a regular basis. It is thought to actually improve the immune system. There are no active bacteria in the first 15 minutes of voiding and the bacteria that become active after that point do not appear harmful. Some disease organisms can be excreted in urine, but the concern here is urine from other animals - not the animal\'s own urine.
My suggestions would be to make sure her environment is clean and not easily contaminated. If your rabbit is unspayed I would get that done. I think your bunny should be OK. Good luck.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
thanks for your response!
i have two bunnies in a very large dog cage. the cage is probably about 2ft x 4ft. i lined the bottom of the cage with newspaper, and they have 2 litterboxes in the cage. however, the smaller one does not pee in the litterbox all the time (the larger one always goes in the litterbox) and when it is sitting on the newspaper, she drinks it! i have noticed that she seems to only be drinking it when she has just peed.
It worries me because i wonder how can that be good for her? But she has been doing it for awhile and she appears normal and healthy...
thanks again!
also, i plan to neuter/spay them both as soon as they are old enough... it seems to help with a lot of behavioral and litter training obstacles, as well as keeping them more healthy and able to live longer =)
thanks!