Drinking too much water

[UnlimitedRattieLady]

What would cause a rat to drink too much water? My mother-in-laws rat pop is going though a whole bottle of water a day which is making him pee so much their cage needs to be cleaned out every 2 days. There are 2 rats in that cage, pop and coco. Pop is drinking to much but coco is drinking when he's thirsty. Any ideas whats wrong?

[ginniejollie]

I really don't know what may be wrong with your poor Pop.  I do know that if a human starting drinking too much or in the case of my dad's dog some years ago, it can be the first signs of diabetes or kidney trouble, I would be inclined to arrange a vet check for kidney problems, I guess this may mean trying to obtain a urine sample    maybe someone on the forum can help you with how to do this.  Let us know how things go. 

[lilspaz68]

How old is Pop?  It sounds like his kidney's are starting to fail.

[UnlimitedRattieLady]

I believe about a year and a half. Are there other symptoms to kidney failure?

[lilspaz68]

I'll look it up but for now he's a bit of light reading for you

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/

[lilspaz68]

Ahhh here's a good article that should help you figure it out

http://www.2ndchance.info/ratkidney.htm

[ginniejollie]

Whilst I was away surfing for info, Lilspaz has given you great links on Kidney problems, here is one for Diabetes, the symptoms being a little like what you have described with the drinking thing, for your info. 

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/diabetestype2.htm

[UnlimitedRattieLady]

Thank you everyone, These links have helped.

[scout]

In addition to those problems, you might also consider an infection or pain in his mouth. I had a rat with a very bad abscess in his mouth that drank constantly. The vet said it may have helped alleviate his discomfort.