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Last Updated on March 25, 2024 by Thee Puppypreneur
WHY IS MY DOG DRINKING LOTS OF WATER
There are a variety of different reasons for excessive thirst in dogs. Some of the simplest reasons involve;
- Weather
- New food (especially kibble)
- Dehydration
- Upset stomach
Typically, the water intake your dog should be consuming is approximately 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight and this is just a guide. So according to this guide my 75 pound fur kid should be drinking 8-9 cups of water a day. Which she is most definitely NOT.
Why? Well, if you feed your dog wet food or home cooked food then the amount will be less as there is already moisture in the food. It can be approximately 0.5 of an ounce of water per pound of body weight. Just to give you an example my 75 pound fur kid gets home-cooked food and her water consumption is usually around 4 to 4.5 cups of water.
DISEASES THAT CAUSE YOUR DOG TO DRINK MORE WATER
There are lots of other reasons that your dog is drinking lots of water. This could involve specific medical conditions, such as the below listed, just to name a few;
- Kidney Issues
- Cushing’s Disease
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Medication
Polyuria is a symptom where dogs are urinating more frequently and Polydipsia is a symptom where there is increased thirst in dogs and they are drinking water more than usual.
Your veterinarian and you need to decide whether your dog is drinking water more frequently to replenish the water they are losing by peeing in larger volumes or whether there is something else going on.
Certain medications your dog may be taking such as diuretics like Furosemide or corticosteroids like Prednisone could be the cause of why your dog is drinking so much water. 1Side Effects Of Steroids In Dogs | Trudell Animal Health
Even topically applied hydrocortisone, can cause your dog to drink more water than usual which will lead to your dog peeing more than usual.
HOW IS EXCESSIVE THIRST IN DOGS DIAGNOSED
- CBC
- CHEMISTRY PROFILE
- URINALYSIS
Urine specific gravity test are best administered to your dog first thing in the morning, before your dog eats or drinks anything.
Preferably the very first pee of the day because that is when it is most concentrated. This will allow your veterinarian to narrow down his suspicions of what could be wrong.
HOW TO GET A URINE SAMPLE FROM YOUR DOG
How do you get a urine sample from your dog you may ask. Simple! (For me) Ideally, you will have already taught your dog word association.
What this means is that when you take your dog outside you say “go potty” then your dog associates the word with the action and make sure you reinforce “good potty” as they pee.
This also works when you don’t want to be strolling the neighborhood and are in a hurry to get the dog to pee because it is late and freezing cold at night.
I have also taught my fur kids to go potty in the cup and I show her the cup. She then knows that I will eventually come up behind her after she is done sniffing around and goes to squat to pee.
I am sure the majority of you have not had to go through this and if you have a smaller dog or a boy dog then this might be even more difficult.
Some dogs might not want to go potty in unfamiliar places or might not know what you’re doing back there with a cup. It helps to practice this occasionally.
SOLUTION! No bending, no getting your hand peed on, no squatting too low and you can’t get the cup under there to get the sample. They now have this handy dandy non- back bending over contraption to help you catch your fur kids urine sample.
Veterinarians will usually want this sample within 1 to 2 hours after you have collected it and if you cannot get it there that quick then put it in a bag and put it in the fridge and put it on ice as you transport it to your vet.
Based on the specific gravity and the range that the urine falls into if it’s less than < 1.008 then your vet may suspect that it is excessive thirst in dogs.
WHY SO MANY TESTS FOR EXCESSIVE THIRST IN DOGS
All the different tests are necessary to rule out the possible different diseases it could be.
You can’t count on just the urinalysis alone to give you the whole picture accurately.
The serum chemistry profile can tell the veterinarians a lot about your pet. If there are high levels of BUN or Creatine then that can signify kidney disease.
T4 test help measure thyroid serum levels and if the test comes back high then we know that it is potentially hyperthyroidism which could explain the excessive thirst.
Glucose levels can tell you whether or not your dog has diabetes but another trick also is if you smell your dog’s pee after your catch it and it smells sweet then your dog could potentially have Diabetes Mellitus.
CBC checks the red and white blood cell counts as well as platelet counts and if your white blood cells are high this could signify infection which might need further testing and could also explain why your dog is drinking more water then usual.
The point of all these tests is to get a clearer picture and understanding of your dog’s overall health and to rule out other diseases.
By the process of elimination, you are able to understand what is going on with your dog and why there is excessive thirst in dogs and they’re drinking and peeing so much.
The good news is that there are solutions for the majority of these problems.
Check out our other articles for more reasons why your dog could be drinking water excessively.
THE DANGER OF HEAT STROKE IN DOGS AND HELPFUL TIPS TO PREVENT IT
