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StartOur blogWhy does my dog drink a lot of water?
Why does my dog drink a lot of water?
The reason why A dog may or may not drink too much water It is the same that applies to us, human beings. No matter the breed, size or age, if you consider that your puppy is drinking too much water, it is because of the simple fact that your body is asking.
Let's keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that it is well, there is a pre -established measure of How much water our puppies should drink. Our dogs can begin with this behavior for endless reasons, not all of them are necessarily bad, but when the reasons are subject to a medical condition, we must be careful and start treating it as soon as possible.
Why is my dog so thirsty?
The skin of dogs is nothing similar to that of humans, they do not have the glands that allow us to sweat. Instead, They can only sweat through their nose and through the pads of their legs. However, the cushions of the legs and the nose are not enough to reduce body temperature in a particularly hot day.
That is why they are helped by evaporation, it is not uncommon that in abnormally warmer days we can see our most agitated, panting and accelerated breathing pets. Since they do not have sweat glands in their body, and the legs and nose are not enough to sweat all the heat, the dog compensates it by expelling all that moisture through the mouth, all that heat is condensing from the lungs and is expelled by the mouth as evaporation. This is how dogs normally eliminate the heat of their bodies.Not being able to get rid of the heat in another way, it is common for dogs, after completing all this process to lower their body temperature, take considerable amounts of water. How can we know How much water is healthy for our pets? How to know when they have taken too much and what consequences could this have for their health?
How to know how much water the dogs should drink?
Normally when we drink water, we do it with the desire to calm our thirst, but when water is taken again and again, without being at any time satiety, there is a name that we can give to it: it is called polydipsia. And this happens when it doesn't matter why, we can not stop drinking water, it seems that thirst is never leaving, and this thirst seems to come from anywhere. Dogs are not exempt from suffering from polydipsia, and the worst part is that it can be caused by endless reasons, many of them are not very encouraging.One of the most worrying reasons why Your dog could develop this condition It is for damage to the kidneys, in the liver, some infection or by the intake of some medication that increases its thirst.
If you consider that your pet is consuming too much water, it is best to take it to its veterinarian, since this can determine if this behavior is caused by some more serious condition or if your dog is simply very thirsty.If your dog is taking an excessive amount of water, for some reason or another, it only means that your body is asking for it, so restricting water use will never be a good option. As we commented at the beginning, dogs sweat mostly because of evaporation, implying this that when they constantly gasp will be more thirsty. If we restrict their access to water, they could take them to a state of dehydration and things could get worse. Without hurrying to make any decision, The best and most advisable is to consult with your pet's doctor.
How can we solve it?
We cannot do too much on our own, the best advice we can give you is that you visit its veterinarian, this will be the one who decides whether or not the dog is taking too much water and can give us options for its treatment. The usual thing is that our pet consumes from 20 to 70 ml for each kilo, being common that larger dogs need more water.
It is important that we carry an account of how much water our pets are drinking, and this varies depending on each dog. Those who eat wet food usually need less water, while dogs that carry a dry or salty diet will need a higher amount of water. These are often the dogs that bury their head in the bowl and do not take it out until all the water has taken.Once consulted with the veterinarian, this can indicate the amount recommended specifically for our pet and in this way we can implement a plan to reduce water consumption in our puppy.
One of the options would be, instead of placing a large bowl for the water that we give to our dog, place a smaller cup, or the same bowl but with less water, and fill it several times a day so that the dog does not exceed due consumption.
We can also Vary your diet, if your dog normally carries a dry and low diet in liquids, you can start with wet food, in the long run the amount of water you will need will be less.
Reduce high foods in sodium. These besides being harmful, they can cause our dog to feel the need to drink water.
We must always be aware of our dog, your health and the signs that it gives us. If you consider that your pet is drinking too much water, the simplest path to determine if it is good or bad is to ask for an appointment with your veterinarian of trust, he can guide us and tell us what measures we must take to help him improve this behavior. If you want to know more about canine health prevention, you can also consult: Let us remember that health is the most important, especially when it comes to the spoiled of the family.Other articles of your interest:
