Excessive Water Consumption

[VON KIRCHER]

It may be completely normal, but I do not remember my past Rott's drinking as much water as my 18 week old Zeus. Its not real hot in Clovis, Ca., yet. But he downs water like there's no tomorrow.
I've especially noticed this in the middle of the night. I start laughing because he seems to drink for a couple of minutes straight. He has done this since he was 8 weeks, when I brought him home. He is completely healthy, and checked out great at his Vet. visit last week. Any thoughts? Have any of you experienced this?

[pfoley]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that you have to be careful of them drinking too much water at one time, as it could cause bloat and bloat is bad. Does anyone know anything about this.

[VON KIRCHER]

He doens't really do this after activity, just hanging out. But if drinking alot at any time can cause bloat, I'll definetly watch him.

[pbach]

My Nikki drink's water like there is no tomorrow or no bowl of water. She has no idea that the water bowl will always be full. When we first rescued her two months ago, her previous owner was going to take her to the pound and they put them down here. Wont adopt out rotties or pitt bulls.

Nikki was an outside dog and when we went to get her I didn't notice any water bowl. After she's had a bit, I tell her that's enough and she stops.

So I guess my question is the same as everyone elses does this cause any problems? She has no medical issues and is very active and happy.

[spidey]

There are medical conditions which can cause drinking large amounts of water (this is called "polydipsia", and it's a symptom of various conditions, most notably diabetes) - did you mention it to your vet the last time you were there? "Checking out great" doesn't mean that the vet was looking for anything specific, it means that he saw nothing obvious. It can also be an obsessive-compulsive thing. Or it could just be a habit he has. Or it could just be that he needs a lot of water. I'd definitely take him to the vet for this, specifically, and I would expect blood tests. Before you start trying to control the behaviour, I think it's important to rule out any possible medical causes for it. Good luck.

[sparklemom]

I was just about to say the same thing Spidey. Even if he was fine at a regular check-up at the vet, did they run a blood test? The drinking may mean nothing, but it could be a sign of kidney problems, diabetes, or many other ailments. Especially if it is a sudden change in behavior.

[VON KIRCHER]

he has done this from the beginning. would there be any other signs?

[spidey]

he has done this from the beginning. would there be any other signs?

It's hard to say, especially because he's so young - weight changes and that sort of thing will be normal for him anyway. Changes in his energy level could be something to look for. But either way, I'd get the vet to check him out and make sure this isn't a symptom of a problem. It's probably just a habit he has, but better safe than sorry.

As a general note, it's always a good idea to tell the vet anything and everything you can think of, no matter how unimportant it seems to you (especially unusual eating, drinking and potty habits). Living creatures are complex things, even a thorough exam can't possibly give detailed information about every single system in the body. Because pets can't talk, we need to rely on our observations of their behaviour. Good vets rely heavily on good owners - if an owner says there's something "not quite right" with their pet, a good vet will check things out pretty thoroughly even if the animal appears normal, sometimes extremely minor changes in behaviour can indicate the start of a more serious problem, and the earlier you catch most things, the better.

[VON KIRCHER]

Thanks for the advice. We go in next week, at that time I will explain the chugging of water. At 48 pounds, tons of energy, regular potty, beautiful coat, ect, he isn't showing any other signs. I'll keep everyone posted.

[KellyWrae]

Maxy has been a HUGE drinker since the day I brought him home at 9 weeks. I have discussed this with more than one vet and they say there is nothing medically wrong with him. The first day he went to the pond (about 12 months) I had to rush him to the vet because I thought he had bloat. I've never seen it but it he looked pregnate. He just drank that much water. I have to put one sitting at a time in his water bowl or he drinks until he throws up. I don't know why and neither does any of the vets I have seen about this problem (like I said he has been to the vet specifically for this). He has never been an outside dog and we have alway kept our house at 70 degrees so that he isn't hot. He doesn't eat food in excess but he is a thirsty dog.

Kelly

[spidey]

Kelly - that sounds like it could be an obsessive-compulsive behaviour to me. If he's doing it to the extent that he's observably bloated (looking pregnant is for sure being bloated - I don't mean "he has bloat", I mean "he looks bloated"), and he's doing it regularly to the point where it makes him vomit, that would concern me, that means that the drinking is more important to him that his comfort, that he's ignoring his body's signs that it has enough water, he's ignoring pain and nausea for the sake of drinking. I might go see a different vet and discuss possible options for treating this (there are medications for obsessive-compulsive behaviour in dogs). I find it weird that your vets haven't been concerned about this. Restricting his water as you're doing will probably work, but I'd worry about taking him anywhere where he could have free access to water.

Wildly excessive water consumption is not always benign, aside from being a symptom of medical problems, excessive drinking can cause water intoxication (very low sodium) which can be fatal, and can cause kidney damage.

[Rott-Wiley]

When you folks say a "huge amount" of water, what exactly are we talking about? My girl (22 months old and 86 pounds) drinks right around a quart of water a day. Most of that is consumed after she comes in from playing outside with me. With the excepetion of walks and outside training, she spends her entire day inside air conditioning. Part of my routine is to change her water bowl while she is eating her breakfast and then during her evening meal I top up the bowl (unless she got dirt in it and I'll change it again) with one quart of water.

If she's hot and comes in and drinks a lot, she will also slop some water on the floor around the bowl but I never did bother to measure it, doesn't seem to be that much. More of a mess then anything.

[mmgy]

Regarding the original puppy, I'd try to get a handle on just how much water, so next week if the vet asks, you'll know. I've got a dog that drinks till the bowl is dry, and has for 14 years. We've monitored it with our vet, and we all concur that it's an anxiety problem.

Definitely creates a problem when the other dogs are thirsty though.

[VON KIRCHER]

The longer I sit here and think about this, I realize the large amount of water he drinks is during the night. I'll fill his outside bowl each morning after I clean it, and it might be half empty. The outside bowl is pretty large, while the inside is the stainless steel type that attaches to the side of the crate, and is about half the size.
It is usually in the middle of the night, where he will wake up just to drink, and when he does, he nearly consumes the entire bowl. Without having right in front of me, I would guess that its 32oz. That is just a guess

[miriam]

Maybe another thing to ask the vet to check out is Addison's. It's very rare, but I just found out my Bruiser has it a couple weeks ago. One symptom is drinking lots of water, which also leads to excessive urination. Something to think about, hope that's not the case but I thought I'd let you know. Good luck.