Over drinking - Page 1

I have a 68lb bitch that is drinking from 6 to 12 quarts of water a day. If she can she will drop her lower jaw into the water and gulp. It is to the point that when she goes out in the morning she looks nice and tight but within a half an hour she is so full of water she looks pregnant. My vet has done a full blood work up and uninalisis. Every thing came back within normal levels. The vet feels it might be behavoral but he doesn't want to restrict her water intake in case there is some reason that she needs that much water. She is acting fine and working fine. My main consern is that because she distends her stomach so much, is that she'll bloat. Anybody ever have this problem, or can think of something my vet and I may have over looked?

I had a female that sound similar. The tests came back negative so the vet went with Diabetes Insipidus. Then as time went on more symptoms began to show and she had Cushings Disease. I hope your dog does not have Cushings, there are meds for it but its like being caught between a rock and hard place as the meds can be almost as bad as the disease. I chose not to use them and she passed about a year later at 12 years of age. Does your dog have to urinate alot?

This does not sound right, I would go to another vet, or a different Lab. I would watch the Kidney's, excessive thirst is NOT A GOOD THING.

Another opinion sounds like the best and right thing to do. Cushings, kidneys, and diabetis can all cause excessive thirst.

what animules said - something is wrong - molly

Diabetes insipidus (a pituitary disorder)? Check with another vet (perhaps a endocrinologist). Any dog consuming that much water is bound to have very dilute urine (therefore, low specific gravity--which may be easily measured).

possible closed pyro? when my girl was treated for it, the vet said to watch for her water intake.

i think of diabetes insipidus too. however this is a very rare condition, as well as a very difficult disease to diagnose correctly. ie: i work for a vet and we see a dog that was diagnosed incorrectly with it at another vet, treated for it and nearly died because of it (went into kidney failure) cushings can also cause it. but signs of that would show up in the blood work. there are some other blood test that can be done that might help something called an acth stimulation test. or a low dose dexemethasone suppression test. i would consider going to a specialist to hopefully find out the underlying cause. is she on any medications? drinking that much water, i don't think that it's something behavioral.

My last dog became excessively thirsty when he was eating Nutro Natural Choice dry kibble. I hope your dog doesn't suffer from renal problems as that could be a dietary issue as well as any number of other things.

Thank you everybody for your input. Please keep the ideas coming. We checked first thing for cushings, I lost a horse to cushings, once bitten twice shy. In both blood panels no sign of diabetis itself, renal function normal, liver function normal, thyroid normal. Both urinalisis came back normal. The urine was not a dilute as would be expected. No sign of elevated temperature. Her last heat cycle was normal. No flooding of her kennel with urine, which you might expect.