consume excessive water - Page 1

I have a 4 year old male GSD. He is house trained and does his business outside the house (i.e. when we go out for a walk thrice a day). He normally consume sufficient water so that he will not urinate while he is inside the house.

Lately for the past 2-3 days, he consumed more than the normal amount of  water (drank all the water in the container).  I'm not sure this is a good sign (i.e regulate inpurity in the body system) or bad sign.(i.e. a symptom of some impending illness).  He is healthy and not lethargic.  I'm bringing him to the vet over the weekend to do a urine & blood test.  In the meantime, would appreciate some valuable feedbacks from knowlegable board members of any possible reasons for the said behaviors.

Thank you.  

He normally consume sufficient water so that he will not urinate while he is inside the house.

Do you restrict the amount of water he is allowed to drink?

Go to the vet and and let the dog test for diabetes!

Please make an appt. to see your vet.  Don't play around with this symptom.
Always,
Cee

I agree with Malshep.

Sudden excessive drinking is likely to be, at best, the result of a high temperature but could be much more serious - do not wait until the weekend.

I had the same with a bitch and had I waited the three days until the weekend she may have lost her life with pyometra - that can't be the trouble with a male but don't take any chances.

Shirley Hutchinson

I think if she is de-wormed regulary, so do not deny what Til suggested, there is a strong possibility he is right.

Let us appraised after the blood analysis.

The vet is definately the first stop, but in the mean time, please be very careful.  And so some research on Water Intoxication on dogs!!!

In a male, a urinary tract infection comes to mind;  my friend has a young male that started that and he had a UTI which has been somewhat difficult to clear up.  Collect a sample to take with you to the vet, make sure it is fresh, less than l hour old and just let them run it to see if he has a UTI.  Also be SURE they run culture and sensitivity on the sample;  you will want to know what it is sensitive to as far as antibiotics.  Good luck;  guessing games are very stressful;  don't take any changes. 

Did you change anything, like dog food, temperature, exercises regime.  Some dogs splash in the bucket because they enjoy it. Did you actually measure the amount of water he drinks. That would be my first step.
 If it is more then normal then I would go with that info to a vet.
 Prager Hans

UTI's do NOT cause excessive drinking! They cause frequent urination, due to the bladder being irritated and inflamed. The most common cause of excessive drinking is diabetes. Second most common would be kidney disease.  A simple urinalysis can sort this out...get it done!