excessive drinking - Page 1

My male is 14 months old big boy weighing in @ around 97 lbs.about 3 months ago I noticed
the boy drinking alot but figured it was the heat.Well he is always wanting to drink water.If I leave
a bowl of water down he won't stop til it's gone bowl will hold about 2 gallons.Needless to say I
can't keep water down.Makes it hard for the other 2 dogs..Well now his stools just like water.He does
have an appt. sat. with vet.I'm just curious if any one has gone through this and what it might be.
I feed my dogs TOTW always good stools and my other 2 dogs still good stools.
Steve

It could be Giardia, which can make them excessively thirsty and loose stools. Have your vet test for Giardia. But, the excessive water intake alone can cause loose stools. Are you doing a lit of training with hot dogs, which are high in sodium? How long has the excessive water drinking been going on? Have you always fed him what you are feeding previous to the onset of the excessive water drinking? I would recommend doing a urinalysis and blood chemistry profile. If all tests come back negative (a fecal, giardia and urinalysis), if there are no signs of kidney problems or diabetes mellitus on the blood work or urinalysis, then there is a condition called diabetes insipidus, which isn't a problem with processing sugar. It is instead a condition where the dog drinks excessively and usually has a low specific gravity on urinalysis. You actually give the dog diuretics which usually reverses the symptoms. This is not a common condition, but is a possibility. Some things to rule out though are is this a dog a possessive type dog, meaning is he drinking the whole bowl of water out of competition with the other dogs because he doesn't want them to get any? Are there any changes you can associate with the increased water consumption (like my question about feeding hot dogs, or the dog food, like was he always on TOTW and the same formula/flavor as now)? Good luck and please let us know what happens!

Queen,
He is eating TOTW same formula.He has been on this formula for almost a yr now.As for treats he gets grain free treat.Well I've really noticed this excessive drinking in the past month.It's kind of hard to say how long this has been going on because we live at a lake and the dogs love the water.But lately they haven't been in the lake.
Thank god he'll be going to vets tomorrow.This is the 3rd morning that I woke up to a mess.
thank you for your reply Queen
Steve

Definitely test for Giardia. It lives in warm standing water. Some lakes are full of it. If he tests positive, treat your other two dogs too, even though they aren't showing symptoms, as its better to be safe than sorry. Please let me know what happens.

Another possibility of he always drank/swallowed a lot of water while swimming is medullary washout. It is common on a dog post major surgery in which they receive a lot of iv fluids as they actually wash the kidneys out and they over work, but then they don't stop over working, causing the dog to be water obsessed. Water restriction is usually the cure, but by giving small amounts often, like a 1/4 cup of water every 1/2 hour. Adding electrolytes can also help, like children's Pedialyte (plain). This could be a possibility for him if he got medullary washout from swallowing a lot of water while swimming all the time. Generally his kidney functions (the BUN and Creat) on blood work will be below normal.

Yes, test for diabetes.  That can be done with a urine test.  I would rule out diabetes, giardia, medullary washout, and all other possibilities with blood work.  If all is normal, it is a behavior issue.  I believe a dog's water consumption is 1 ml per pound.  You can conduct your own water deprivation test.
Keep us posted.

Brandi

80% of the time it is hot weather, but some dogfoods  are very salty
and will add to the problem..., the other as mentioned is a test for diabetes.
If he got a hold of something spoiling you can similar effects from bacteria.
Stool sample and blood test should show any signs of a real problem.

My dogs drink alot of water but are very healthy...what ever is left in the 
water trough, they splashed on to their undercarriage to cool down.
They have cast iron stomachs to,...the eat some nasty stuff some times,
you would think they would die....But Nothing happens.

Vets had an opening yesterday so took Fabian.
well they did urine test she said protein a tad high but she said not to worry.Everthing else normal.
Did blood work and everything normal.
Stool sample everything normal and had vet test  for giardia neg.
She thinks it's his food maybe too rich.I told her he has been on it for over a yr now.
She did give me these meds. for the big guy.
Loperamide for the diarrhea
Amox 500 mg. 2 capsules every 12 hours.
Metronidazole 500 mg. 1 capsule every 12 hours.
My dogs get bision formula TOTW so I'm going to try himon that new lamb formula.
Steve

Hi Steve, I'm glad everything looked good on the blood work and all the tests were negative. I like her choice of antibiotics as it rules out several things even though they may have tested negative. However, the dosage isn't quite what I'm used to. I think trying the lamb formula is a great idea. Please keep us posted on his condition. -K9queen