Dog Suddenly Drinking a Lot of Water and Peeing So Much – Top 3 Reasons Why
Polydipsia is when a dog is drinking water excessively. It may be a sign of an underlying medical issue. Here are a few common reasons as to why your dog is suddenly drinking and peeing so much.
1. Suffering from a health condition
Just like with people, there are medical conditions that could drive excessive thirst and urination in dogs. Common health issues that may cause excessive drinking of water include conditions like kidney disease and diabetes. Female dogs may also develop a sudden habit of drinking a lot of water if they haven’t been spayed. They are more prone to uterine infections which may drive excessive thirst.
Some dogs may experience hypercalcemia (abnormal level of calcium in the blood), another common medical condition that may cause dogs to suddenly drink and urinate a lot. A trip to the vet is highly recommended if excessive thirst and urination aren’t the only concerning symptoms the dog is displaying.
2. Your Dog has been more active than usual
The more active the dog, the more water they are likely to drink to hydrate themselves. Dogs may also drink more water if the weather becomes more hot and sunny. In this case, it’s not necessarily a bad thing if the dog is suddenly drinking a lot of water. Just make sure that your dog isn’t getting too much exercise as that may pose more problems than benefits.
3. Recent dietary changes
Excessive thirst and urination may be a reflection of the dog’s diet. Dogs may start to drink a lot more water if their diet mainly consists of dry foods like kibbles. Dogs that are fed a wet food diet don’t need to drink water as much because wet food has a lot of water content. You could expect about 65 to 80% of dog wet food to consist of water!
Dogs may suddenly drink a lot of water and urinate more often if they are being fed certain types of ingredients or additives. A high sodium diet, for example, is known to cause excessive thirst. A healthy diet is essential in preventing unwanted habits such as excessive drinking.
How Much Water Should a Dog Have in a Day?
There are several different factors when talking about how much water a dog should be drinking in a day. The most common calculation to determine adequate water intake is to take each pound of weight of your dog and multiple that by either .5 ounces or 1 ounce. Your dog should get somewhere within that range of .5 ounce per pound of body weight of water or 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight.
As mentioned, several other factors go into determining the amount of water your dog should take in per day. Puppies need water about every two hours and during these times, ½ cup should be given. You should also monitor puppies close to ensure they are getting enough water. Mature senior dogs self-monitor their own water intake naturally. The weather, any medications, and exercise routine are also contributing factors. The hotter the weather the more water consumption and some medications require more or less water as well.
I have a nearly 9 yr old Lab, not been spayed, & never had Pups.
Just before she comes on heat, she starts drinking a lot of water, & carries on whilst on heat drinking ex amount of water.
My dog had a yeast infection but it’s gone. Her belly bloated I think and not eating but drinking lots of water. Vomiting clear liquid with little foam. I am scared of losing her. She’s 9 but an inside dog and pretty healthy.
My puppy is ten weeks old drinks a lot, never defecates inside but gets taken out very regularly wees but comes inside and a little later wees in the house we are at wits end as can’t let him out of our sight for a second
I was given a fox hound/pit mixed, and he is 10 mos old, and around 32 lbs. very active, and hardheaded, he will sit, and lay down on command, and he only eats with a hand gesture! but must repeat each command several times before during, but pooped the first day and a half but hasn’t poop since (2 days) but eat, dry and wet together (3x day) like the prior owner stated, but do drink a lot of water, but no change in attitude or behavior, what’s the problem?
My dog is 2 yo, she missed most of her bowel movements for 3 days. Doing a little but not even half of what was normal. Thought she might have a blockage because she also eats everything she can find on the floor. So I started her on 1 tsp flax, 1 tsp coconut oil and 1 tsp pumpkin. Next morning problem solved.
Did this for 2 days then stopped but so did most of her bowel movements. Thought it might be because she had cleaned herself out but it continued one more day. Went back to the flax etc and things got better. Then she started drinking bowls of water. So much water that now I’m worried. Everything else is normal and she urinates the amount she drinks. Is the flax making her thirsty?
i have an 11 week old springer spaniel and she is always want water. She goes out often and pees but 15 minutes later will go again. You have to always pay attention, cannot relax much, or will be clening up pee.