My dog drinkin loads of water

[Baby02]

My dog never used to drink alot of water just a few sips a day....lately thou hes havin 3 big bowls a day at the very least. His diet hasnt changed and Im wondering if maybe hes ill...any ideas?

[The-Toff-]

He may have diabetes, needs to see a vet.

[jules77]

Agree with The Toff.

[boxtops]

Agree - take him to the vet, a blood test will diagnose if that's the problem. It's not uncommon in older cats and dogs.

[jomifl]

My GSD used to drink strategically, When he knew he was going out for a walk he used to drink as much as possible for territorial marking purposes. Any sign of this?

[Baby02]

Thanks very much, will be takin him to the vets asap. I didnt even know dogs got diabetes! :/

[woofgang]

They do byt it can easily be controlled if you catch it early

[bednobs]

hi, we are curreently going through this with our dog - he drinks about twice as much as he should do for his weight. He has been having loads of tests at the vets. (uribe tests, blood tests, kidney scans, xrays and tomorrow is going in for a water deprivation test) so far, the things that have been excluded are :
diabetes mellitus
urine infection
kidney problems
cushing's diseas
addison's disease.
The test he is having tomorrow is for diabetes insipidus
If that is excluded, our vet has said it is down to psychological polydipsia (drinking a lot for no physical reason)

[Baby02]

Sounds like its gonna cost alot of money yikes!!...How old is your dog? Mine is 14

[bednobs]

mine is 4.
so far it has cost around £600 (not to mention the time spent trying to get a wee sample from the little mucker, and time spent taking him to and from the vets, plus all the things he has had to undergo (had to be sedated for the scan)
Luckily we have insurance!

[lankeela]

Thats not bad for that lot - my friends bitch got pyometra - taken to Newmarket and kept in for three nights, and the bill is £4000 and counting! The insurance company will only pay the first £2,500.

[lankeela]

Definitely get the vet to check him out as you don't want him to dehydrate at that age.
Could be kidneys or diabetes.

[jules77]

£4000!! Is it a closed pyo with complications, even so, sounds a lot.

[devon dave]

As some have said before your dog could have diabetes insipidus. My GSD age 10 had the same symptons and kept leaving little dribbles where ever he had been lying. Checked out at vets, one of the last things they checked for. he is on tablets now and is fine. Tablets not cheap, ask vt for private prescription cost about £6.00 and shop around to find a good deal at local chemist. We found Superdrug to be the best, gave us discounts and all.

[yelenots]

Our 13 yrs old border collie, drank loads and loads! She had diabetes and we had to give her insulin twice a day xx

[bonimarony]

my dog had a thirst that was diagnosed as kidney malfunction. He died a few weeks after at age 15.

[lankeela]

It is the Newmarket specialist stay that cost the most jules, £1,000 a night or thereabouts.