Why Does My Pet Drink So Much Water?
I recently looked after a family members pets (two very small dogs and one cat) for the weekend while they were away.
As I’ve learned, not everyone wants to learn about or act upon bettering their pet's health through diet choice. Unfortunately, these people fall under that category, still feeding all three of their pets a completely kibble diet (and a very cheap brand at that). Sad but true.
Why am I talking about this? Well, the weekend in question was a timely reminder of just what a raw food diet can do for pets.
Upon dropping by on the Saturday morning, I walked the dogs and topped up their food bowl and filled their large heavy water dish with about 2L of fresh water. I next visited them just after lunch on the Sunday and was absolutely shocked to find that their whole water bowl was bone dry! It hadn’t been in the sun or spilled; these animals (that would weigh a total of less than 4kg between the three of them) had drunk the whole amount in just over 24 hours!
Do you know why this is? It hadn’t been overly hot and they had only been lounging about their back yard until I had dropped by again. The reason the water had been drunk was simply because they are constantly thirsty! Eating a salt and preservative filled kibble creates a thirst that can never be quenched.
Imagine eating dry weet-bix all the time?! Yuck! I know I would be chasing that down with water all the time!
By feeding a raw food diet, your pet is actually able to take moisture from the REAL food itself and will drink far less water.
My five big dogs are all walked 2+ times a week and run, play and wrestle constantly in the backyard. Their glass water bowl holds about 4 litres of water for them all, but I only top it up once a week, and that’s just to refresh the water rather than to fill the bowl.
Of course, there can be other reasons for your dog or cat to be drinking excessive amounts of water. Heat, exercise, infection or illness to name a few, but if you’re finding you have a healthy pet that hasn’t just been playing or laying in the sun, have a think about their diet. Do they have enough moisture rich food in it?
We’d be happy to help you out with any questions you have. Get in touch with us via our contact page or check out our frequently asked questions.