Excessive Water Drinking

Dee Dee

Dee Dee

Well-Known Member
Owned by
1 cocker
About a year ago I took Patch to the vet because he was drinking, what I thought was an excessive amount of water. His blood work and urinalysis came back normal.

The vet thought it might be an OCD type of thing that she has seen in dogs and wanted to do a salt water test to determine if it was. She explained it to me, but now I forget how it worked. Anyway, as fast as he started drinking a lot, he then quit and was back to normal, so we didn't do the test.

I also thought maybe it was the food he was eating at the time and it was making him thirsty! Who knows!

Well, for the past month he is back to drinking a lot of water again!

I was wondering what is a normal or roughly normal amount of water for a Cocker to drink? I know there are factors to consider and having multiple dogs would be hard to guess!

Thanks!
 
Hard for me to judge with 9 or more here, I have one of those jug type of bowls that keep filling up the bowl but cushings comes to mind. Any hair loss or pot belly going on?
 
No hair loss and no pot belly. I'm going to call the vet and see if Patch was tested for Cushings, I think I remember talking about it with the vet.
 
Butters also has been drinking alot of water. I have to make him stop so he leaves some for R.J. He has a pot belly.
 
Have you tried this calculator?

http://mycockerspaniel.com/h2o.htm

It will tell you a 24 pound cocker will require 2cups and 7ounces of water per day. Of course, there's other factors to consider like exercise and hot tempertures.
 
Thanks Manuel, that is very helpful!

I just measured how much water fits in the bowl I use for Patch's water and it is exactly 3 cups. That is how much a 26 pound Cocker roughly should be drinking according to Manuel's link! I use a smaller, narrow bowl to keep his ears out of the water. He has been drinking all of it by mid-afternoon lately, and then drinks about another 1/2 bowl. Roughly 4 1/2 cups a day, but probably would drink more if I let him.

Prior to this he was drinking about 3/4 of the bowl. In the evening when it's later I don't like to have him drink a lot of water because I don't really want to get up to let out to go potty, but he is begging for his water bowl! He knows where it is on the counter and jumps up at it, or when we're outside he runs to the hose and does a dance!

So, I don't know...
 
I usually feed ice cubes later at night instead of a big bowl of water. I DO keep a potty pad in the bedroom, cause I'm not getting up at 3 to let one or two out.

I also feed canned food, along with a little water mixed in with the kibbies, so that adds fluids too. Do you only use a dry food?
 
Might be worth checking for diabetes too . . . not sure if thyroid can affect thirst? Maybe kidney issues? Or maybe he's just really thirsty . . .
 
20 Questions...LOL

Is his urine dilute...looks like water?
If so, have the vet do a Specific Gravity on the urine.
Is he having pee accidents in the house? (more than the normal Cocker amount...LOL)
Are you feeding dry food?
If you do, do you add water to the dry food?
Adding water to kibble may prevent kidney problems in the future.
 
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