What to do if your dog's water intake suddenly increases

Dog drinking more water suddenly may be due to physiological reasons such as eating too much salt or just finishing intense exercise, or due to diseases such as fever, diabetes, or kidney failure. If this phenomenon occurs only a couple of times, it is likely a normal physiological phenomenon, and you should just timely supplement your dog's water intake. If your dog frequently exhibits excessive drinking and is accompanied by symptoms such as lethargy and loss of appetite, it is likely that your dog is sick and needs to be checked and treated at a pet hospital promptly.

1. Eating too much salt

If the food given to the dog is too salty or if the dog eats human food, it can cause the dog to feel thirsty and drink frequently. This is a normal situation, and owners do not need to worry too much. However, it is best to avoid feeding your dog high-sodium foods, especially human food, otherwise, it can exacerbate the dog's hair loss. It is recommended to feed your dog light and easily digestible food instead.

1. Just finished intense exercise

Because dogs don't have sweat glands, they will use their tongues to cool down and drink water to lower their body temperature after intense exercise or during hot summer days. This is also a normal situation. Owners just need to bring their dogs to a shady and well-ventilated place to rest and provide them with enough water.

1. Fever

A dog with a fever will also drink a lot of water to lower its body temperature and may be accompanied by symptoms such as lethargy, dry nose, and decreased or absent appetite. Therefore, after noticing these symptoms, owners can take the dog's temperature. If it is higher than 39 degrees Celsius, the dog has a fever and needs to go to the pet hospital for a fever-reducing injection.

1. Diabetes

When a dog has severe diabetes, high blood sugar that hasn't been controlled in time can cause an increase in blood osmotic pressure, which leads to excessive drinking. Additionally, increased renal filtration load can also cause polyuria. Therefore, it is recommended for owners to regularly check their dogs' health, especially for older or easily overweight dogs. Be mindful of their diet and exercise to prevent metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

1. Kidney failure

When a dog has kidney failure, it causes severe damage to renal function, leading to inability to control urine output, increased urine output, which stimulates the dog, causing it to feel thirsty and drink excessively. It may also be accompanied by symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, decreased appetite, or even loss of appetite. Kidney failure is a serious internal disease, so dogs with kidney failure must go to the pet hospital for treatment promptly. Otherwise, it is likely to worsen and lead to severe kidney failure, posing a risk to the dog's life.