My senior dog isn't drinking enough. How much water does she need?

A healthy dog will generally drink as much body as it's body needs as long as it has access to clean fresh water at all times. Since you are giving water with the food, it's possible this is meeting all her body's water needs. Certainly continuing to put water in her food is fine and is encouraged if she is not a good drinker on her own. You may also see if she will drink more readily out of a pet water fountain. You may also try different water bowels or change the location of the bowels. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello and thank you for your questions about Lady. If lady will only eat the dry food but you are concerned she will not drink enough water, you may try adding warm water to the kibble. If she will eat it that way, then you know she will get the extra water as she eats. You may also try a different brand to see if she will eat their senior canned formulas. I recommend to stick with other high quality brands like Royal Canin and Purina ProPlan. Eukanuba and Nutro are also good brands. If she will eat these diets, you could mix water with the canned food and add it all to the dry food to almost create a soup. If Lady will eat it this way, you can be sure she is getting planty of water. I hope this helps to give you some ideas and that you find something that works for you and Lady. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

It is concerning that it appears that Nicco isn't drinking water, and it sounds like you are keeping an eye on the levels. I would recommend measuring out the water in the morning into the bowl, and then the next morning measuring the remaining water to get an exact amount of how much he is drinking. Normally a dog should drink between 8.5-17 ounces of water per 10 pounds. Nicco should be drinking around 17-34 ounces daily if we round his weight up to 20 pounds. Check to see if he is drinking this amount, and if he is, then he is getting enough water. To ensure he is getting enough water, you can try mixing in canned food with his dry food. Canned food has a higher moisture content, and that will get extra water into his food. You can soak his dry food in warm water, or occasionally add in some low sodium beef or chicken broth. Finally, you can get Nicco a pet water fountain. These provide a continual source of fresh water for him, and dogs love drinking from them. I have one, and my pets love it. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Hello and thank you very much for your question. Changing the food to a canned diet is a good idea if you are concerned with in adequate water consumption. You can add a lot of water to the canned food to make it a gruel based diet. I do have a few suggestions on what may help her consume more water. First, you may want to invest in a waterfall or water movement type of water bowl. These types of watering devices can help mimic a running faucet and studies have shown that animals will drink more from this type of device. Second, you could perhaps change the water you are giving. So for instance, if you are giving your pet well water, you would switch to city water or filtered water. Or if you are giving city water, you may want to switch to filtered water for just a while to see if that helps drink more. I hope I have been of some help. Have a great day.

I highly recommend purchasing a water fountain! I have one for my dogs and cats, and they love it. They are easy to clean, and have filters to help keep the water clean. Plus they hold lots of water, so you don't have to fill it up daily. There are many differing types of water fountains, and I will put a link below to a number of different ones. I have the DogIt drinking fountain for my pets, and it's listed in the website below as one of the best of 2015. I hope this helps :-) https://www.ezvid.com/top-ten-dog-water-fountains

You can try giving Max canned food (it has a high moisture content), or you can add water to his dry food to get him to drink. I'd also get him a dog water fountain. It will provide a continual source of fresh water, and may encourage him to drink. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend giving Shilo free access to water as she may have something going on internally that requires water. I recommend taking her to a vet for blood work to rule out diabetes, Cushings, or kidney disease. These are all illnesses that cause increased thirst and she may need treatment. Good luck and kisses to Shilo!