Why is my dog drinking tons of water?

Our question this week was:

Dr. Debra – I have a 13-year-old Stafford bull terrier and lately when I get home form work she is out of water and drinks out of control, when I fill her bowl. She urinates for a long time also. Please help, I love her very much.

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Kim Skillman

Answer

Thanks for your email. You wrote that your 13-year-old Stafford bull terrier has been drinking a lot more water and urinating more. There is actually a term for these symptoms called Polyuria (excessive urinating) and Polydipsia (excessive drinking. Generally they go together. What goes in, must come out (so to speak). I suggest that you go to the above link and read about conditions that may cause them.

These are symptoms that can be associated with several different diseases. The most common diseases are diabetes mellitus and renal failure.

I'd recommend that you take her to your veterinarian for evaluation. They will do a physical examination and probably want to do a blood and urine test to determine the underlying cause of the problem.

A couple articles that might be helpful to you are Diabetes in Dogs and Chronic Renal (Kidney) Failure in Dogs.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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