Ranger's been drinking a lot of water lately

tuttifrutti

Like the title says, Ranger has lately been drinking a lot of water. After maybe 5 minutes of playing, he will go and drink tons of water (1-2 minutes straight sometimes). This is his only symptom of anything (if it's a symptom.) He still acts normal, plays like normal. He has a red spot on his stomach, but that has been attributed to slight grass allergies, and now that the grass has finally died that should start disappearing until the grass turns green again. I will ask the vets at work about it, but with a lot of water drinking as the only symptom, that could mean many things. Are there other symptoms I should watch out for that maybe I just haven't noticed that can indicate anything? He is a brittany who is 50lbs, but that is mostly muscle on him according to the vet, and he is about 2 inches taller and longer than the breed standard, so he's already a big dog. Anyways, anything you can think of would be appreciated!

Shineillusion · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:31 am Post subject:

Several things come to mind.

Diabetes; is he also peeing more than usual, or losing weight?

Did he get a shot of steroids, or oral steroids for the grass allergy? If so, that could account for the increase in drinking. Not to worry. It'll resolve on its own.

UTI? Again, is he peeing a lot? Does he seem to need to "go" often, but not produce much urine? Have you noticed any off color in his urine that could indicate blood? Sometimes there isn't enough blood to be easily noticed, just a bit of pink tinge to the urine.

A simple blood test for diabetes and/or checking his urine for sugar, blood, pus, or crystals probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

tuttifrutti · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:28 am Post subject:

he has lost no weight, and when he urinates, it's a normal amount. the urine is perfectly clear, like the water has simply passed through. it may be that he does not drink that much water, and that snickers simply does not drink as much because she is not as active. he did used to have a command to drink water, so that on days when we walked or played frisbee and it was hot i could periodically send him to get a drink, since (especially with the frisbee) he seemed to forget all else. it could simply be that he has developed this habit, but i don't want to miss something.

Shineillusion · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:33 pm Post subject:

Well, considering you work with a vet, maybe you could try to catch some urine and have them at least do a dip stick and check the specific gravity. Low specific gravity (urine like plain water) could indicate diabetes or Cushing's, and further testing would be in order. Sugar in the urine would definately point towards diabetes, and a blood test would be necessary.

On the other hand, you may have just conditioned him to drink during play, and there's nothing at all wrong. But on the outside chance it could be early diabetes, I'd want to rule that out.

tuttifrutti · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:48 am Post subject:

today when i played i noticed that he wasn't drinking as much, and i know that i go through phases where do drink a lot of water, then when i don't, he actually seems to drink less water when it's warm. i will try to get a urine sample to them, and see what happens.

DeLaUK · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:54 pm Post subject:

Ditto to everything shine said, another thing to watch for with very dilute urine is early kidney problems. defintely worth having a urine and maybe blood tests done. Hopefully its nothing major or to be concerned about but if it is then its always good to catch things as early as possible.

DogLover · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 147 Location: CA

Hi,

How's Ranger?

Chobby has the same symptom but only after he eats, especially in the morning. A few hours later, he will urine it all. He didn't drink this much water during the summer, only recently. When he finished a bowl full of water, he usually wouldn't drink any till later afternoon. Well, I am still making observations...

Did you run any urine or blood test?

tuttifrutti · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject:

i've been watching him more, and it's usually after a bunch of excitement that he'll drink that much. the more i've watched, the more i think that it just a behaviour that he typically gets praised for, thus he does it. for instance, it used to be when he was hungry he would lay his head on top of his food bin and just whine, and we always thought it was incredibally cute, so he usually got a little bit of food. now he does that for anything he wants (being petted, etc.) it really only happens if i am outside with him or have just been outside with him, so i think he knows it is a good behavoir, i haven't noticed him doing it as much if i am inside w/o him. if i do notice him getting worse he will get tested, it helps to know what to look for, and he has no other symptoms.