6 month puppy drinks a lot.

Dr. Marie replied:

Thank you for your detailed history of your dog's problems. At this age, Bentley really should be able to go more than three hours without urinating.

My main concern with what you have described is the fact that he is so thirsty. This is not normal. A rough estimate of what a dog should drink in a day is 60-80mL per pound. So, let's say Bentley is 4 pounds (I'm guessing here.) If that's the case he shouldn't be drinking more than 320 mL (1 1/4 cups) of water per day. If he is drinking more than that then there could be a problem.

You can ask your vet about the possibility of him having something called diabetes insipidus. This is not a very common condition. It is like sugar diabetes, but instead of sugar (glucose) being the problem, a hormone can cause him to want to drink a lot.

Another possibility is that he has a kidney problem. There are some dogs that can be born with kidney issues. If he has not had blood tests done, then I would highly suggest that you have some bloodwork done to determine if there is a problem with his kidneys.

Some dogs can get a condition called medullary washout where they have drunk so much water that it messes up the electrolytes in the kidneys. When this happens the urine is very dilute and it's a vicious cycle. They urinate lots and then they have to replace the urine with water which makes them want to urinate more. A controlled water depravation test can solve this, but, this is NOT something that you should do at home as it can be dangerous. It is something that would need to be done by your vet at a veterinary clinic.

It does sound like there could be a medical issue here and I really do think that more tests are necessary.

I hope things work out ok!

Dr. Marie.


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