Is my dog drinking and weeing too much?
Overview
- Is your dog drinking and peeing more than usual?
- You may hear your vet use the words polydipsia and polyuria (PUPD for short).
- Polydipsia = drinking too much
- Polyuria = weeing too much
- The two symptoms often come together because the more a dog drinks, the more they need to wee, and the more they wee, the more they need to drink.
- There are many possible reasons for your dog drinking and peeing too much.
- If you think your dog is drinking too much, take them to your vet - never restrict your dog’s water to control the problem.
Is your dog drinking and weeing too much?
Is your dog:
- Drinking more than usual?
- Thirsty all the time?
- Emptying their water bowl more quickly than usual?
- Drinking from taps, puddles or streams more regularly than usual?
- Drinking so much that they vomit?
- Peeing more often or peeing larger volumes?
- Having accidents weeing in the house?
If this is the case, contact your vet. It can be helpful to take a urine sample along with you to the appointment and tell you vet exactly how much your dog is drinking in a 24 hour period. For help with both these tasks watch our videos below.
Causes
Some of the most common causes of drinking and peeing too much include:
- A urine infection
- Diabetes
- Cushing’s Disease
- An infected womb ‘pyometra’
- Kidney disease
- A high temperature (fever)
- Liver disease
- Medications that cause increased thirst e.g. steroids.
There are many other possible causes.
Published: August 2019
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Sign up to our e-newsletterWritten by vets and vet nurses. This advice is for UK pets only. Illustrations by Samantha Elmhurst.