Q: My dog had been drinking considerably more water than usual and urinating more as a result. I took her to the vet to see if she had diabetes or Cushing’s disease, but she was negative for both of those conditions. Nor does she have other potential thirst-making illnesses like kidney or liver disease, an infection, or a fever, and she does not take any medications that would make her thirsty. What might be going on?
Crystal Ebersol
Seattle, Washington
Dear Ms. Ebersol,
A: Once in a while mouth pain can cause a dog to drink more water than she normally would. That is, your pet might have a dental problem that she is trying to soothe by “bathing” it.
One Your Dog reader, Patti Taylor of Watertown, Connecticut, wrote to tell us that she adopted a “beautiful senior rescue dog” named Nina who, when she came to live with her, was consuming what seemed like excessive amounts of water every day. The dog’s vet ran a number of diagnostic tests, but nothing conclusive turned up. In the meantime, Ms. Taylor says, “we had delayed her teeth cleaning. Ultimately, several weeks in, we decided to go ahead with the dental, during which Nina was relieved of 17 teeth. Her water consumption dropped instantly to normal levels! We could only conclude it was her painful mouth that was driving her to drink so much water; the cool water must have been a balm for her discomfort.
“A couple of years later,” Ms. Taylor wrote, “her water consumption started to increase again, and a dental cleaning once again resolved the problem.”
We’re not suggesting that oral pain is definitely the reason for your dog’s copious water consumption, but since several other conditions have been ruled out, it may be worth considering.
