Photo by Rafael Ishkhanyan on Unsplash
Frequently neglected, water is seriously important for the survival and general health of your senior pet. Your dog might be able to live for weeks without food, but going without water can cause severe dehydration, organ failure or worse within just a few days.
Here are five reasons why water is so vital to a senior dog’s health and wellbeing!
A dog’s water requirement is determined by what the body needs to maintain water balance. Like us humans, dogs lose water daily, mostly through urine. This is especially important to remember as your senior pet may urinate frequently. Small amounts of water are also lost through breathing and stools. These losses must be replaced daily to avoid dehydration.
How much water your dog needs each day will depend on their size, diet, age, activity level and weather conditions. As a rule of thumb, a healthy dog should drink between 0.5 and 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight each day. That means a healthy, 70-pound Labrador retriever should be drinking around 35 to 70 ounces, or about 4.5 to 9 cups, daily.
A dog meets their water requirement primarily through voluntary drinking. Dog food also contains some moisture, depending on the form fed. A dog who’s fed canned food, which ranges from 70 to 80 percent moisture, tends to drink less than a dog who eats dry food.
To ensure your dog always has enough water to keep them healthy, you’ll want to provide clean, fresh water that’s easily accessible. The bowl should be filled at all times and refilled daily with fresh, clean water, as necessary.
Also, the water in your senior pet’s dish gets warmer as it gets hotter. Ensure that water left outside is kept in shade and try adding ice cubes to both indoor and outdoor water dishes, as many senior dogs LOVE super cold water. It is also suggested to put ice cubes in water bottles used for walks or outings as that will keep your senior pet’s water cool enough for them to enjoy no matter the climate! To make things even easier, fill a plastic bottle between one quarter and halfway with fresh water and freeze overnight. When you and your senior pet are ready for an outing, grab the bottle from the freezer and fill it the rest of the way with more water. No need to try to fit ice cubes in those pesky bottles and the frozen water will actually last longer than ice cubes, keeping the water colder for a longer period of time!Monitoring your dog’s water consumption
Normally, your senior pet will get thirsty and drink enough water to meet or exceed their daily requirement to stay well hydrated. But some health conditions, such as a bladder infection, kidney disease, diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, or particular types of cancer, can change the amount of water your dog drinks. That’s why it’s important to monitor how much your senior pet drinks so you have an idea of what’s normal for your dog. Then you can spot when they drink more or less than usual and talk with your veterinarian about your concerns to rule out an underlying condition such as those mentioned above.
A dog with chronic kidney disease needs unlimited access to fresh water so they can drink as needed. During kidney disease, the kidneys can’t concentrate urine as well as healthy kidneys, so they produce a diluted urine that results in greater loss of body water. Increased thirst prompts the dog with kidney disease to drink more water, which helps maintain the body’s water balance in the early stages of disease. Eventually, however, more water is lost through diluted urine than a dog can consume. Keeping a dog with chronic kidney disease hydrated can become difficult, and the resulting dehydration can lead to illness and often exacerbation of any disease they may already have.
Fresh, clean water for drinking is an important part of your dog’s overall nutrition. If you’re concerned about the amount of water that your dog is drinking, or not drinking, talk with your veterinarian. Maintaining your senior dog’s hydration is too important to their health to ignore!Watering Bowl Recommendations
Best Water Bottle for Walkers
Our best water bottle dispenser recommendation for walkers is the MalsiPree Dog Water Bottle, and not just because it has cool name. We actually use this exact water bottle every day when walking our senior dog. It is the perfect size for our hour long walks, has a wide mouth for adding ice and is really easy to clean.
Best Bowl for Travelers
Our best bowl recommendation for travelers is the Rest-Eazzzy Collapsible Dog Bowl. These bowls are cheap enough to buy multiple and you won't cry when one is damaged or lost. They can be stashed in nooks and crannies, are light enough to backpack with and are also super easy to clean. We keep one in our car, one in the dog bags, one in the garage, one in the closet, one in the...well, you get the picture. Pick up a couple sets like we do!
Best Bowl for Drinkers
Our best bowl recommendation for senior drinkers is the Neater Big Bowl. Our family has been testing out this bowl for a couple of years and this one is guaranteed to be durable. Ours still looks brand new, out of the box, after all this time and we have three dogs all slurping up their water from this watering hole. The massive volume allows for fewer fill-ups and is extremely easy to clean. The one downside is that it can be a bit unwieldy to pick up from the counter when it is completely full. We solve that problem by filling it halfway, setting it on the ground, and topping it off with a pitcher of water.