What Causes Dehydration In Dogs?
Dehydration happens when dogs do not have access to food and water and when they don’t drink or eat enough.
There are other underlying medical reasons of increased risk of dogs getting dehydrated:
- Loss of appetite
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Kidney diseases
- Metabolic diseases
Similar to us, when dogs lose more water than they take in, the flow of blood and body fluids reduces drastically and is unable to carry oxygen around the body. Subsequently, this will cause organ failures and if this condition persists, the major organs– kidney, liver, heart and other organs will shut down.
If it continues any longer, it could potentially result in death in extreme cases. So, do not look down at the severity of dehydration, canine bodies are made up of 60%-70% water and it is no wonder why hydration is so important.
Read more: Why Is My Dog Not Drinking Water?
10 Signs That Your Dog Is Dehydrated
Obviously, your pup won’t be able to explicitly speak to you in English or in your native language- “I need to drink water.” In fact, it is quite hard to tell that your dog is in need of water because some of them love drinking water but if your dog is like mine, I can’t for the life of me get him to even drink water.
Here are some tell-tale signs that your dog is dehydrated:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Thick saliva
- Dry/white gums
- Loss of skin elasticity
- Lethargy
- Dry nose
- Sunken eyes
- Loss of elasticity in skin
- Excessive drooling
How To Check If Your Dog Is Dehydrated
1. The Gum Test
A healthy and hydrated dog gums should be pinkish-red, smooth and moist. If they are not, it is a high possibility that your dog is dehydrated or going into shock. Dark, red moist gums are usually an indicator of dehydration or heat exhaustion.
You could also test by pressing your finger on the gums and then removing your finger. If your pup is hydrated, the area pressed should return to pink almost immediately (1-2 seconds). This process is called capillary refill time. If the time taken for the capillary refill in the gum is slow, your pet is dehydrated.
2. Pinch the back of their neck
Gently pinch the nape of the skin on the neck and watch how long it takes the skin to spring back after release. Loss of skin elasticity is one of the symptoms of dehydration. If your pooch is hydrated, the skin should bounce back quickly.
However, if the skin took a longer time to flatten out or stayed tented up, your dog is probably dehydrated. In some severe cases, the skin fails to flatten out completely.
Read more: Why do dogs like to sunbathe?
How Long Can A Dog Go Without Water?
Dogs can usually go on for 48-72 hours without drinking water. Any longer than that might lead to death. However, symptoms of dehydration will begin to show in the first 24 hours. If your pet refuses to drink any water for about 24-36 hours, go to your local veterinarian to check for any unknown underlying causes.
4 Home Remedies To Keep Your Dog Hydrated
Add ice cubes to the bowl
Shake up the normal routine by throwing in some ice cubes and this could also serve as a great summer treat on a hot summer day.
Flavor the water with bone broth
Another way to get some water in is to coax your pup by adding some bone broth (chicken or beef) in the water to entice him. This method worked really well for my pup who was recovering from a pancreatitis attack. I even threw in little bits of chicken in there and he licked everything up in seconds.
Feed electrolyte rich foods
Bone broths and fruits are excellent sources of electrolytes. Of course, feed the ones that your dog is not allergic to. However, if your dog still plainly refuses to drink no matter what food or treats you offer him then send your dog to the vet and let the vet put him on a drip.
Feed your dog pedialyte
You must be thinking to yourself: “Can I give pedialyte to dogs?”. Well, there are mixed views on these. Firstly, pedialytes are made for humans so the sugar content in it is high which is not suitable for dogs. And in some cases, vomiting worsened after taking the pedialytes. However, in small amounts, unflavoured pedialyte solution is typically safe to be given to dogs on short term basis to assist with replenishing fluids and electrolytes lost via diarrhea or vomiting.
In my own experience, I fed my pup Pocari Sweat (similar to Gatorade) when he was having bad diarrhea. At that point of time, he was about 3 years old and for about 1-2 days I added 50ml of Pocari Sweat to his daily drinking water. And voila, right after that he recovered quickly in a few days.
However, there is a caveat to this. Some dogs are more sensitive to sugar and might have a hard time digesting the drink. So, it is important to know how tolerant your pup is to sugar and feed accordingly. But of course, always consult your veterinarian if you attempt to go through with this.
Final Thoughts
Water is essential to dogs and humans alike and dehydration should never be overlooked given the serious consequences that could happen (organ failure, possibly death). Dogs should have access to clean water at all times of the day. Try these tips and tricks to get your stubborn pooch to drink water and if they still refuse, it would be good to ring your veterinarian a call and get some advice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dehydration In Dogs
[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h3″ question-0=”How to tell if a dog is dehydrated from diarrhea? ” answer-0=”List of symptoms of dehydration in dogs: – Vomiting – Diarrhea – Thick saliva – Dry/white gums – Loss of skin elasticity ” image-0=”” headline-1=”h3″ question-1=”What is the fastest way to hydrate a dog?” answer-1=”This depends on how well your dog is responding to your methods of feeding him water. If your dog is losing a lot of electrolytes and liquid, the best way to replenish his system is to feed pedialyte or low sugar electrolyte liquids (gatorade, Vitamin Water, powerade etc). Please consult your vet before administering electrolyte drinks or pedialyte. ” image-1=”” headline-2=”h3″ question-2=”How often should I give my dog water?” answer-2=”You should feed your dog water everyday and your pup should have access to clean water everyday at all times of the day. The general rule of thumb is that your dog should drink 1 ounce of water per each pound of body weight. So for example, if your pup is 40 pounds then you give about 40 ounces of water each day. ” image-2=”” count=”3″ html=”true” css_class=””]