New found obsession with water

[BLVCKSHVDE]

Hello.

Odin is a male nearly 4yo Frenchie. He used to avoid water at all costs, ignoring his water bowl while at home and only really wanted to drink sometimes when outside. At some point he'd go days without drinking water so I started cooking bones in water so he would at least drink some.

However, this all changed a few weeks ago. He started getting obsessed with drinking water, even choosing his water bowl over his food which was rare, I mean, Odin? Looking at food and not immediately salivating? Weird. I once tested him, cos every time he'd finish his water bowl, he'd come to me as if he was begging for more. So, one day I gave him more, and more, and more, until he went through 7 bowls of water back to back. He also keeps licking his water bowl after he'd drink it all for minutes until I clap my hands to make him snap out of it, it's like a frenzy of some sort, all because of water.

Taking him out, and it's typhoon season right now, so it rains a lot. Obviously, I take him out when it's not raining, however the roads are filled with puddles. He walks through with his head down, sniffing every inch he walks (which is not normal behaviour for him before this thing) and of course licking every puddle he sees no matter how dirty they are. I pull him off every single puddle and tell him no, but he won't listen. Again, it's like he's in some sort of frenzy at the sight of water. People in the streets look over and probably thinking I don't give him water! And mind you not, before I take him out, I feed him and he drank a full bowl of water.

Should I be concerned? Is something wrong with him? I certainly do not want to give him excess water as that is potentially harmful for him, but what should I do? Is this a phase? I'm so confused and never seen anything like this.

 

[Mavis]

Hello.

Odin is a male nearly 4yo Frenchie. He used to avoid water at all costs, ignoring his water bowl while at home and only really wanted to drink sometimes when outside. At some point he'd go days without drinking water so I started cooking bones in water so he would at least drink some.

However, this all changed a few weeks ago. He started getting obsessed with drinking water, even choosing his water bowl over his food which was rare, I mean, Odin? Looking at food and not immediately salivating? Weird. I once tested him, cos every time he'd finish his water bowl, he'd come to me as if he was begging for more. So, one day I gave him more, and more, and more, until he went through 7 bowls of water back to back. He also keeps licking his water bowl after he'd drink it all for minutes until I clap my hands to make him snap out of it, it's like a frenzy of some sort, all because of water.

Taking him out, and it's typhoon season right now, so it rains a lot. Obviously, I take him out when it's not raining, however the roads are filled with puddles. He walks through with his head down, sniffing every inch he walks (which is not normal behaviour for him before this thing) and of course licking every puddle he sees no matter how dirty they are. I pull him off every single puddle and tell him no, but he won't listen. Again, it's like he's in some sort of frenzy at the sight of water. People in the streets look over and probably thinking I don't give him water! And mind you not, before I take him out, I feed him and he drank a full bowl of water.

Should I be concerned? Is something wrong with him? I certainly do not want to give him excess water as that is potentially harmful for him, but what should I do? Is this a phase? I'm so confused and never seen anything like this.

My only thought is possible diabetes, however, something isn't right. I think this warrants a trip to the vet as soon as possible. Drinking too much water is as bad as not drinking enough. It can leach out many critical vitamins/minerals. Is he peeing all of the time? Still eating well?

I would google how much water he needs and give him that throughout the day and then take up the water bowl. I wouldn't let him drink as much as he can stand. Good luck; please keep us posted.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Hello.

Odin is a male nearly 4yo Frenchie. He used to avoid water at all costs, ignoring his water bowl while at home and only really wanted to drink sometimes when outside. At some point he'd go days without drinking water so I started cooking bones in water so he would at least drink some.

However, this all changed a few weeks ago. He started getting obsessed with drinking water, even choosing his water bowl over his food which was rare, I mean, Odin? Looking at food and not immediately salivating? Weird. I once tested him, cos every time he'd finish his water bowl, he'd come to me as if he was begging for more. So, one day I gave him more, and more, and more, until he went through 7 bowls of water back to back. He also keeps licking his water bowl after he'd drink it all for minutes until I clap my hands to make him snap out of it, it's like a frenzy of some sort, all because of water.

Taking him out, and it's typhoon season right now, so it rains a lot. Obviously, I take him out when it's not raining, however the roads are filled with puddles. He walks through with his head down, sniffing every inch he walks (which is not normal behaviour for him before this thing) and of course licking every puddle he sees no matter how dirty they are. I pull him off every single puddle and tell him no, but he won't listen. Again, it's like he's in some sort of frenzy at the sight of water. People in the streets look over and probably thinking I don't give him water! And mind you not, before I take him out, I feed him and he drank a full bowl of water.

Should I be concerned? Is something wrong with him? I certainly do not want to give him excess water as that is potentially harmful for him, but what should I do? Is this a phase? I'm so confused and never seen anything like this.

That definitely does not sound normal. If he were my dog I would take him to the vet and get some bloodwork done, that could mean kidney or liver disease, or diabetes.

Hopefully it’s just a behavioural thing.

Rusty one day decided to drink an entire water dish(this was 1 year ago), the dish is 2 Litres cause we have 2 other dogs, he got SO bloated and could barely walk and his breathing was not good, all because he decided to drink the entire water dish that was full, right after breakfast. Now he no longer goes to the water dish.

I would also make sure he is not getting bloated from drinking so much water.

Of course he went to the vet immediately as he was so bloated he couldn’t walk.

I also recommend measuring what he is allowed in cups of water. Maybe put it in a container(not all in the dish), and don’t allow him any more than what he is allowed. If he is begging for water, put a little in it from the jar with his amount DJ water in it, then when it’s gone, put the water bowl up.

Good luck!

keep us updated on what the vet says!

 

[Cbrugs]

I recommend a vet visit. Excessive thirst can be a medical issue.

 

[CutieFrenchie]

How big is the water bowl btw?

 

[BLVCKSHVDE]

Sorry for the delay on reply.

Unfortunately right now, I can't take Odin to a vet. I live in Macau, and currently there's a semi-lockdown mandate in place. This means we're not allowed to go outside unless for essential needs like grocery shopping and going to the doctors. All non-essential businesses were forced to close, this includes veterinary services, unless you call for emergency pet response. A check up isn't considered an emergency. Also, because of these measures, I have been unable to work and even before these measures, our borders have been closed for over 2 and 1/2 years, cutting opportunities for me to make cash significantly. I am a DJ and I rely on tourism and open borders to get reliable flow of shows coming in. Even if vets were open, I simply cannot afford to visit the vet with the current situation I'm in.

Macau is so behind times, that the gov does not consider walking your pet an essential need. They even said that kids can't go out to play at the park so people can't walk dogs, as if leisure activities are equal to the biological needs of a living animal. Ridiculous. You can face up to 2 years in prison plus a hefty fine if you're caught outdoors and not performing what they consider an essential need. Police have been outside hunting for dog walkers and unfortunately one man was jailed for walking his dog. When asked, he said his dog has not relieved himself for 2 days and was concerned for his wellbeing.

To clarify something, I don't give Odin as much water as he can drink, I only did it once to see how much he'd drink cos his behaviour was a bit weird. His bowl isn't big, I'd say it takes around 80ML of water. I give him 1 to 2 bowls per day.

I went online to look at symptoms and Odin doesn't seem to show any of the other symptoms related to diabetes.

1. Your Dog Is Peeing More Frequently: Odins pee frequency has been the same, he doesn't pee in an excessive manner.
2. Your Dog Is Drinking More Water Than Usual: This is the only symptom Odin has
3. Your Dog Has a Ravenous Appetite: Albeit, Odin always had a ferocious appetite, he sometimes does not want to eat or leaves his bowl half filled with food. Especially now with the water thing, he choses his water over food.
4. Your Dog Is Losing Weight Despite Eating Normally: His weight has been pretty consistent, since he was diagnosed with Hemivertebra and Intervertebral Disc Disease, the vet told me to watch his weight and keep him around 14kg to 16kg, so I watch him closely in this regard.
5. Your Dog’s Eyes Look Cloudy: His eyes are pretty normal, no cloudy things going on there.
6. Your Dog’s Vision Is Getting Worse: It's pretty difficult to see this at home since I'm not allowed to take him out, but at home he does not walk against walls or obstacles and he's looking at me when I look at him without making sounds.
7. Your Dog’s Coat and Skin Appear to Be Lackluster: No apparent changes here, only thing he has right now is shedding fur but it's quite normal at this time of the year.
8. Your Dog Is Vomiting With No Apparent Cause: This is interesting, cos when he was younger he vomited quite frequently, I think it was kennel cough he had when he had arrived at my home. Occasionally he would regurgitate which is quite different from vomiting, but I haven't seen him do either in the past year.
9. Your Dog Seems Tired and Has Lost Interest in Activities: He is energetic as ever. Always up to play and gets easily excited. He shows no signs of fatigue and immediately jumps up and zooms whenever I'm teasing him to play, even if he's laying down.
10. Your Dog Seems Stiff or Weaker Than Usual: No changes here as well, he's always been a strong lil doggo, still is when I play with him tug-of-war.

I wish I could take him to the vet, any other suggestions as to why he's so obsessed with water other than diabetes?

 

[2bullymama]

s

Sorry for the delay on reply.

Unfortunately right now, I can't take Odin to a vet. I live in Macau, and currently there's a semi-lockdown mandate in place. This means we're not allowed to go outside unless for essential needs like grocery shopping and going to the doctors. All non-essential businesses were forced to close, this includes veterinary services, unless you call for emergency pet response. A check up isn't considered an emergency. Also, because of these measures, I have been unable to work and even before these measures, our borders have been closed for over 2 and 1/2 years, cutting opportunities for me to make cash significantly. I am a DJ and I rely on tourism and open borders to get reliable flow of shows coming in. Even if vets were open, I simply cannot afford to visit the vet with the current situation I'm in.

Macau is so behind times, that the gov does not consider walking your pet an essential need. They even said that kids can't go out to play at the park so people can't walk dogs, as if leisure activities are equal to the biological needs of a living animal. Ridiculous. You can face up to 2 years in prison plus a hefty fine if you're caught outdoors and not performing what they consider an essential need. Police have been outside hunting for dog walkers and unfortunately one man was jailed for walking his dog. When asked, he said his dog has not relieved himself for 2 days and was concerned for his wellbeing.

To clarify something, I don't give Odin as much water as he can drink, I only did it once to see how much he'd drink cos his behaviour was a bit weird. His bowl isn't big, I'd say it takes around 80ML of water. I give him 1 to 2 bowls per day.

I went online to look at symptoms and Odin doesn't seem to show any of the other symptoms related to diabetes.

1. Your Dog Is Peeing More Frequently: Odins pee frequency has been the same, he doesn't pee in an excessive manner.
2. Your Dog Is Drinking More Water Than Usual: This is the only symptom Odin has
3. Your Dog Has a Ravenous Appetite: Albeit, Odin always had a ferocious appetite, he sometimes does not want to eat or leaves his bowl half filled with food. Especially now with the water thing, he choses his water over food.
4. Your Dog Is Losing Weight Despite Eating Normally: His weight has been pretty consistent, since he was diagnosed with Hemivertebra and Intervertebral Disc Disease, the vet told me to watch his weight and keep him around 14kg to 16kg, so I watch him closely in this regard.
5. Your Dog’s Eyes Look Cloudy: His eyes are pretty normal, no cloudy things going on there.
6. Your Dog’s Vision Is Getting Worse: It's pretty difficult to see this at home since I'm not allowed to take him out, but at home he does not walk against walls or obstacles and he's looking at me when I look at him without making sounds.
7. Your Dog’s Coat and Skin Appear to Be Lackluster: No apparent changes here, only thing he has right now is shedding fur but it's quite normal at this time of the year.
8. Your Dog Is Vomiting With No Apparent Cause: This is interesting, cos when he was younger he vomited quite frequently, I think it was kennel cough he had when he had arrived at my home. Occasionally he would regurgitate which is quite different from vomiting, but I haven't seen him do either in the past year.
9. Your Dog Seems Tired and Has Lost Interest in Activities: He is energetic as ever. Always up to play and gets easily excited. He shows no signs of fatigue and immediately jumps up and zooms whenever I'm teasing him to play, even if he's laying down.
10. Your Dog Seems Stiff or Weaker Than Usual: No changes here as well, he's always been a strong lil doggo, still is when I play with him tug-of-war.

I wish I could take him to the vet, any other suggestions as to why he's so obsessed with water other than diabetes?

o outside of his obsession with water… he seems totally fine?

 

[CutieFrenchie]

Oh so it's like a tad over 2 cups. That doesn't sound as bad as it originally did. How big is Odin? 2 cups in 1 sitting doesn't seem out of the ordinary, depending on diet, size and activity imo.

Just to give you some context. Charlie has a 900ml bowl which is almost 4 cups. Drinks about 1/4 of it per day. When she was on dry kibble, drank about half of it per day. Charlie is about 23 lbs.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Rusty eats moisture rich food, which means he will drink less water.

He always has never like to drink out of the water dish, even though it’s always clean filtered water, he is picky and unless he races around for a long time, he will have a small amount of water from the dish(rare though cause he is picky!).

Because of him not drinking he was getting urine crystals from the kibble, I have him on a high moisture food which gives him 1/2 cup of moisture/water thru food alone so he is hydrated(he needed that), but I still add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water in each meal(he gets 3 meals total daily), and 2 TBSP of bone broth with each meal so he drinks the water in his food=6 TBSP bone broth + the 1/4 cup water per meal, he gets roughly 1.5 cups of water Per Day, he can have 2.5 cups of water per day for his weight of 22 lb(the vet said anything over that 2.5 cups daily it can harm them just as much as being dehydrated ).

The point of all these details I’m sharing is that digs eating a high moisture diet( pre-made lightly cooked, Raw diet, or canned food-all of these are high moisture), which means they drink less water and are not in constant dehydration like when they eat kibble.

But make sure for his weight, he is NOT drinking more than he can have in a day(for my 22 lb Frenchie is 2.5 cups of water-no more than that a day, even though he doesn’t drink tat much, he can have UP TO that amount anything more will harm them).

What does he weigh??

What are you feeding him??

 

[BLVCKSHVDE]

Odin is nearly 4 years old (his birthday is coming up, August 8th), he weighs 15kg. I feed him dry food from an affordable brand called VitaPet. His bowl may be bigger than I first thought, it's probably around 150ML (sorry I'm bad with eye measuring stuff).

Other than his obsession with water, he seems like a healthy doggo (apart from his spinal issues of course). He did go to the vet and she said that it could just be because of the breed having a short snout and the heat is making him want more water than normal as it's quite hot and humid in Macau.

I'm about to travel in a week or 2 as I am having shows overseas and my cousin is going to take care of Odin while I'm gone and will be taking him to the vet while I'm away. So they'll be keeping a close eye at his behaviour.

Hopefully it's nothing serious, as he already suffers a lot from his Hemivertebra and Intervertebral Disc Disease as sometimes he gets something akin to a cramp and he can't move his front legs as they remain stretched out like superman. It's really stressful on him, I don't think it hurts him but he gets real scared and panics and flips all over the place. I have to hold him down and massage him, but once he recovers from it, it's like it never happened and he's even up to play, it's crazy.

Anyway, I will update once I know more, thank you for the concern and clarifications.

 

[RoccoandSusie]

Hello. Wondering if there was an update on the water issue. My 7yr old Rocco is going through something similar. No medical issues, tests done.