Water Consumption with Kidney Disease

[boomersmomma]

Hello,

I know that when a dog has early stage kidney disease they drink more than usual, and therefore, urinate more than usual.  I am wondering how MUCH more do they drink?  Is it excessive?  Do they have to drink water every hour?

I am wondering because my baby's levels are high end normal (creatinine 1.8 (normal 0.5-1.8), BUN 22 (normal 5-27) and USG 1.020), and two separate vets both said that his levels are safe and normal.  Boomer is 70 pounds and drinks 67 ounces of water per day roughly (yes, I am crazy and measure).  His drinking routine is: he drinks some when he wakes up (just a few ounces) I take him for his walk and afterwards he drinks some more (maybe about 15 ounces), he is home alone for about 7 hours and his bowl has for the most part been untouched during the day.  When I get home he drinks almost his whole bowl.  I later take him for his evening walk, and he drinks when he get home.  I feed him and he drinks a little more.  We relax for about 4 hours, and before bed, and he goes and drinks some.

Very rarely he wakes up at 4-5 AM and wants to go get a sip of water (this usually happens when he only drank about 50 ounces of water the day before).  He can go about 9-11 hours without having to urinate.  He does not have accidents in the house while he is home alone, and he never has to go out during the night.

All of the reading I have done states that dogs with kidney disease drink excessively.  Does this sound excessive, or normal?  In my opinion excessive drinking would be drinking every hour and the water bowl always being empty, which is not the case with Boomer.  I have read that the normal amount for a dog to drink is 1 ounce per pound, so since he is 70 pounds and drinks about 70 ounces, he is drinking a normal amount according to that resource.  

If you have a dog with kidney disease, what are their drinking habits like?  Thanks for any insight!

[tonyb286]

Excellent. Tony x

[boomersmomma]

Hi Tony,

Boomer only gets filtered water from our fridge.  I have never given him tap water since I have had him. :)

Thanks!

[tonyb286]

You are welcome. I meant to add, try supplying him with filtered water rather than tap water, as filtered removes some of the more difficult to control salts, chemicals and minerals, which can add stress to the kidneys of kidney failure dogs. Tony

[boomersmomma]

Thanks Tony!

[tonyb286]

Hi. Yes, dogs with early kidney disease start drinking more - and urinating more. Later, this can change to the complete opposite, where a dog hardly drinks anything at all. It sounds to me like you are being rightfully curious about the amount of drinking. It's this kind of scrutiny that can help catch those changes in behavior that can lead to adaptive treatment/management. So far, I think his water consumption is fairly normal, so nothing to get concerned about yet.

What happens with kidney disease is a dog eventually becomes unable to produce enough concentrated urine to rid the body of toxins. So while things may be normal(ish) now, it's worth keeping an eye on both intake and urination as time moves on.

Hope this helps.

Tony