Is my pet drinking too much?
Measure a day of drinking, enter it here, and see how your dog or cat compares with what’s normal for their size and diet.
Check your pet’s water intake
For adult dogs and cats. Measure a full 24 hours of drinking first (here’s how).
Put down = every bit of water you poured in, refills included. For evaporation, set an identical bowl where no pet can reach it and see how much it loses in the same 24 hours. Skip it indoors in cool weather; it’s usually small.
Call now if they’re drinking more and…
Don’t wait to measure. Call (310) 776-5544 right away if increased thirst comes with any of these.
- Vomiting, not eating, or low energy. They may be getting sick fast and dehydrating.
- She’s an unspayed female who was in heat in the last couple of months. That’s the classic setup for pyometra, a uterine infection.
- Straining to pee with little or nothing coming out, especially a male cat. That can be a urinary blockage, and it’s fatal without treatment.
- They might have gotten into antifreeze. Sudden thirst is an early sign, and treatment works best within hours.
Closed? Go to the nearest 24/7 emergency vet. Not sure how urgent it is? Try Should I come in?
How to measure it right
Measure every bowl
Fill each bowl with a measuring cup and note the amount. Every time you top up, write down what you added. After 24 hours, measure what’s left. Everything you put down minus what’s left is what they drank.
Count the sneaky sources
Fountains, toilets, dripping taps, the pool, puddles and other pets’ bowls all add up. Close off what you can. Wipe up spills before they dry, and for evaporation, set an identical bowl out of reach and subtract what it loses.
Track 2 to 3 days
One day can mislead: a hot afternoon, a long hike, a new food. Track 2 to 3 ordinary days and go by the average. Pets sharing a bowl? Measure the household, then separate them for a day if you can.
Your 3-day water log
Enter what they drank each day. We’ll keep a running average, and you can check it in one tap or print the log for the fridge.
Everyday reasons
- Heat and exercise. Panting uses up water, so a hot day or a long hike can push intake up for a day or two.
- Food changes. A switch from wet to dry food, salty treats or chews, or a new prescription diet.
- Medicines. Steroids like prednisone, diuretics like furosemide, and the seizure medicine phenobarbital often raise thirst. Don’t stop or change a medicine on your own. Call us first.
- Life stage. Puppies, kittens, and pregnant or nursing moms drink more.
Medical reasons we look for
- Kidney disease, in dogs and cats. More drinking is often the first sign.
- Diabetes, often with weight loss and a big appetite.
- Cushing’s disease in dogs, often with a big appetite, panting and a pot belly.
- Overactive thyroid in older cats, often with weight loss despite eating well.
- Liver disease, and less often high calcium or hormone problems.
- Pyometra, a uterine infection in unspayed females. This one is an emergency.
- Urinary tract infection, especially one that reaches the kidneys.
What we’d do at a visit
The first tests
- A full exam, a weight check, and a look at your log.
- Urinalysis, including urine specific gravity (how concentrated the urine is). It’s the single most useful test for thirst.
- Bloodwork: kidney and liver values, blood sugar, electrolytes and calcium, plus a thyroid level in cats.
- Sometimes a blood pressure check, since kidney and thyroid disease can raise it, and a urine culture if infection is possible.
Bring a urine sample
- First-morning urine is best. It shows how well the kidneys concentrate.
- Dogs: slide a clean container (a soup ladle works) under them midstream.
- Cats: use a clean, empty litter box, or non-absorbent litter beads from the pet store.
- Seal it, refrigerate it, and bring it the same day. Curious about costs? See our prices or the cost estimator.
Questions we hear a lot
How much water should a dog drink a day?
On mostly dry food, a healthy adult dog usually drinks about 20 to 70 mL per kg of body weight a day, or roughly 0.3 to 1 fluid ounce per pound. The old rule of about an ounce per pound sits near the top of that range, so treat it as a ceiling, not a target. Vets call more than 100 mL per kg a day (about 1.5 ounces per pound) excessive. Dogs on wet or fresh food drink less from the bowl.
How much water should a cat drink a day?
Less than most people expect. Healthy cats on dry food usually drink about 20 to 30 mL per kg a day, which is roughly 3 to 4.5 ounces for a 10-pound cat. Cats on wet food get much of their water from meals and may barely touch the bowl. A 10-pound cat on dry food drinking more than about a cup a day is drinking more than we'd like, and a urine test is worth doing.
My pet eats wet food and hardly drinks. Is that okay?
Usually, yes. Canned food is mostly water (often 70 to 80 percent), so a pet eating mostly wet food covers a big share of their needs at mealtime. What matters is that they're eating, peeing normally and acting like themselves. If a pet on wet food suddenly starts drinking a lot more, that change is worth a check, even if the amount looks small next to a kibble eater's.
Should I limit water if my pet is drinking too much?
No. Don't restrict water unless your vet tells you to. A pet who drinks more is often replacing water they're losing in their urine, and cutting them off can dehydrate them fast, especially with kidney disease or diabetes. Keep fresh water out, measure it, and bring the numbers to a visit.
What should I bring to the appointment?
Your water log, a list of foods, treats and medicines (flea, tick and heartworm products too), and a fresh urine sample if you can get one. First-morning urine is best. For dogs, catch some midstream in a clean container. For cats, use a clean, empty litter box or non-absorbent litter. Refrigerate the sample and bring it the same day.
Sources: normal intake and the excessive-thirst lines come from veterinary internal medicine references (Nelson, WSAVA 2002; Schoeman, WSAVA 2008; Church, WSAVA 2009; Osborne, dvm360; Schmid, Today's Veterinary Practice 2023). Cat drinking on dry and wet diets is from feeding studies (Zanghi et al. 2018, AJVR; Buckley et al. 2011, Br J Nutr). Causes, tests and emergency signs follow the Merck Veterinary Manual, Cornell's Feline and Canine Health Centers, and Pet Poison Helpline. The lines for mixed and wet diets are our estimate of the water food supplies.