How much water should a dog drink per day?

Important features

Water is one of the main components of the animal’s body, making up 75% of it at birth and about 60% in adulthood. And therefore it is not surprising that a number of defining functions are assigned to it by nature.

A complete list of them will be too extensive, but we will give some of them as an example. Water is essential for most metabolic processes, is responsible for regulating body temperature, and serves as a lubricant for articular surfaces and mucous membranes. The loss of only 10% of the body’s fluid can lead to serious health consequences.

That is, the pet should always have constant and free access to clean drinking water.

Weight matters

Animals get fluid from three sources: water in a bowl, food (dry food contains up to 10% moisture, wet diets have about 80%), and metabolism, when water is produced internally. Accordingly, a dog fed wet food may drink less than an animal fed only dry diets.

But the general rule is this: the pet’s need for water depends on its weight and is 60 ml per 1 kg per day.

It is easy to calculate that a 15 kg dog needs to consume 0,9 liters of moisture to maintain water balance.

Separately, it is worth mentioning representatives of small breeds. They are prone to urinary tract diseases because their urine is concentrated. To reduce the risk of occurrence and development of such ailments, the owner must be sure to feed the pet with wet diets in addition to dry ones and do this daily. In this case, the total water intake of the animal is increased by that present in the wet food.

Note

The optimal choice of liquid for a dog is plain chilled boiled water. And it is better to give it in a bowl made of ceramic, steel or glass.

The water itself should always be fresh, for this it should be changed twice a day. Although dogs with profuse salivation are recommended to change the drink every time the pet uses the bowl.

More detailed recommendations, if desired, can be obtained from a veterinarian, but the main thing is to always remember that the animal must have constant access to water.

Photo: Collection

27 2018 June

Updated: July 10, 2018