My senior dog drinks too much, vets say she's just old. What's next?

Question

My German Shepard won't stop drinking water. She will drink bowlful after bowlful if we let her. We have already taken her to the Vets and they did tests for Cushings, diabetes and kidneys, her bloods came back good. She has recently gotten worse in the last week. She cries at 5am in the morning because she wants water and if we let her outside she will run straight to the pong and continuously drinks. The Vets arnt very helpful as they say she is just 'old' (11 years old), please help? Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 11 years and 9 months old | 77 lbs

Lauren Jones VMD · Accepted Answer

This sounds very frustrating both for you and Missy! I'm glad to hear that you have already taken her to the vet to rule out some of the more common causes of excessive drinking and urination. Age isn't a disease and drinking excessively is not normal at any age. If she has not yet had a urinalysis performed, this could rule out a urinary tract infection and also provide additional information regarding kidney function. In some cases, dogs can experience psychogenic increases in their drinking which do not have a direct medical cause. However, these cases are not terribly common and all other conditions causing excessive drinking must be ruled out to reach this diagnosis. At this point, I would discuss a urinalysis and abdominal ultrasound (looking for changes in the adrenal gland, liver and kidneys in particular) with Missy's vet.

My senior dog drinks too much, vets say she's just old. What's next?

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