My small dog won't drink water. How can I keep her hydrated?

Question

I have a 4 year old, 12-lb maltese/yorkie mix who does not drink water. She eats Royal Canin prescription food for gastrointestinal issues and I've recently changed her from the dry kibble to canned food because she will not drink water. I've tried flavoring water with chicken/beef broth and even Pediolyte but to no avail. I recently started adding a few ounces of water to the soft food. Any ideas on how to get her to drink; or is adding water to canned food giving her enough? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 4 years and 4 months old | 12 lbs

Chad Brown, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello and thank you very much for your question. Changing the food to a canned diet is a good idea if you are concerned with in adequate water consumption. You can add a lot of water to the canned food to make it a gruel based diet. I do have a few suggestions on what may help her consume more water. First, you may want to invest in a waterfall or water movement type of water bowl. These types of watering devices can help mimic a running faucet and studies have shown that animals will drink more from this type of device. Second, you could perhaps change the water you are giving. So for instance, if you are giving your pet well water, you would switch to city water or filtered water. Or if you are giving city water, you may want to switch to filtered water for just a while to see if that helps drink more. I hope I have been of some help. Have a great day.

My small dog won't drink water. How can I keep her hydrated?

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