Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Ways to Encourage Your Pet to Drink More Water

Dehydration means your body does not have as many water or fluids as it should. During the Summer months, it's especially important to keep our furry friends hydrated. You should always leave plenty of fresh clean water accessible to your pet so they can have a cool drink whenever they want.


Sometimes, dogs and cats don't want to drink water like they should. I'm the same way. I know it's good for me, but I just don't want to drink it sometimes. Here's a few things you can try with your pets to make sure they stay hydrated and encourage them to drink more water:


Do you know how much water your pet should drink each day? By knowing the amount of fluids your pet should be getting, you can better monitor their water intake. This is helpful in case you need to encourage them to drink more often.

Pets need to consume about one ounce of water per pound of body weight each day to stay hydrated. They may need even more than that if they are exercising or are in hot weather. For example, my dog weighs about 50 pounds and needs to drink just over 6 glasses of water a day. 

PetSafe has created an infographic for Pet Hydration Month that shares some valuable information about pet hydration, signs and symptoms of dehydration in pets, and the amount of water your pet should drink each day. You can view the infographic here

She has no trouble drinking this much water, thankfully. I provide her water in different places in the house. Mostly, she drinks her water in the kitchen but we also have a PetSafe Original Drinkwell Fountain in the laundry room that gets some use.

How do you keep your pet hydrated? 

66 comments:

  1. Water is so important for our fur babies. We have a fountain, so if we win, we will give ours to a local friend who could really use one for her kitty :)

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  2. Great post ! Mum put bowls of water everywhere, and let us drink to the faucet if we ask when she's in the bathroom or in the kitchen. Purrs

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  3. Water is so important to us. We have a fountain, so we won't enter the drawing.

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  4. Fountains work magic with many kitties! Did you know that Waffles even had a fountain in his hotel room at BlogPaws?! ...yeah, he's that *special* heh, heh.
    ~Katie

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    1. Wow, I wonder if Waffles packed more stuff than Glogirly for BlogPaws!?

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  5. I agree water is important. I drink a whole barrel everyday :o) Think such a fountain is THE MUST HAVE for all kitties, huh?

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    1. Kitties do like their fountains! Shiner likes her too, but she was a little unsure about it at first. I'd let my rats have one, but am afraid they'd chew through the cords.

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  6. The Drinkwell fountain MAY help my old boy kitty drink more water; why don't you send it to me and I'll let you know!

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  7. Those are great tips and we would be lots without our fountains!

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  8. We don't typically have a hydration issue unless they are sick. We will typically add so,ex broth to their water to encourage them to drink a little more. The fountain is such a cool idea, but I'm pretty sure my two would just play in it ;)

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  9. I have drink bowls in different rooms of the house to encourage me to drink water. Being on a raw diet, I get a good amount of water from my food but I still love a good slurp outta my water bowl every now and again. I know a LOT of kitties who will only drink from fountains...I wonder why they like running water so much?!?
    Oz

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    1. Maybe it seems fresher? The water from this fountain is filtered too. They can be picky sometimes!

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  10. Bailie and I are good drinkers, but Katie doesn't like to drink much water. We have frozen water treats and sometimes flavored water and multiple water bowls around the house and outside. Love the infographic! I know the fountain would be a winner with the cats too.

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  11. We don't have a fountain and would love one of our own. Maybe then we'd stop begging Mom for sink water.

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  12. Wow!! What a cool giveaway!!!!
    I have no issues getting my huskies to drink lots of water though, I have to keep their water dishes up sometimes or they would just drink like crazy and pee everywhere BOL!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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    1. There are some dogs who drink just to drink... there was a condition name for what I'm thinking of, although I can't remember it at this very moment.. One thing I learned that can help with it is to freeze the water bowl and leave it out. That way they can't just drink it all in one sitting.

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  13. Great giveaway! Though the Dog Daddy is not keen on it, we (I) have a number of water bowls around our house during the summer. Ditto outside.

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  14. We have never had a fountain but so far all our fur babies drink fine from bowls. Hugs and nose kisses

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  15. We have usually have the opposite problem and have to urge them not to drink so fast. When ever I have had an issue, we have used broth in the water. We also routinely soak their kibble.

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  16. Whoa! Neither me or TW drink water. She’s still dehydrated from her bout with the flu a few weeks ago. I also won’t eat food that she’s added water or broth too. As long as I keep passing the tenting test, it’s all good.

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    1. Ah well, I am the same way as you guys. I just do not like to drink water at all. Maybe I need to find some tips on how to get your human to drink more =/

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  17. I think my dogs and cat would love this fountain!

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  18. We have water all over the place so we have plenty of places to drink. And the outside cats have water all over too. So hopefully we are all getting enough water. Thanks for the info.

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  19. Ours are mostly pretty good about it, we keep at least one bowl of water on every floor of the house, plus two outside in the summer, on and off the deck. The dogs will drink right out of their pool as well!
    It's harder to monitor with the cats, so I usually add a little extra water to their wet food too.
    PS....my post is up for the blog writer's tour if you want to check it out when you get a chance.

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    1. Yes I saw it earlier but still haven't had a chance to come by! I'm a late night blogger usually :)

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  20. I don't have a fountain, but I have a large water bowl in the kitchen and I use my paddling pool as an extra drinking source lol

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    1. Oh Shiner also likes to find extra drinking sources! Sometimes even the toilet =X

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  21. my cats drink from the faucet too

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  22. Heather Hayes PanjonJuly 8, 2014 at 4:39 PM

    I Have Water Bowl Throughout The House To Encourage Drinking Water, It Is A Endless Task Though Keeping The Water Clean. This Fountain Would Be Awesome!
    hthr83heather@yahoo.com

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  23. When we had four dogs, we kept water bowls all over the house, in every room. They all had their favorite to drink from, so funny to watch where they all went. Now with having one dog, we keep a bowl in the kitchen and bedroom :)

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  24. My cats and dogs drink from the same fountain. My cats love it. Before we got the fountain, I never saw them drink, and it really is important for cats to drink. I used to feed them chicken broth--the water left from boiling chicken--just to keep them hydrated. Great and useful post!

    --Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats

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  25. The Staff catches me drinking sometimes, but mostly I drink from puddles outside!!

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    1. Nothing like the great outdoors Austin ;)

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  26. Wow, didn't realize how much Niles had to drink per day. It's surprising cause us humans are recommended 8 glasses a day while a 50 lb dog needs 6. Thanks for the tips!

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    1. Hmm that is interesting! Didn't think of that one.

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  27. Glad I found your blog. This is very informative.

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  28. My horses have three water troughs and the dog has bowls inside and outside to keep him hydrated! The cat has multiple toilets as backup. :)

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    1. My dog is a fan of the toilet too unfortunately!

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  29. I have a number of bowls down for the dogs and change the water often so it's fresh and cold to encourage them to drink. I sometimes put a ice cube in the water on really hot days which they enjoy. This fountain would be great for my cat. I also do the same for my cat, Shadow, but she doesn't drink as much water as she should. I think she would drink more with a fountain.

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  30. I like to use coconut water for dogs! VivaCoca :)

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  31. We shared on a post that Sugar got a drinking problem ... not drinking enough :-( I've been creative on ways to make her drink more water and fruit cubes is her favorite. Have not set-up the fountain, soon :-) Great prize, Ann. Golden Woofs

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    1. I remember reading you say that about Sugar. She gets lots of tasty fruit cubes it look like!

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  32. Fantastic Ideas. Thank you for sharing them with us! - Petnet(io) Anu

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  33. Since Buster is a brachycephalic breed, he gets hot easily. He gets plenty of water in his raw food and I even add 1/4 cup water, but when we're out at the park, he never ever drinks from his traveling water cup. I've resorted to adding some coconut oil (melted) or olive oil into his water before just to get him to drink it when I thought he was getting too hot!

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  34. I don't have a fountain, but I have a large water bowl and I use my paddling pool as an extra drinking source. Water is very important for our pets.

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  35. What a fascinating article! I had no idea dogs and cats require a certain amount of water each day based on their weight. Thank you for sharing this.

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  36. We encourage them to drink more water with coconut powder added into it. They love it.

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  37. I have several water bowls in the house plus a fountain.

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  38. I find that putting ice in it helps my pets drink more water.

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  39. He likes to drink out of my glass, so I have one for him....I also put fresh cold water with ice cubes in it.

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  40. I make sure the water is always clean and fresh.

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  41. When we go to the beach, I bring water. At home, I just make sure that it's fresh and cool.

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  42. Harley loves to drink water, and reading this has given me an idea to place an extra bowl in the guest bathroom upstairs making it more accessible for him. Thanks so much

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  43. Great giveaway! To encourage my kitty to drink more water, I keep a bowl of water in two places in my home and add ice cubes to them throughout the day.

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  44. My kitties have always been pretty good about drinking water. They love having ice cubes in their water during the summer, so I always make sure there's a few of those during the summer. I pay attention to their water consumption and if they aren't getting enough I will add some to their food.

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  45. I keep fresh water out all of the time, and I am a fanatic about making sure it is changed frequently, so that it is fresh, and my boys sometimes like a few ice cubes floating in it, even if it is to swipe at

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  46. We have three dogs and three water bowl! They each have their own, but they all share each other's too. We also have a fountain in the yard that they love to drink from! They are all long-haired, so we have big wet-heads and sloppy beards from the fountain! But they love cooling off there! I know they would love a Drinkwell fountain too!

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  47. I make puppy Popsicle's or put a little PB2 powder in her water. Most of the time she just wants fresh plain water though :)

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  48. I love the idea of a pet fountain. PetSafe makes an outdoor one that you can hook a hose up to. We're considering getting one of those for our dogs. We have an indoor fountain for the cats.

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  49. We always give water combining with meals and we always have water available and if we leave the house mom takes a bottle of water along too.

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  50. My cats like drinking out of these large coffee cups I have and I have a fountain in one room and really need another since I have 10 cats and I can stop using the coffee cups in the other room LOL
    sallstun
    at
    hotmail
    dotcom

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  51. This sounds like a great idea!! I love it!

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