View Single Post
  #16  
Old September 22nd, 2009, 09:16 AM
bendyfoot's Avatar
bendyfoot bendyfoot is offline
Geek Club CEO
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ontario
Posts: 5,019
Hey there...sorry you're feeling so stressed out about your pup. We too have battled repeat infections and boyohboy it can be a royal pain in the butt. A few thoughts:

1. I'm inclined to agree with some of the other members about the water consumption and drinking habits. I was thinking about our three dogs...one I can't remember the last time I saw her drink from the bowl; one will obsessively slurp for 5 minutes at a time, but maybe once a day; the other will pretty much live with her face hanging in the bowl, slurping lazily and splashing it everywhere. They all eat the same food, but they do vary in size. I've never actively tried to increase/decrease their water consumption before, so I won't be much help there. I would definitely avoid milk (lactose intolerance) and prepackaged broths make me leery because of the salt content (which would also be dehydrating).

Generally speaking, a dog should take in around 1fl0z/lb, which would be about 1.5 cups of fluid a day, but that would include fluid intake from food as well as plain water, so if you're soaking kibble, giving wet or raw food, or giving treats (carrots, veggies, fruits, etc) that are not dehydrated, those would addup

2. It's normal to have a fairly concentrated/dark pee first thing in the morning so I wouldn't worry there. But you're definitely right about UTIs being "helped along" by added fluids; I would agree with the members that a raw diet would be very helpful for naturally adding fluid to your pup's system, and you might also find that he becomes a less finicky eater (e.g. won't have to resort to putting kibble in toys to get him to eat). Jaida WOULD NOT EAT for pretty much her first 1.5 years, until we switched to raw, now she's a major chow hound. There are a ton of nutritional, dental and mental benefits to a raw diet on top of the added fluid intake. Raw sounds scary but it's actually very very easy to do as long as you don't obsess over the details...and if you're already preparing cooked meat for him, you can make it easier and healthier by leaving the meat raw. If you're interested in learning more about raw feeding I'd be happy to offer more info.
__________________
Owned by:
Solomon - black DSH - king of kitchen raids (11)
Gracie - Mutterooski X - scary smart (9)
Jaida - GSD - tripod trainwreck and gentle soul (4)
Heidi - mugsly Boston Terrier X - she is in BIG trouble!!! (3)
Audrey - torbie - sweet as pie (11 months)
Patrick - blue - a little turd (but we like him anyways) (6 months)
__________
Boo, our Matriarch (August 1 1992 - March 29 2011)
Riley and Molly

Last edited by bendyfoot; September 22nd, 2009 at 09:29 AM.
Reply With Quote