Does anyone have a staffy that doesn't drink?

Hi, I have a female staffy, Polly who is almost 5 years old. When she was about 4 months she was really sick and as a result no longer drinks. The vet thinks she got tetanus chewing on the nails in the fence which has affected the part of her brain that tells her when she's thirsty. The condition is called primary adipsia and I would love to hear from anyone who has a dog with it. Apparently it's really rare (the vet didn't know what it was!). I've done some research and have found one study where they tested 9 dogs with the condition and 4 of them were Staffies. The others were all different breeds so I don't know ifs it's a staffy thing??

Polly is fit and healthy, and has water added to her food, she loves mealtime, which is great as she gets 5 or 6 a day!!!! but the vets don't have any idea how the condition is likely to affect her as she gets older. They think she is likely to have kidney problems and polly has 6 monthly checkups. i would love to hear from anyone with a dog with the same condition to find out if there is anything I should be watching out for.

Thanks.
Tash
Adelaide, South Australia

Hi Tash & welcome from darcy & me

Unfortunately it's something I've no personal experience with it, hopefully someone will pop along shortly who can help

We'd love to see some pictures :)this link may help:- https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum

Why not come say hi:- https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Hi Tash, welcome to the forum

Ive never heard of this myself so I cant help, someone will be along shortly with some advice

Nikita & Shéara

Hi & welcome to the forum.

I'm afraid that's a new one on me! It must be a headache trying to get enough water into her, especially on hot days?

Never heard of it! Scary. Welcome to the forum.

I have no experience with this either, sorry. But welcome to the forum from Rocky and I

Have you tried adding some honey to warm water? One of my dogs went through a spell of not drinking very much at all and I used honey in some water for a while and now she drinks normally again - maybe worth a try?

I am sorry I have never heard of it either! Hiya and welcome from us though Xx

How bizarre not heard of it myself either . I assume if you give her an ice cube or similar she willk eat it ??

Never heard of it either. But welcome from me and Pixee  

Thanks for the replies. Yep, it can be difficult to get enough water into her in summer, especially when we have a week when everyday is 35+. We have a pretty good routine though and she can get inside during the day when we are at work. Thanks for the suggestion about honey in water, I haven't heard of that before so will give it a go. It's tough on polly though, she gets a little dehydrated everyday and then rehydrated, I can't find any information on the long term effects of this. Thanks again for the welcome, I was very excited when I found the forum!! Cheers Tash

Can she crunch up ice cubes? If so, that might help to keep her hydrated?

That must be difficult for you, never heard of this either. Hiya and welcome from me and Vinnie:) 

Thanks. She will eat ice cubes as long as they have some taste to them. I make her big blocks on summer using water I have boiled bones in. I also use dog milk diluted in water to get her to drink. Most of the time getting enough water isn't a problem, we have a really structured routine and she has a dog door to access the house when I'm out all day, my moan concern is her long term health now she is getting older. She goes 9 or 10 hours a day without water when I'm at work so is getting dehydrated and rehydrated on a daily basis, I can't get any information about what impacts that is likely to have on her long term...

Never heard of this condition either. I can imagine how hard it must be on the days where your at work. No idea on what you can do if she's alone or what effects this could have long term. Could do with a machine on a timer that spits out flavoured ice cubes while your not there

My 2 drink very little if thats any consolation?

They are raw fed so theres plenty of water in their food, but they very rarely drink and never large amounts

Mine does not drink a lot,how much should a Staffie drink as a rule of thumb if they are on dry food? She always has fresh water in several bowls (I notice she prefers china to metal bowls) - but still only drinks a bit a few times a day.....?

I've never heard of a dog with Polly's condition either, but it sounds as if Tash is doing everything possible to combat it. The beef-bone water ice cubes are a great idea! Mike's idea of machine to deliver these ice cubes to Polly on a regular basis is a great one, if only such a machine existed. Failing that Tash, would you be able to get someone to pop in 2 or 3 times a day to give her some of these cubes?

Samantha, it's a good question - it's generally accepted that dogs on dry food need to drink more than dogs on wet or raw food, but I don't know that anyone has ever quantified how much water is sufficient.

I would advise anyone who is anxious about their dog's water intake to keep an eye on what comes out the other end. Very yellow urine might mean a bit of dehydration (but like humans, yellower urine in the morning is normal, as we don't drink so much during sleeping hours). Dry, hard poo might also indicate a need for more water. Finally, check your dog's skin - grab a handful on his back just behind the shoulders and let go - it should snap back. If the skin stays a bit humped, that's another sign of dehydration.

I'm no expert though, so stand to be corrected on any of the above.

I've tried to learn as much as possible over the years, might have a winner if I can invent a machine that spits out flavoured ice cubes!!! Apparently dogs need anywhere between 50 - 100 mls of water per kg weight each day. Polly is 18kgs and I give her wet food, dry food floats and she picks the food out without drinking the water in winter she gets water 5 times a day, 250mls a time, in summer I increase it a bit, depending on how hot it gets. Lynda your right about testing their skin for dehydration, touching their gums is a good way to tell as well, they get almost sticky if the dog is dehydrated. Too little water is an issue as the dogs salt levels increase and cause problems, too much water means the kidneys have to work too hard, it's a fine balance.

Interesting statistics on water consumption needs Tash, thank you. I should have known you would have investigated this thoroughly!

I've worked out from your stats that my 20 kilo dog should drink minimum 1 litre of water a day. I haven't measured his water intake as he has free access to regularly topped-up and rinsed out/replenished water bowls throughout the day. I doubted that Kuchar drank this much a day - I've just discussed it with my son and he disagrees, he thinks he probably does.

It would be an interesting experiment to measure exactly how much he drinks in 24 hours ....

That would be an interesting experiment and I would love to hear the results Lynda, if you do it. The hard part is the number of variables to consider, the temperature, (both hot and cold weather impact as water is critical in maintaining body temp), type of food, how much exercise the dog is getting. Polly and I have it down to a fine art, but it took a while, some of the signs of dehydration can be quite subtle. The big issues we have are summer and if she is ever off her food for any reason. I syringe water into her after a walk, which she is really good with but it's not possible to syringe a over litre of water into her everyday if she stops eating! The part of her brain that was damaged also helps to control body temperature, so she tends to over heat quickly.

Thanks very much for all the comments and ideas, it's been really hard to get information, even the vet isn't sure! I'm just thankful she is healthy and happy and is such a food motivated dog

My dog also hardly ever drinks, even when it is hot. I find it frustrating, although I can imagine for your dog is much more serious. I suppose the main issue is to get as much fluid in their system as possible. i do this by raw feeding and freezing a lot of his favourite things - doggy ice pops for example (made from water and baked chicken livers).

I have also heard that dogs love drinking from fountains. Mine often drinks when I mimic a fountain by pouring water into a bowl. It is annoying but it does work a bit.

My dog also overheats very quickly. I suppose my advise is to go back to basics and treat her like a normal dog who just needs to be encouraged/tricked into drinking. it is also possible that she is getting enough to drink because of the steps you are already taking.

you could also get a second opinion? I don't mean to undermine your vet but are you sure that his/her diagnosis is correct?

Finally , can your dog eat liquid food -. ie.e pureed meat with water in it.

Oh - one last suggestion. I sometimes make some thin stock with a stock cube and add it to his meal. He really likes it, and obviously it hydrates him. Low salt.

Just to say I haven't forgotten my amateur experiment regarding how much my "normal" ( ) Staffy drinks in 24 hours under "normal" conditions.

I'll let you know.

Also, watered down milk.

and are you taking your dog for enough toilet breaks?

Hi, Tash are you still around? I just came across this post when doing some research on google. My pup was diagnosed with this last year when she was only 6/7 months old. Just wanted to see how Polly was doing and if you have been able to get any more insight?
My understanding of dogs drinking is that most dogs don't actually need to drink that much, but part of this condition is that they tend to excrete a lot more urine and this need more fluid. We currently add between 300/400mL into each of her two meals. That's her magic number. We actually found she was better over summer as she loved to drink from the hose after a big walk or on a hot day (I assume due to the cooling affect rather than thirst) so we are getting a little worried coming into winter that we may struggle with her a bit.

Any tips from someone in the same boat would be amazing. This is so rare and there is so little information out there on it.