You love your dog, and are a responsible pet owner, supplying good food and water, regular health checkups, typical vaccinations and parasite control treatments as part of the usual health program for your pet. But, you should still not be surprised if your pet becomes ill. Dogs can contract illnesses that can be very mild, all the way to very severe and life threatening, even in the midst of excellent care.
If you are wondering, here are some signs that things may be awry and you may need to get into the veterinarian. Sometimes it is a simple as a gut feeling that your dog isn’t looking himself that tells you things are not quite right.
3Not drinking water
Not taking in fluids can more rapidly become a problem that skipping meals, so this needs to be taken seriously. Your dog gets thirsty just as you do, and will notice usually and go for his favorite water source. However, if your dog is not drinking, even following being given fresh water, trying a new water bowl placement or anything else to tempt him to drink, then you will need to get right in to your veterinarian.
It only takes 18 hours from time of last water intake for your dog to become dehydrated and this will rapidly make him extremely ill. If you can’t get your dog to drink, and are concerned that he might be dehydrated, get him in immediately. The general first step at that point is for the veterinarian to give him IV fluids, to reverse the dehydration, and then to search out the cause for why your dog isn’t drinking and work to remedy the problem.
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