Filtered, bottled, or tap water?

[Cerridwen]

Hi all.

I followed a link from GD. No, I won't talk politics here.

I notice many have concerns about our pet's food but I don't see a lot about the water they drink. As I was reading the threads about food and pets' problems with digestion and elimination I got to thinking about the water we provide and wondering if others had noticed a difference in your pets' health by changing water sources.

As I thought of this I realized that our tap water here; Las Vegas, NV; has a long and ugly history with the quality our tap water. We have elevated levels of perchlorate in our aquifers. We were a big manufacturer of WWII ammunitions and such and the industry was 'kind' enough to leak into our very limited water sources here in the desert.

If your pet experiences food issues or presents with digestive problems, do you also change their source(s) of water?

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Yowza! Its You!

Welcome to our corner of DU!

When we got a water filter in the kitchen, I started giving the dogs filtered water. Then I look outside. The Shih-Tzu was eating her own poop, the GSD was drinking water from a cupped out area of the roots of a tree (after having rolled in deer urine), and the Border Collie was drinking water from one of the streams.

When we just made a diet change, the GSD didn't do well at all. She's always had a sensitive stomach and the switch from Iams to Costco's house brand resulted in a few days of the trots and general lethargy for her. But not anything related to water.

They also drink out of toilets.

Seriously, if I were in your shoes, I'd ask the vet if there are any ongoing issues related to water. If not, keep your toilet seats down.

And always flush. Ya never know!

[Cerridwen]

3. Yeah, 'tis I. :)

Two of our kids have sensitive stomachs. The little guy, some 12 lb terrier mix, seems to have a garbage gut and has few problems. The other two, a retired, rescued, racing greyhound is very sensitive and he's about 11 (12?) now so we really have to watch him. My little girl is about 14 lbs and is some sort of cocker and herding breed mix; we think maybe sheltie based on her body type. She's always had a sensitive stomach even when I first got her and she was 'eating' my leather cell case, my favorite shoes, and shredding paper so evenly it looked like it had been through a shredder. LOL

Anyway, as I was reading the threads about food for our pets I got to thinking I should watch out for the effects of water, too. We'd already noticed when we moved a couple of times that the dogs' coats became softer or more coarse depending where we were living. Of course, that's not just water but weather and environment. Then I remembered how bad our water can be here in Vegas and thought I'd better think on that a bit as well.

We don't have any toilet water drinkers. I don't know that I've had one since I was a kid at home with mom and dad. That may be as much about the fact that I keep seat and lid down when not in use and the bathroom door closed at all times. It's one of those pet peeve kinda things for me (no pun originally intended). I have, and do have, a couple of trash divers and the bathroom trash has always been immensely inviting for them.

Anyway, dogs eat and sniff things extremely icky to some of us humans but there are plenty of things these days we have to watch for in their food. Now I think I'm going to pay more attention to their water as well. I brought it here in case in might help someone else with their little, or big, furry loved one.

Animals don't always know what's best for them unfortunately so I'm trying to keep any eye on our aging kids and anything that might hurt them now that wouldn't have been a bother before.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. I know dogs can be very susceptable to changes in water

even when there's nothing wrong with it. My Akita breeders always recommend that when you get the pup for the first week or two to give them a daily half tablet of Pepto Bismal chewables until their system adjusts to the change in their water or they can have various digestive problems. I've done that with the current one and the last one but didn't do it with the first one, and the first one did have problems with diarrhea and loss of appetite at first but the next two didn't have any problems like that. I'm fairly certain that giving the Pepto tablets did help them adjust.

When my next door neighbors rescued their Bull Mastiff he had similar tummy problems so I told them about the Pepto tablets and to call their vet to find out how much to give and how frequently since he was already a full grown dog, and giving him the Pepto cleared him right up the same day. That also made me feel that the Pepto really did help.

If you think there's something icky about your water though I can see not wanting to give it to your pet. I kind of figure if I feel it's not very safe for me than it won't be for the pets either.

I would only tend to wonder about the water being a problem if there was digestive problems that coincided with a water change and not just because the water might be icky is some way but just because it was a different source that would have different amounts of certain chemicals and maybe different chemicals alltogether then what they were accustomed to.

Digestive problems can also be just bacteria from water that's been hanging around or a water bowl that isn't frequently cleaned as you would clean your own dishes. Dogs need clean bowls to eat and drink out of and daily fresh water to avoid any lingering bacteria.

So far all three of my Akitas prefer to drink straight from the bathtub tap rather than a bowl though I'm rather proud that the current one at least knows HOW to drink out of a bowl and will if he doesn't feel like going upstairs to the tub and the bowl is clean and the water fresh (the first one would dump out his water bowl and lick the water off the floor, and the second one would turn around and gently and deliberately lower his butt in it until he was fully sitting in his water bowl). The first two very quickly figured out how to turn on the tub faucet themselves when they wanted a drink (though they didn't turn it off), but the current one hasn't figured that out just yet (but I've also been keeping a constant supply of fresh water in a clean tubby every day with him because he has so much fun playing in it all the time). I've always wondered if their interest in drinking their water fresh from the tubby tap was because they thought that the water bowl water wasn't fresh enough for their taste though I think it was more to do with wanting it cold instead of room temperature, but who knows. Dogs do all kinds of weird things that make no sense to me, so I just figure their weirdness is just one of those "dog things" I'm not priviledged to know by being merely human.

[Cerridwen]

4. Thank you for such great information, TorchTheWitch.

We've recently moved and the water bowl situation has changed. We have two fewer dogs so the large dish has been put aside for two smaller dishes. They need refilling more frequently which means the bowls are cleaned and refilled a couple of times a day. But, right now, we're using tap water.

I'm having some doubts as to how that might be effecting my two oldest...as mentioned in my reply to Stinky.

Anyway, I was thinking about it and I thought maybe it might help others in this group.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[Texasgal]

9. I have to agree with torch

alot of problems can be averted by simply cleaning the dog bowl out.

I clean the water bowls and food bowls weekly with a cap full of bleach and a sink full of hot tap water. I let them sit a few, wash with a paper towel.. no sponge. The I let them air dry. My pup came home with giardia so cleaning out the water and food bowls was a must in her first few months.

I see nothing wrong with giving your dog filtered water. We use tap water but Austin has pretty good water quality.

[TorchTheWitch]

11. You might want to ask you vet about the Pepto tablets

Since you recently moved it could be just the change in their water. With my first Akita I had to move several times in the first few years of his life and didn't know about the change in water thing then. Even though each time we moved we still lived in the same area and got out water from the same rezivoir he still got the trots for a few days each time we moved. It's possible that each house may have slightly different water since there can be changes in chemicals or piping that is different enough to make the water slightly different enough to effect the dog's digestive system until they get used to it. It can be different enough to effect people, too, especially those with sensative stomachs. I always noticed a difference in taste with each place I moved to and sometimes wondered if my own occasional digestive problems when moving was the problem.

But it also can just be the stress of moving. Moving can be a really stressful thing for dogs though they likely won't show it since dogs tend to be very stoic about changes that are upsetting. With my first Akita he could tell when we were going to be moving just with my packing up stuff, and though he didn't seem to be very effected by it looking back I have to wonder if he really was and just wasn't showing it. I know he would act very stressed when I would take him to the new place for the first time, and he'd run from room to room looking for the toilet. He had a love affair with the toilet from the day I got him and he saw one for the first time. When he discovered that there was a toilet in the new place then he very visably relaxed... "Phew! Mommy got a new place with a toilet! I'm ok now." I'll never understand that weirdness about him, but as long as he discovered each new place had a potty in it he was ok after that.

Anywho, doggies having tummy problems are really no fun to deal with since it's us pet parents that have to do the cleaning up. Ugh. You might want to talk to your vet about whether or not it would be ok to give the doggies the chewable Pepto tablets for a brief period because of just having moved and their tummy problems could relate to a change in their water or just stress from moving. The vet can figure out how much to give each day based on their weight. Some dogs think they're yummy and will eat them right out of your hand like treats. My second Akita loved them and gobbled them up, but the one I have now didn't, so with him I had to open his face and drop them down his throat. No tummy troubles with either one of them though which was lovely since cleaning up the trots from the carpet in five different places is just noooooo fun at all. Why is it that dogs always want to have each one of their accidents on a fresh clean spot of the carpet???? Ugh.

Good luck with the fur babies! I really think it's the moving and a possible difference in their water that's probably causing the problems as long as you know there aren't any other health reasons for it (but with two doing it at the same time really makes me think that's probably what it is).

[NMDemDist2]

5. white dogs won't get the brown eye stains with distilled water

i didn't believe it, but my mom's Bichon has only had distilled water and he never shows the brown stain around his eyes.

[Cerridwen]

6. Drinking water? I didn't know that.

I'll let my sister know for her little Shih Tzu.

Our Greyhound is brindle and the two little ones are black so it wouldn't be noticeable on them. I wonder what might be causing the brown? Minerals in the water maybe?

[NMDemDist2]

7. i guess, makes their tears rusty or something

but she buys cheap gallons of distilled water and he's never had tear stains on his face

[Cerridwen]

8. Good to know. Thank you! n/t

[uppityperson]

10. We have well water but make sure the dog bowls are washed regularly. They love to drink

rainwater from puddles, love living in the country where I don't have to worry about that.