This might sound ridiculous, but I'm wondering if I can give Toby a very weak drink of tea now and again?  He seems to love drinking anything warm (including bath water), and I wondered if he'd like a warm cup of tea.   Is it bad for them, or ok in moderation?

Also, whilst on the subject of drinking, he drinks so much I'm starting to wonder if he's diabetic or something similar.  He can get through a whole bowl of water without stopping, and it's not because he's not had access to water or he's been out on a run, it can be any time of the day.

I've got a diabetic husband, surely life can't be so cruel to give me a diabetic dog too??!

I would think an occasional weak one could be enjoyed by this sophisticated dog :)
If he eats his food dry he does not to drink more than a dog on a wet diet but if you still think it excess I would have him checked by the vet.  Otherwise you could ask your husband's diabetic nurse if she would let you have a urine test strip, hold it under him when he wees and see if any glucose shows up on the strip.

Thanks Isabel, that's a good idea about the test strips, I may well do that.  My hubby checks his blood but I don't think Toby would take too kindly to that :p

Obviously if something show up it will be off to the vets for a blood test, but, no, I wouldn't try that at home :D

LOL :D

your not alone... our dog too has taken on the Very British trait of a 'nice cuppa'
He's Siberian so I guess it could've been worse and been Vodka!! :P

all cups have to be left at shoulder height around the house, or its gone in a slurp!!

IMO my dog doesn't drink enough water.  She is on dry food and rarely goes to her bowl.  I think the water in the bowl is far too clean and hygienic for her :D  She loves drinking muddy puddles, the muddier the more appealing it would seem.  I put the slops of tea from our cups in her bowl now and then and she laps it up no problem.  I don't know if it's the taste or whether she likes it because it resembles muddy water :)

There is an article in the paper this morning about some research indicating that (human) tea drinkers are less likely to become victim to ovarian cancer so, although caffeine has its down sides so I would keep it very much in moderation, who knows it might have some benefits for our unspayed girls :).  I believe it has some antibacterial properties too.  One book I read suggested that the vast cities of the east did not suffer from the diseases of cheek by jowel living that the European industrial revolution led to because they sterilised their water by boiling it to make tea whilst our lot did it by brewing! Pity I can't stand the stuff.

Tea in itself will not necessarily harm your dog, drunk in the quantities you describe, however if it contains milk this could be a problem to some dogs as some dogs cannot digest ANY lactose (milk sugar) whilst others can support a higher quantity, and some dogs are intolerant of milk protein (casein).  If sugar is also in the tea that is obviously at best unecessary and at worse possibly harmful, especially if you believe that your dog has excessive thirst.

I would get your dog checked out by the vet if it appears he drinks to excess as there are some medical conditions, not only diabetes, that have extreme thirst as a symptom.

Thanks Tohme, I will do.  If I do give him tea I'll make it very weak and with very little milk, and I wouldn't put sugar in it for him.  I just think he'd like a nice warm drink now and again, particularly as he loves drinking the warm bath water!  Eugh!

My old dog (Sadie) used to have  a cup of tea every morning. She used to bark until she got it. Never did her any harm & she live til 15!

All of mine are/have been tea and coffe addicts. They all like it milky with a couple of sugars and it's never done them a pin of harm.

try de-caf without sugar :)

one of my customers gioves their dog a weak tea every time they have one. And she will not give up until she gets one LOL
she is 9 and other than atheritis she is fine!!!!!
Lea :)

Only one of my dogs loves tea,she has a milky one every night :)

Did anyone know that tea can block the absorbtion of iron in the diet??  Just thought I'd mention it ;)  Doubt that the occasional weak tea would do any harm tho :)

plus caffeine is addictive and can send some super-hyper so thats why I suggested de-caf - works for me personally cos I'm pretty laid back ;) haha

Forgot to ask - is it true that goats milk is better for dogs than cows milk?

I understood that only applied to iron found in vegetables ie the dark green stuff like spinach and egg but not meat.  But maybe that is just because it is in more abundance in meat.  I understand too that vitamin C facilitates the uptake of vegetable and egg iron.

did any of you see that episode of 'its me or the dog'? when victoria wots her name went to see this lady who had lots of spitz & kleins- they all drank tea and were crazy!
(but they ate icecreams & never had exercise too)

My mallies like a cup of tea in the evening :)

We use the tea bags we've just used for our own tea and use goats milk instead of cows milk - no sugar :D They love it!

Although tea isn't good for them in moderation it won't harm him at all :)

as to the milk question above cows milk can give dogs an upset tummy ive never used goats milk but i give my dog a little puppy milk occasionally because she likes it and it doesnt upset her tummy

as to the tea question tea does have caffeine so it could be bad for your dog to have it alot but i also have to make sure my cups is up when i have my dog or her pups around because they like it to they also like coke i dont let them drink it because of the caffeine but a very week one or even a herbel one for your dog once and a while might not be to bad or just try warming up some dog milk or water she might just want the warm drink cause she is a little cold i find my bitch prefers warm dinner to cold can food so i always have to warm it up for her

My friend had a lovely dog who used to insist (by barking) on a cup of tea everytime my friend had one.  She lived to a ripe old age and only went to the vet's twice, towards the end of her life.

All ours love tea with milk no sugar and a couple like coffee. They even have their own teapot and know the sound when it comes out of the cupboard. They also drink the dregs out of our cups!! Not the visitors though

dont worry- we've got a cockatiel at work who gets grumpy if she doesnt get her tea and biccy in the afternoon!

My ex MIL used to give my old girls a cup of tea when ever we went round. They used to love it as they knew as soon as they had finished they would get a biccie so it was always a competition on who would finish first and sit by the cupboard where the biccies were kept :D