i think this is a feeding topic?
the vets have put keisha on tinned complete from being on dry complete.  her water consumption has dropped considerably and now she's only having a couple of laps a day, is this normal? as when i do the skin test it goes back down normally

Hi Sarah,

There is a lot of water (75-80% usually) in moist diets whereas, by definition, dry has this removed.  Dogs gaining water from their diet will not need to drink as much as those which have the water content removed or reduced so it's quite normal that she should want to drink less :)

Providing she has access to water at all times, is taking some on and off and there is no obvious signs of particularly strong smelling urine for eg, she should be fine - I hope her other problems are sorted soon.

Regards, Teri  

Teri - silly question time :)

From time to time people talk about dogs having strong urine or even, blood in urine. How do they know ??? :D (Obviously it is quite obvious with small pups who piddle indoors etc). My dogs always wee on grass - so how could I tell if there is a problem ?? :)

Daisy

Hi Daisy,

Not silly at all :)  Usually symptoms are a bit like ourselves - they need to "go" more often and it's quite strong smelling compared to normal.  Often they do next to nothing and in my breed (variety anyway) any slight trace of blood would show up on the light coloured "furnishings".  If it's a severe and sudden onset UTI or one that's been been untreated for several days (which can easily happen, as you say when they only urinate on grass), quite often in both males and bitches there will be a tiny secretion of watery blood either on their fur or where they have been lying in the house.

Excessive need to urinate is usually the first sign though.  HTH Teri :)

Thanks, Teri :) I've been lucky, apart from the younger one having a UTI when she was a very small pup, I've not had any problems - but it is always worrying that you might be missing something :) I'll have to switch from blue vetbed to white, just in case :D :D

Daisy