Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear that your dog is so sick, and would like to help!
There are a number of things you can do to increase water consumption.
- you can definitely give pedialyte - dilute it 50:50 with water
- try to mix a bit of food in with it to make it more appealing - that way he may be enticed to drink more.
- open a can of tuna *in water* and offer the liquid diluted with water 50:50.
- any clear fluids are fine to give - such as apple juice, gatorade, pedialyte. Dilute all of them 50:50 with water.
- you could try Lactose Free milk (Lactaid is the Canadian brand).
- Offer canned dog food, and mix it with water to make a gravy to pour over the dry food.
Other things you can do to encourage a dog to drink are:
- offer water from a very wide flat bowl
- If he likes dripping water, leave a tap dripping .
- Offer bottled water and see if he prefers it.
- Offer chicken broth or beef broth, diluted 50:50.
- See if he likes water with an ice cube in it.
- See if he likes it out of a cup or pasta bowl.
- You could try getting some human baby food in meat flavours (check that there are no onions or garlic in the ingredients) and mix that with warm water and offer that as a "soup" for him to drink. Beech Nut makes a line of baby food that has nothing but meat (beef, chicken, turkey or veal) in it. Here's a link:
http://www.beechnut.com/Our%20Baby%20Food/Results.asp
If you cannot find this, you could find another meat baby food - just read the label carefully to be sure there are no onions, onion powder, garlic, or garlic powder in it.
- Cook a chicken breast and put it in the blender with enough water to turn it into baby-food consistency. Make it into a soup.
Many dogs LOVE water from a water fountain like those here: http://www.vetventures.com/
Hopefully, these ideas will help you to get some fluids into your dog!
If this has been helpful, please Accept my answer and leave feedback. I will still be here to provide further information if you need it!
Best wishes, Fiona
Veterinarian
15 years experience as a companion animal veterinarian in British Columbia, California and Ontario