Why Your Senior Dog Drinks Their Own Urine: What You Should Do Now

You probably know that some dogs eat other dogs’ poop or even their own. Some pups take it a step further and don’t stop at their own urine either. They’ve likely never heard of urine therapy.

So why do they think drinking their urine is a good idea?

That’s what I want to explain to you today. Below you’ll learn what your dog’s age has to do with this and why he drinks his own urine. I’ll also tell you whether you should see the vet because of it and why you absolutely need to stop the behavior.

Older dog drinks his own urine: in a nutshell

Drinking urine is not normal in older dogs. It may point to an illness that changes the composition of urine. Dementia and incontinence are also possible.
To be sure, you should have your dog examined by your veterinarian.

Stop the behavior, since urine can contain pathogens.

Is it normal for an older dog to drink urine?

No, it’s almost never normal. Dogs do plenty of weird and gross things, but eating their own excretions shouldn’t be one of them. Some dogs do lick the urine traces of other dogs.

They do this to better take in the information contained in urine. A female dog in heat may also take in a bit of her own discharge or urine. Aside from that, dogs normally don’t drink urine, neither other dogs’ nor their own.

Why your older dog drinks his own urine

If the behavior isn’t normal, there has to be something else behind it. For an older dog, the following reasons are possible: Your dog drinks his own urine

• by accident,
• because of an increased need for fluids,
• due to advanced dementia,
• due to incontinence,
• because of the pheromones in it,
• sugars or proteins.

By accident

This is probably the simplest explanation. As dogs age, their senses slowly diminish. If your dog pees right next to his water bowl or another water source, he may accidentally take in some of his own urine.

In that case, he should notice his mishap quickly. So it’s an accident if your dog stops right away and it only happens rarely.

Increased need for fluids

A dog’s need for fluids increases with age. That’s normal and not necessarily a sign of illness at first. His organs simply need a bit more water. The kidneys in particular function better with more fluid.

If there’s no fresh water source available, your dog may quench his thirst with his own urine. When a dog is actually drinking too much and what that means for his health, you’ll learn in this video.

Keep in mind that older dogs can develop lots of issues. If your senior has arthritis or other painful conditions, he may no longer make it to the water bowl. Instead of putting up with the pain, your dog settles for his own urine for the moment.

So it may well be that water is available, but he can’t manage to get up.

Dementia

Dementia is unfortunately a common problem in dogs. The disease attacks the brain, so the dog slowly forgets commands, becomes forgetful and shows odd behavior. Drinking his own urine is unusual, but definitely not out of the question.

With dementia, dogs forget to listen to their bodies. They can no longer properly interpret the feeling of hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate. That means they can no longer respond to those signals either. Food bowls often remain untouched.

Incontinence is also a common problem with dementia. The progressing confusion can lead a dog to take up the urine he has lost. He may actually be thirsty, because dementia also makes him forget to drink.

Incontinence

Why dogs develop incontinence isn’t fully understood. There are various triggers. As Janine Wethkamp writes in her doctoral thesis, spaying is a possible reason, especially in female dogs. Incontinence can affect any dog, but it’s more likely with age.

In that case, your dog doesn’t even notice that he needs to go outside. He just pees under himself or even leaks urine while walking. Many seniors notice this themselves. They then clean themselves and naturally take in a bit of their own urine while doing so.

Licking their own genital area in that situation isn’t about drinking urine. The dogs really just want to clean themselves.

Pheromones

Dogs communicate a lot through smells. Their urine is packed with pheromones.
Pheromones are scent compounds that provide other dogs with important information. They’re basically your dog’s business card. Dogs get to know each other through these pheromones.

It’s rare for a dog to react to his own pheromones, but not impossible. Maybe your dog isn’t taking up his urine to quench his thirst. By drinking a little of it, he can process the scent compounds better.

Sugar or proteins

Besides scent compounds, urine sometimes also contains sugar and protein. Both are symptoms of illness. Since dogs’ noses are truly incredible, they can easily smell these components.

Some dogs figure it would be a waste to let these nutrients seep away. Sugar in urine points to diabetes. Depending on the type, the dog lacks insulin or has become resistant to the hormone. As a result, his blood sugar level rises.

Because that’s dangerous in the long run, the dog flushes the sugar out of the body through urine.
Protein in urine points to a kidney problem. Normally, the kidneys filter waste products from the blood and produce urine. If they don’t filter properly, proteins get in.

You can recognize protein in urine by white flakes. Sugar can’t be seen in urine with the naked eye.

Go to the vet because the dog drinks his own urine?

If you notice your dog drinking his own urine, keep an eye on him. If it only happens once, there’s no need to sound the alarm. If he shows the behavior more often, you should definitely have it checked out.

It could be a sign of a serious illness. So it’s better to have an expert see whether everything is okay with your senior. Ideally, bring a fresh urine sample to the visit.

You can catch the urine with an old soup ladle. Then draw it up into a disposable syringe or transfer it into a sealable container.

Should you prevent the behavior?

Yes, absolutely. If your dog is healthy and drinks enough, his urine isn’t directly harmful. It still isn’t healthy. Urine is a waste product of the body. It has filtered out what it didn’t need.

What remains is urine with metabolic end products and salts. It’s worse if your dog is sick. Then his body also excretes pathogens in the urine, which he would take back in by drinking it.

In the worst case, this behavior delays his recovery.

The same goes if your dog is on medication. These are usually excreted in part through urine. If your dog drinks it, he could theoretically poison himself.

By the way, it’s also a misconception that urine is sterile. A research team published a paper on this in 2012 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. They found that almost all samples were contaminated with various bacteria.

Conclusion

An older dog that drinks his own urine very likely has a health problem. The pathogens in urine may make that problem worse. In any case, you should make sure he stops.

Also have him examined by a veterinarian. It’s probably just an accident, or your dog is coming up with very strange ideas in old age. It’s always safer to have your four-legged friend checked out.

Especially with topics that involve urine, the kidneys are always part of the picture. Kidney disease is more common in old age. The earlier you recognize it, the better it can be treated.

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