Your pet’s behavioral changes—including changes in their eating and drinking habits—can provide crucial insights into their overall health and wellbeing. These changes often can be the first indicators of physical or behavioral issues, which is why understanding your pet’s habits and recognizing when they change can help you keep them healthy. Our team at Family Veterinary Care of Oakdale shares potential reasons for changes in a pet’s eating and drinking habits and what they may mean. 

Your pet’s appetite has increased

An increased appetite isn’t always a cause for concern. Growing puppies and kittens naturally have larger appetites, and when a pet’s activity level spikes, they may need more calories to compensate for the extra energy they expend. However, if your pet’s appetite suddenly increases without explanation, it could signal an underlying health issue. Common causes of increased appetite (i.e., polyphagia) include: 

  • Cushing’s disease — Cushing’s disease is a condition in which the body produces too much cortisol. This can cause an increase in appetite, along with other symptoms such as hair loss, excessive panting, and a pot-bellied appearance.
  • Diabetes — Diabetic pets have an impaired ability to produce insulin because of pancreatic damage. The disease disrupts the normal mechanism of converting food into energy, leaving pets feeling constantly hungry, even if they’re eating their regular meals. 
  • Hyperthyroidism — Hyperthyroidism is the most common endocrine disorder that affects older cats. The condition is characterized by an overactive thyroid gland that causes your cat’s metabolism to speed up. Affected cats may experience weight loss, despite an increased appetite.
  • Parasites — Parasites can damage the intestinal wall and interfere with your pet’s ability to absorb nutrition from food, increasing their hunger. A pet with a parasitic infection may begin eating more without gaining weight. 

Your pet’s appetite has decreased

Seeing your usually enthusiastic pet uninterested in their food can be worrisome. The causes of reduced appetite range from minor issues to serious health and behavior conditions, including:

  • Stress — Pets thrive on routine and familiarity. Any disruption, such as a move, a new family member, or even a change in their feeding schedule, can create stress and result in a decreased appetite. 
  • Dental problems — Oral health issues, including dental disease and fractured or infected teeth, can make eating painful, causing your pet to eat and chew less. Treatment for oral health issues requires a thorough professional dental cleaning and may include the extraction of painful teeth.
  • Hypothyroidism — While pets with high thyroid hormone levels (i.e., hyperthyroidism, which usually affects cats) have a ravenous appetite, pets with low thyroid hormone levels (i.e., hypothyroidism, which usually affects dogs) can have a decreased appetite.
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) issues — A pet with GI problems may stop eating, drool, vomit, or have diarrhea. While the occasional stomach upset isn’t necessarily an emergency, if your pet’s vomiting or diarrhea lasts longer than 24 hours, they need a veterinary exam.

Your pet is drinking more water

If your pet recently has become more active, their water consumption likely will increase along with their appetite, and, on hot days, pets often drink more to stay hydrated and healthy. While hydration is crucial for your pet’s health, they could have an underlying issue if they start drinking more water than usual. Such issues may include:

  • Cushing’s disease — In addition to experiencing an increase in appetite, pets with Cushing’s disease tend to drink tremendous amounts of water and urinate frequently.
  • Kidney disease — When kidneys malfunction because of age or disease, they no longer can save water, and an affected pet begins losing large volumes of urine. Your pet’s increased thirst is a response to excess water loss. 
  • Diabetes — The excess sugar in the bloodstream that is characteristic of diabetes pulls fluid from tissues. This leads to dehydration, which in turn causes your pet to drink more to compensate.
  • Hyperthyroidism — Along with revving up your pet’s metabolism, hyperthyroidism also increases their thirst. 
  • Urinary tract infection (UTI) — An infection in the urinary tract can make your pet feel as if they need to urinate more frequently, and as a result, they might drink more to replenish lost fluids. 

Your pet is drinking less water 

  • Nausea — Some conditions cause nausea in pets, which can result in them drinking less.
  • Bowl placement — Pets can be picky about their water, and moving their water bowl to a new or less convenient spot could cause them to drink less.
  • Dental issues — Pets with infected or broken teeth or other dental problems may not only find it painful to eat but also to drink. 
  • Diet change — If you’ve switched your pet’s diet from dry food to wet or canned food, they likely are receiving more water from their food, thus reducing the amount they drink.

Any sudden, unexplained change in your pet’s eating and drinking habits warrants a medical evaluation. If you have questions about your pet’s health, contact our team at Family Veterinary Care of Oakdale to schedule an appointment.