If you have a pet, you have probably noticed that it is always willing to drink rainwater from puddles outside. Why is dirty water more appealing to your pet than the one it can find in it‘s water bowl at home? Does it mean that your pet needs some vitamins or minerals? May dirty water be dangerous for your pet’s health? Or maybe it’s completely harmless and it is just not worth paying attention to? Let‘s find out.
My pets like to drink dirty water
The reason why your pet likes to drink water from dirty puddles is simple. First of all, animals have an instinct to explore, and one of the ways to do so is to taste. Secondly, the taste and smell of such water for your pet is much richer than the taste of tap water. The tap water reaching your home is fluoridated and chlorinated in order to ensure its‘ quality and cleanliness. In this way, elements harmful to the body are cleaned but the taste of fluoride and chlorine becomes highly emphasized. Well, imagine yourself drinking the same drink every single day of your life. After all, you would definitely not miss the chance to try something different as soon as you can! In addition, animals’ sense of taste is associated with a sensitive sense of smell. That means they can smell and taste things that a person simply does not due to human‘s physiology.
Risks
Is it risky for your pet to drink dirty water? Yes, it is indeed. You can say that your pet is always drinking from the puddles and ponds while outdoors and nothing has happened so far. But, actually, it is a matter of success. After all, such water can be contaminated with chemicals, pollutants from passing cars, oil, litter, fertilizers that have leaked from the soil, animal feces and so on. In addition, such water can contain microbes and parasites that can cause serious health consequences for your pet. Just if we don’t see a clear red flag, that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. There is a number of examples when people had not seen anything wrong in, let‘s say, a dog drinking stagnand water from puddles. After that they had serious problems and costs in treating a poisoned dog. The worst part is that such poisoning severely damages the liver of the animal. If the problem is not detected and diagnosed in time, you can even lose your loyal friend.
What you should do about it
However, if it happens so that your curious friend is very thirsty or drinks such water before you stop it, such a situation should not be dramatized too much. Just watch your pet to see if it is behaving normally and feeling well. If you see any changes that worry you, contact your veterinarian immediately. Most importantly, it should not become a constant and main source of drinking water for your pet. The more often your pet drinks dirty water, the more likely that it will get sick. Furthermore, if you care about both your own health and the health of your pet, it would also be helpful to do water tests of the place you live and, if necessary, use a water distiller to produce cleanest water. In this case, you will be assured that the water you use will not cause unexpected problems.
Final words
All in all, the reasons listed above show why it is better not to take risks and not allow your pet to drink dirty water. After all, you never know what the quality of such water is and what consequences it may have for your pet’s health. Stay healthy and strong!