Too much water for pup?

Question
My newish (week and a half here) pup, an 18 week old Pug started being treated 4 days ago for cold/kennel cough and was dehydrated/treated.  Been adding water to food to keep hydrated. Still snurfling, congested. Sometimes is much higher energy than he was. Last night was bloated and I was afraid I gave him too much water with his food at 8PM.  Didn't pee after dinner, though. Threw up treat at 4:30 given this morning for (finally) peeing and heartily peed and pooped (2x each, poops solid) after breakfast this morning at 6. Ran around for half hour, extremely high energy for him, then sacked out and low energy again. Did I overhydrate him, as I suspect?  And should I feed him smaller portions more times per day to keep his energy up?  This is the second day running when he seems to feel better (after eating) than he has since I got him, but poops out very quickly. Eats pretty fast, but slower with water added and has gotten slower since he realized he didn't have to fight for food here. He had fecal check, heartworm pill, and all nec. shots the day after I got him. Just got pet insurance, afraid to go back, but at 4:30 this morning was afraid he was really sick. What a difference a couple of hours makes.  But am concerned about overhydrating and the feeding, the energy boost that so rapidly declines.

Answer

Hi Jenn,

It's really typical for Pugs to make a all sorts of snurfling kind of sounds, due to their short muzzle, so that might not go away. It's normal for Pugs.

Vomiting isn't an immediate cause for concern for dogs or puppies, if it only happened once and your dog is acting normally, and still is eager to eat, he's probably just fine. Repeated episodes of vomiting in a day along with him acting lethargic means illness.

Kennel cough usually clears up in 10-14 days, so it's possible your puppy is just starting to feel better. Being a puppy, you can expect him to have a lot of energy, followed by a periods of sleep. When he wakes up from naps, take him outside for a chance to relieve himself. The cause for concern would be if he always acted very low key, or lethargic. Also, you've had your puppy for less than two weeks. During this time, aside from feeling a little ill, he's also be adjusting to living in his new home. That by itself can cause a dog or puppy to not behave quite right. Your puppy sounds normal to me.

It's also normal for puppies to have more bowel movements than adult dogs, sometimes within 15 minutes of eating. The cause for concern would be if your puppy was having loose stools or diarrhea.

With puppies, it's best to spread out their meals over several smaller meals. At about 5 months old, you should be feeding your puppy 3 meals a day, and always make sure he has access to clean water. You can't over-do the amount of water you give a a dog or puppy. The only down side will be he'll need to pee more often, the extra water will not cause your puppy any harm. At around 6 months old, you can feed your puppy twice a day, and keep him on the two times a feeding schedule for his whole life. You didn't say what you're feeding your puppy. Keep him on a puppy food for his first full year, then change him over to an adult dog food gradually, over a period of 5-7 days.

Pet health insurance isn't always the best thing. Pet health insurance, like other forms of insurance, is a gamble. You're betting your dog will need it, and the company is setting odds that it won't, in terms of limits and lots of fine print in the policy. Rather than paying monthly insurance premiums, most people do better taking the money they would have paid for the insurance and deposit it into an interest bearing saving account. You can read more about the pro's and con's of pet insurance here:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/insurance/pet-insurance/pet-insurance-7...


I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti