I found this too:
Urine licking or drinking
Q: Dear Dr. Mike, I am a recent subscriber to Vetinfo Digest after finding your website and all the
terrific information it contains. I am currently enrolled in Registered Veterinary Technician
school and love it! Your site has been an immense help with school. I have a question regarding
the dog of a friend of mine. I searched your site but came up empty. She has a 9yr. old Yorkie
who has been urinating on the pavement and then trying to drink it! The owner took the dog to
the vet to have tests run and everything was negative. None of the doctors in the office seem to
have any answers or suggestions. Do you? She takes very good care of the dog including
brushing its teeth every week. The dog is scheduled for a dental next week. Thanks for any
assistance you can provide. K
Karma-
There isn't much information that I can find on dogs that will urinate and then lick or drink the urine. The
only references I can find to this suggest that it is a learned behavior in some dogs that are constantly penned when young (usually pet store dogs) and that it occurs in other situations in which excessive boredom is likely. Some people have associated this behavior with hormonal changes in unspayed female dogs but I don't know if there is really any data to support that
association.
The only treatment options that I have seen for this is to use amitriptyline (Elavil Rx) or clomipramine (Clomicalm Rx). I am not sure what the rational is behind using these medications, though.
Mike Richards, DVM
3/14/99 |