[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by joanmcl

I have been thinking about giving my dogs distilled water for eye boogies. For those of you who give your dogs distilled water, is it safe to keep them on it all the time, or should I give them regular water every now and then. I have heard about distilled water leaching minerals from the body or something like that. I have also read that that is a myth.

Joan

Are you talking about letting them drink it or just using it to wipe their eyes? I would say no to letting them drink it. All the bad stuff and the good stuff are removed from distilled water, so you pup will miss a lot of nutrients. Here's one site I googled, but I'm sure you've seen similar:

Distilled water is water that is nothing but water. That means it has no ions, no minerals, and no hardness. Distilled water is NOT safe by itself to be used with animals or for drinking. It will suck the ions out of any animal. Distilled water can be mixed with other waters and used. By mixing it with hard water for example, a water with lower hardness can be obtained. Distilled water is mostly sold for cleaning contact lenses because it is just water. There are a few cases where distilled water can be used as is for animals. Certain crustaceans such as triops and fairy shrimp can be hatched in distilled water.