Well water
 

Hi everyone,

We have put a contract on a home that has well water (not public) considering Charlies health history (pancreatitis, MVD, uric bladder stones) I believe that he should drink bottled water and NOT the well water. am I correct? and if so is distilled water the right thing to buy for him or something else.

When I had well water I gave it to my healthy adult dogs, but did use bottled for my young puppies. I don't think it needs to be distilled, just regular drinking water, I think you are right to not give him well water.

What is wrong with well water? Wondering because that what we have.

I was thinking the same thing...now I'm worried am I hurting my babies

Well water has the potential to carry germs because its not processed like city/county water.
However, all my animals have always had well water.

I am always just so scared with what I give Charlie and it was my though process that it wasnt going through a "filtering" system as such like public water... maybe I am wrong ?? (this is why I love YT :D)

Since well water is not recommended for human infants I didn't want to give it to puppies either. You just never know what could have gotten into your well. I live in the country and always worry about maybe some chemicals from fields running off into my well. ecoli has been known to get into wells, we were able to change to city water a while back and I feel safer in some ways, although I hate the chlorine smell now in this water:D

i actually just switched my babies from well water...to bottled water and they have less eye boogy yucks. i am going to keep them on the bottled water because of this reason. but weve used well water for us to drink also and never had a problem.

We have well water too..out in the boonies there is no access to a municipal water supply.:p Way back when there were no other homes around our property we drank our well water. Now that the neighborhood has gotten bigger we cook and bathe with it, but we drink bottled water and I give Bogie and Jada Gerber water.
We are just afraid with all the homes around us now, no telling what could be in the water table around us :(

We used to have well water as we live in the country. We now have rural water. To make a long story short.....our sewer collapsed and we had all new put in. We had our water tested and it came back contaminated! It was so bad, that we were advised not to even bathe out infant son in it! We live in a farming community and our home is surrounded by farm ground and pastures with cattle. I would give bottled water to be on the safe side. Even when we go camping, I give my pups bottled water! Better safe and healthy than sorry and having a sick pup!

Considering your pet's health history it can only be a good thing to use distilled water for your dog. Well water varies in content. You could take it and have it tested but most water sources do have a large mineral content.

All my pets have been on distilled water for about a year now. Gracie's eyes completely cleared up. I haven't noticed a difference in the cat's except that they seem to like to drink more water than they did before. Good water is necessary for good kidney function. It will be easier on your dog's kidneys.

I know some well water is excellent and some isn't, but if yours is not safe enough for the dog, it's not safe for the family either, in fact, dogs do much better on drinking water from a puddle than a human would. Bottled water isn't necessarily superior to well water, its just water that has been filtered, and you can put a filter under your kitchen sink that has a special tap for drinking water. Filtered water often “tastes” better, but some well water is perfect and doesn't need to be filtered. There are different types of filters also, and some take out more than others. It might be a good idea to have it tested to see if you need to filter it. Distilled or purified water is water in which all the minerals have been taken out, this is different than filtered water; filters will not take out minerals, but take out "chemicals" like chlorine and even pesticides. Minerals aren’t necessarily bad or harmful, but if excessive, may cause tearing in some dogs. In fact, there is some concern over drinking only distilled water with no minerals. From my understanding waters with minerals in it will not contribute to any of the conditions you’ve listed, at one time it was thought that minerals in water could cause kidney/bladder stones, but this no longer holds true.

The chlorine that is in "city" water I would think is much worse for your dog then well water but that's just my opinion. We had ours tested before we moved in, in October and we have an artisan well which is supposed to be the best or one of the best. We also have a filer that our water that goes to the fridge/ice maker and that goes to the kitchen sink goes through. A lot of bottled waters have the water pulled straight from a spring and then put in a bottle so it would pretty much be the same thing. There is a filter in most wells.

sorry working today but checking in for the posts :)

ok, got a break..... I guess because I have never had to use well water I was afraid of what might be in it. I do plan to get a filter for the drinking faucett simply because I have never liked the taste of well water when I have had it in the past. I just want to do whats best for CharlieBrown.

It really depends on the well, I had some that tasted great, but others high in iron tasted horrible, and of course, if you have sulfur in it, it will taste like rotten eggs!

We have wonderful tasting well water here in southeast Texas and I absolutely love it. We have lived here for about 12 years. Of course water can taste and smell differently from location to location so my recommendation would be to have your water tested.

It might ease your mind to just put in a call to your vet and see what they say.

We just sold a house we built 25 years ago. Had never had the well tested until then and it came back perfect. Of course ours was far from the septic system. Your local health dept can test it for you. I prefer well water to drink because of the chlorine in city water. I hate the taste of the water here.

We have city water, but i dislike the taste of chlorine so i buy Gerber or nursery
water for my babes and i drink bottled water, I have a filter on my fridge but i like bottled better

I intend to ask, Charlie has to repeat all of his liver test on the 16th of Feb this will be one of my top questions for sure.

ya learn something everyday lol. i guess ya could boil it right? mine gets tested every 3 months.

We have well water as well, I never thought of it being an issue..now im not so sure..

Oh i dont want to make anyone to worry its just charlie has so many health issues i am a Perinoid mamma

Anything makes me paranoid..I have anxiety issues, so I worry about every little thing...I am going to research this more, thank you for bringing it to my attention..

Its looking like i need to know more about the well on the property, regardless i am thinking Bottled water is going to be best for charlie the home was built in the 80s and there is no records on the home

Hope all goes well with his tests and please let us know what the vet says I'm curious.

If the people you are buying the property from have not had the water tested in over a year consider getting it tested your self. Water content can change over time. You can't really go by how the water tastes since some water can taste great but still be contaminated. A shallow well can be more of a problem than a deeper one but it's always best to have the water tested to be safe.

We once lived in an area that had such a high mineral content that the water would actually turn the shower a different color. It was awful. I couldn't live like that even with a water softener.

I have a Brita picture. I wonder if that would be good to use. We too have well water.

As someone else said well water can vary so much, unless you test it regularly you can never be sure what could be in it. City water is tested on a regular basis, plus of course all the nasty tasting chlorine in it. My first country home had an artisian well and the water was perfect, tasted great, had it tested and it was perfect. The place I have lived for 25 years here has awful well water, I could never drink it, although it tested safe to drink when we bought the place, it was so full of iron it ruined my appliances and stained my tub. Now I have city water and love it, but still don't drink it cause of the chlorinne. Filters will not get rid of all bacteria, that's why I still wouldn't give well water to an infant or someone with a lower immune system, why take chances. You can also boil the water before you give it do your dog, that will kill any bacteria.