Symptoms of Dehydration in Dogs! For Dogs Vomiting, Having Diarrhea, Not Drinking
 

Here are some symptoms of dehydration in dogs from a website I visited today and a link to the article at the bottom:

Introduction

Dehydration causes an abnormal reduction in the volume of circulating blood. This has a number of adverse consequences, many of which are related to imbalances in the levels of electrolytes in fluids that normally are contained inside and outside of cells (intracellular and extracellular fluids). Electrolytes are natural chemical substances which, when dissolved in water or melted, dissociate into electrically charged particles called “ions”. Ions can be negatively or positively charged and can conduct electrical currents. The key positively charged ions in a dog’s body fluids (“cations”) are calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. The primary negatively charged ions (“anions”) are bicarbonate, chloride and phosphate. The concentration of electrolytes is carefully regulated, because electrolytes are critical to the normal metabolic activities and functions of all cells in the body.

When a dog becomes dehydrated, the relative concentration of electrolytes in its cells, blood and other body fluids becomes imbalanced. This can affect virtually any organ or system, including the kidneys, bones, gastrointestinal tract, nerves, muscles, blood pressure, heart function and respiratory tract, among others.

Symptoms of Dehydration

The observable signs of dehydration in dogs can include one or more of the following:

Excessive skin tenting/decreased skin turgor (the skin stays “stuck together” for a prolonged period of time after being gently lifted and pressed between two fingers. Normal skin pliability depends in large part upon hydration status. Obesity and emaciation can alter the results of this test.)
Loose skin (loss of elasticity)
Wrinkled skin (due to dryness)
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Lack of appetite (inappetance; anorexia)
Weight loss (may be rapid in onset)
Excessive volume of urine production and output (polyuria)
Lethargy; listlessness
Weakness
Depression
Panting
Excessive drooling/salivation (ptyalism)
Tacky, dry gums and other mucous membranes
Elevated heart rate (tachycardia)
Weak pulse quality/strength
Prolonged capillary refill time (this is a simple test done by pressing on the dog’s gums with a fingertip and assessing how long it takes for the spot to return to its normal pink color; the normal canine capillary refill time is less than 2 minutes.)
Sunken eyes (enophthalmos; usually bilaterally symmetrical/affecting both eyes equally)
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Dogs at Increased Risk

Small dogs have an increased risk of becoming dehydrated, because they have a high body surface area-to-volume ratio. Anything that adversely affects thirst or appetite, or that diminishes water or food intake, can predispose a dog to dehydration. For example, dogs housed outdoors in exceptionally hot weather, and dogs whose water supply is frozen in the dead of winter, commonly have decreased water intake and become dehydrated. Dogs with some systemic diseases – especially those that cause vomiting, diarrhea, appetite loss or excessive urine production and output - are also predisposed to dehydration.
Source: PetWave

Dog Dehydration | Symptoms & Signs

Thank You for sharing.

Thanks, Jeanie! Maybe this should be stickied in the sick/injured forum or in one of the libraries.

It's amazing how many threads we have weekly on this site about vomiting and diarrhea. I wanted to have something to point OP's to so they can read a bit about dehydration and loss of electrolytes and what to look for symptom-wise if they aren't going to vet their dog right away. New members especially might not be familiar with how fast a tiny dog can dehydrate and be in real danger. Was kind of hoping reading this might help concern them enough to go ahead and take the little dog in.

When Tibbe had pneumonia and on 3 different meds, he really didn't vomit but spit up a couple of times, had mucous-filled stools(no running diarrhea) and wasn't drinking or eating much, was lethargic and his heart-rate was a little high so I took him back to the ER vet. He was dehydrated! The vet gave him fluids and he perked right up and we were able to go home after an observation period. He ate and drank normally that night. It's shocking how little it takes to dehydrate one of these little ones like Tibbe.

If anybody finds a better article on dehydration, I wish they would post that, too.

Thank you, Jeanie for this information and for all of your input to this forum. You are one of YT's valuable gems.

Our babies dehydrate so quickly. The last time Mikki was sick she was dehydrated within 24 hours. This is not something to mess around with. Thanks for posting!

This is now in the Emerg Library. GREAT info, thank you so much for pulling this together...I truly appreciate it when people help like this. The Library is full of such great info, yet it's still missing so much more...so thank you :).

Oh, good, and thank you. I love some of the critical info out there to help dogs on the internet be put in one place here so we can quickly use it to help people who come on here asking for help or not even knowing whether their dog might need vet help. With some tools and things to point them to here in our own YT Library, we can quickly link them to it and help them know what to look for to help their dog. That way some of us that aren't breeders, vets or vet techs, etc., can at least give some guidelines while waiting for the experts to post.