How Safe is Tap Water for Dogs?
For something so essential, tap water is taken for granted. We often don’t give a second thought to where our dogs are getting their hydration from. It is important to ensure that the water your dog is drinking is safe and healthy. Let’ dive deeper into the subject!
Studies conducted to test the safety of water from various water treatments have raised doubts as to how safe our drinking water is. Many contaminants have been discovered in our drinking water sources. These include things like arsenic, lead, and metals – all of which compromise a dog’s immune system.
These are some of the potential contaminants in tap water that may be a risk for your four-legged friend:
Lead – High doses of lead can cause diarrhea, stomach pain, and vomiting. Prolonged exposed over a long time can cause your dog to experience seizures, poor appetite, extreme anxiety, or fatigue.
coli – Most E. coli strains are harmless, but few dangerous strains in public water supplies can cause appetite loss, low body temperature, depression, and lethargy in dogs.
Chlorine – Whether chlorine is dangerous or not depends on the dose and duration of time in which your dog consumes it. Most of the time, water is safe if the chlorine is within the set levels by regulatory guidelines.
Fluoride – High levels of fluoride are toxic and can damage kidneys. In dogs, it can cause severe sickness and diarrhea, restlessness, drooling, weak muscles, and seizures.
Should you be worried? Although the complications mentioned above may seem alarming, check whether your drinking water source has these risks. Contact your water company to receive the annual consumer confidence report. You could also buy a water testing kit or send your water to an EPA-approved laboratory to have professional approval on your water.
It’s a lot safer for your dog to drink filtered tap water over direct tap water or bottled water. The truth is…if you won’t drink the water, then don’t give it to your dog either! At the end of the day, you must figure out a way to keep your dog, happy, hydrated, and healthy.
