Can distilled water make my dog sick? A Step-by-Step Guide

Can My Dog Drink Distilled Water?

Distilled water is any type of purified water that has had its minerals and contaminants completely removed. While it is completely safe for your pooch to drink distilled water, it’s not as healthy for him as regular water as it lacks the essential minerals and ions that good old unfiltered tap water can provide.

Distilled Water Downsides for Doggies

While a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in water typically isn’t a big deal since your pet’s food is the main source of these nutrients, there are still downsides to your dog drinking distilled water.

Some studies have concluded that dogs could experience potassium deficiencies and heart issues if they drink only distilled water.

Moreover, it’s also possible that your pet won’t like the taste of flat water.

The bottom line, while your dog can drink distilled water, it shouldn’t be used as his primary source of hydration over long periods of time.

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Can distilled water make my dog sick?

Why can distilled water be bad for dogs?

To get into this in a little more detail, you need to think about how distilled water is produced.

The process of distillation requires boiling water until all impurities are removed. This is good in one way, as it means any potential contaminants in standard water will be removed.

However, for dogs, it could also have a negative effect. Distilling the water also removes minerals that are essential to a dog’s diet. Many dog foods don’t have the minerals and electrolytes in them that dog need, and instead, they get this from drinking water.

When that water gets distilled, those minerals and electrolytes are removed.

The excellent Dogster magazine goes one step further with even more detail, publishing the following quote in one of their 2017 editions.

The above statement about the risks in dogs drinking distilled water was attributed to Diana Laverdure- Dunetz. She is a well-renowned canine nutritionist who has published multiple books.

Other sources I read said that dogs that only drink distilled water could become potassium deficient which then might lead to heart problems developing.

There’s also the consideration that for humans, drinking distilled water has never been conclusively proven to be healthier than standard drinking water.

According to Wikipedia:

Can we assume same with dogs?

Personally, I would. I think it’s safe to assume that dogs could drink distilled water, but not all of the time, and only in small moderation.

But before you run off and tip all of that distilled water out of your dog’s drinking bowl, I wanted to also give opinions from the other side of the coin.

Benefits Of Distilled Water For Dogs #AllAboutWaterFilters

Over the last couple of decades there’s been a trend for humans to drink filtered water. As our awareness of health issues increase, these trends are often extended to our pets, with some owners switching to raw diets.

As part of this trend, some pet owners even advocate giving dogs bottled or distilled water to drink, rather than water from a tap or faucet. In fact, only last week, a friend of mine asked me whether dogs can drink distilled water.

I genuinely didn’t know, so decided to research if dogs could drink distilled water safely. I looked at both sides of the argument, from those who promote holistic canine diets, and then veterinary professionals – here’s what I found:

Can dogs drink distilled water? Dogs can drink small amounts of distilled water occasionally, but distilled water should not be your dog’s only source of drinking water, as vets say there is the risk of serious side effects including low mineral intake and low blood levels.