Why should you monitor your dog’s sleeping and drinking habits?

Ever wonder if your pet might be drinking more than usual? Napping less than you recall? Now you can wonder less, and know more. Sleep patterns and water intake are two behaviors we seldom think to monitor until it’s too late, but through our partnership with Pet Insight Project, we can now empower pet parents to keep track of these two critical behaviors.

Sleep patterns can vary according to the lifestyle of the pet parent. In the Whistle app, your pet’s info will be based on their personal baseline, along with a status indicating potential health concerns. The quality of your dog’s nightly sleep – consistency (variation in hours) and continuity (number of disruptions) – correlates with other measures of your dog’s wellness and can be one of the first clues that point to sickness or injury. If your dog’s sleep patterns change without cause, look more closely at other aspects of your dog’s behavior to find the source.

The amount that dogs drink will vary by size, breed, and lifestyle. In the Whistle app, your pet’s info will be based on a personalized baseline for your dog and a status of how often he or she drinks. A dog’s drinking habits can change for a variety of reasons – temperature, a shift in activity levels, and even health issues. For example, dogs developing kidney disease or diabetes will increase their water consumption. Age is another factor, with older dogs requiring more hydration. Food is yet another factor, as dogs eating dry kibble often drink more than dogs eating canned or wet food.

We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on these exciting new health insights powered by Whistle and Pet Insight Project. When data empowers us to monitor our pet’s health and wellbeing, we couldn’t be more onboard. And remember, in addition to using this data to have an informed conversation with your own vet, in case you have questions or concerns right away, Whistle customers can use our Chat with a Vet feature right from the app as well.