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Pet owners don’t know if their pet is drinking enough or not. Water performs essential functions in the body and is of vital importance. For instance, water helps to transport oxygen through the blood and to discharge waste matter through the kidneys. Insufficient drinking can lead to dehydration and overheating. A tasty drink can change drinking habits and helps to prevent problems. Also other problems are linked to insufficient drinking such as urinary stones and renal problems, two problems daily observed by the vet. We can conclude that pets in general don’t drink enough and this has negative effects on their health. Pets lose fluid through breathing and panting via the lungs (evaporation), through perspiration, urine, faeces and milk production. Evaporation is closely linked to physical activity, environmental temperature and humidity in the air. To maintain a stable water balance, dogs need approximately 65 ml of water per kg of body weight a day, including 20% oxidation water and the rest “free water” and cats 40 ml of water per kg body weight a day. Threats to health. Dehydration can occur due to an insufficient supply of water or through vomiting and diarrhoea. Even relatively mild dehydration can be harmful. The kidneys have greater difficulty expelling waste matter, the urine becomes more concentrated and the risk to suffer from urinary stones and bladder grit is increased. Furthermore, the body is not able to cool sufficiently due to reduced evaporation. This can result in overheating. The ramifications of severe hypothermia are disastrous and often fatal to all systems in the body. Prevention is half the battle. Therefore animals have to drink sufficiently to stay healthy. If dogs and cats receive a tasty drink when they are thirsty, they can become conditioned to drink even when they don’t feel thirsty. In this way, a tasty drink can stimulate increased fluid absorption.