Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Ask Dr. Universe kidney
University Communications Network > Ask Dr. Universe > kidney

What happens if we drink too much water? – Joseph, 7, United Kingdom

Dear Joseph,

As an early-rising science cat, I always lap up a bowl of coffee in the morning. After that, I drink fresh water from a cat fountain I keep near my desk.

But what if I drink too much of that thirst-quenching liquid?

I asked my friend Karen Anders if that can happen. She teaches nursing at Washington State University.

She told me that drinking too much water can cause a rare condition called water intoxication.

It’s rare because it doesn’t happen very often. Even if you guzzle lots of water, your kidneys can probably process it. You might feel sloshy and waterlogged. You might throw up, but then you’d just pee the excess water out of your body.

Read More ...

What makes pee so bad that I have to get rid of it? – Jeff, 14, Michigan

Dear Jeff,

The worst thing about being an anthropomorphic cat is that I have to scoop my own litter box. It’s a real drag.

I asked my friend Henry Mroch why we need to pee in the first place. He’s a doctor at Washington State University. He teaches medical students about the organs that make urine—called kidneys.

He told me that most people have two kidneys. Each one is about the size of your fist. They sit near your back, right under your ribcage.

Each kidney attaches to a tube called a ureter. Those tubes take urine to a storage pouch—called the bladder. When you pee, another tube called the urethra moves the urine from the bladder out of your body.

Read More ...