Our little Cali has been ill with stomach “issues” for about 2 weeks now. Along with getting lots of great care from her vet, who is trying to figure out what’s wrong, I’ve been working hard to make sure she doesn’t get dehydrated. It’s hot and humid here in Florida, and despite being sick, Cali still wants to run and play.

She’s drinking (homemade) chicken broth and eating bits of chicken, but I needed to replace the fluid and minerals she was losing due to her, uh, issues at both ends.

Our vet, Dr. Landers, recommended getting Pedialyte and making it into ice cubes. I thought about coconut water and did a little research. I knew that coconut water was touted as a natural way to rehydrate and replace lost electrolytes for active humans. I discovered that it has the same benefits for dogs — and is a lot less expensive than Pedialyte. It also comes in natural, unflavored form with no added sugar.

So, I got some and bought a set of ice cube trays and … lo and behold, all of the dogs love popsicles! Cali did not like drinking the Pedialyte, but she gobbles down the ice cubes. She also loves the coconut ice cubes. Albee, who, like Cali, loves to munch on ice, came over to see what the fuss was about. She turned up her pretty little nose at a plain ice cube when she realized that Cali was getting something different. Even Jana, who hasn’t wanted to munch an ice cube since she was about Albee’s age, got into it. She loves the popsicles too.

According to the Bunk Blog, coconut water is used in many tropical places to rehydrate people with gastrointestinal issues, and it “is very low in sodium and chlorides, but rich in sugars and amino acids.”

We might just make coconut popsicles a regular part of our dogs’ summer diet!