Not wanting to drink water

[countrygirl576]

My cat has interstitial cystitis and it has been a week of worry..vet visits...meds and now she is doing better BUT she will not drink water and she needs water. Especially for her intersytial cystitis problem. On Monday I took her to the vet as an emergency and she was very very very dehydrated. I have 2 water fountain dishes for them. For all of her life she would only drink running water. Then since Monday only standing water so I unplugged it for a while then plugged it back in. Other cats will only drink running water and some will only drink from the one downstairs. This cat wouldn't drink again today (haven't seen her drink anything since yesterday but I didn't stay up last night) so I changed the whole thing again and nothing....she goes over to it..sniffs..looks at it and walks away. She will (if I let her and I don't) drink from the toilet or dishwasher. Never in all of her 14 years of life has she ever wanted to drink toilet or dishwasher water. Anyone have any ideas? She does get all canned food but has since January this year and she was dehydrated on Monday so canned can't do it for fluid. She will drink the water from canned chicken/tuna but I can't open enough cans to keep her hydrated. I don't want it to get to the point where I have to take her back to the vets for fluid. Won't be good for her health with the stress and it's $49.20 and I'm pretty much broke at this point.

 

[CatladyJan]

My cat has interstitial cystitis and it has been a week of worry..vet visits...meds and now she is doing better BUT she will not drink water and she needs water. Especially for her intersytial cystitis problem. On Monday I took her to the vet as an emergency and she was very very very dehydrated. I have 2 water fountain dishes for them. For all of her life she would only drink running water. Then since Monday only standing water so I unplugged it for a while then plugged it back in. Other cats will only drink running water and some will only drink from the one downstairs. This cat wouldn't drink again today (haven't seen her drink anything since yesterday but I didn't stay up last night) so I changed the whole thing again and nothing....she goes over to it..sniffs..looks at it and walks away. She will (if I let her and I don't) drink from the toilet or dishwasher. Never in all of her 14 years of life has she ever wanted to drink toilet or dishwasher water. Anyone have any ideas? She does get all canned food but has since January this year and she was dehydrated on Monday so canned can't do it for fluid. She will drink the water from canned chicken/tuna but I can't open enough cans to keep her hydrated. I don't want it to get to the point where I have to take her back to the vets for fluid. Won't be good for her health with the stress and it's $49.20 and I'm pretty much broke at this point.

A couple of suggestions: 1. Try just a normal bowl with water. 2. If she doesn't drink out of that add just some tuna/salmon juice to it and refrigerate the rest. Add lots of water to her canned food and ration it.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Given her age, I would guess the vet has run a full scale geriatric blood work up? If so, do you know the results? If not, perhaps the vet should. I believe her issues very well may go beyond just the cystitis. While most cats who eat mainly canned food tend not to drink as much, the fact that she is seeking different water sources (toilet or dishwasher) suggests a possible chemical imbalance. Some source of minerals not present in her 'regular' water that she is seeking. The fact that she is dehydrated also would suggest something else is going on.

Does she pee more frequently than she used to, despite her lack of water intake? Cystitis can also cause bladder spasms and might provoke more peeing than usual. However, most cats tend to make up for that by drinking more. Since your cat is not, I think issues outside her cystitis need to be pursued.

 

[countrygirl576]

A couple of suggestions: 1. Try just a normal bowl with water. 2. If she doesn't drink out of that add just some tuna/salmon juice to it and refrigerate the rest. Add lots of water to her canned food and ration it.

A regular dish she will spill over constantly but I never thought of watering down her canned food with chicken/tuna water. Now that I can do. Thanks for the idea.

 

[CatladyJan]

A regular dish she will spill over constantly but I never thought of watering down her canned food with chicken/tuna water. Now that I can do. Thanks for the idea.

YW - you can just add water to her canned food as well, that is what my vet suggested.

 

[CatladyJan]

Given her age, I would guess the vet has run a full scale geriatric blood work up? If so, do you know the results? If not, perhaps the vet should. I believe her issues very well may go beyond just the cystitis. While most cats who eat mainly canned food tend not to drink as much, the fact that she is seeking different water sources (toilet or dishwasher) suggests a possible chemical imbalance. Some source of minerals not present in her 'regular' water that she is seeking. The fact that she is dehydrated also would suggest something else is going on.

Does she pee more frequently than she used to, despite her lack of water intake? Cystitis can also cause bladder spasms and might provoke more peeing than usual. However, most cats tend to make up for that by drinking more. Since your cat is not, I think issues outside her cystitis need to be pursued.

Hmmmm this may have just answered my thread.

 

[countrygirl576]

Given her age, I would guess the vet has run a full scale geriatric blood work up? If so, do you know the results? If not, perhaps the vet should. I believe her issues very well may go beyond just the cystitis. While most cats who eat mainly canned food tend not to drink as much, the fact that she is seeking different water sources (toilet or dishwasher) suggests a possible chemical imbalance. Some source of minerals not present in her 'regular' water that she is seeking. The fact that she is dehydrated also would suggest something else is going on.

Does she pee more frequently than she used to, despite her lack of water intake? Cystitis can also cause bladder spasms and might provoke more peeing than usual. However, most cats tend to make up for that by drinking more. Since your cat is not, I think issues outside her cystitis need to be pursued.

She has had every test there is except a CT scan. Blood work, ultrasound ect all say she is fine. Just her intersystial cystitis flaring up big time. She doesn't pee more frequently now that she is on 2 different pain pills. Before the pills she was and before the pain pills she was drinking constantly to where she was throwing up water but that was also when she was very dehydrated.
CatladyJan here suggested adding the canned chicken/tuna water to her canned food so I am going to try that. I might call the vet Monday if things stay the same but I want to hold off on anymore vet visits.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hmmmm this may have just answered my thread.

I just now saw that thread! Ask the vet about testing for chemical imbalances.

 

[FeebysOwner]

She has had every test there is except a CT scan. Blood work, ultrasound ect all say she is fine. Just her intersystial cystitis flaring up big time. She doesn't pee more frequently now that she is on 2 different pain pills. Before the pills she was and before the pain pills she was drinking constantly to where she was throwing up water but that was also when she was very dehydrated. CatladyJan here suggested adding the canned chicken/tuna water to her canned food so I am going to try that. I might call the vet Monday if things stay the same but I want to hold off on anymore vet visits.

I would definitely try the suggestions by CatladyJan , but now I am wondering if some of her aversion to water is from constantly throwing up water while she was on the pain meds. Maybe she is looking for ways to drink that do not correlate with how/what she was drinking when she was throwing up? Cats will tend to shy away from foods that - for whatever reason - they have thrown up - so, perhaps the same thing with water for your girl?

 

[CatladyJan]

I just now saw that thread! Ask the vet about testing for chemical imbalances.

He still has sexual behaviors too. Anyway back to the original topic

 

[countrygirl576]

I would definitely try the suggestions by CatladyJan , but now I am wondering if some of her aversion to water is from constantly throwing up water while she was on the pain meds. Maybe she is looking for ways to drink that do not correlate with how/what she was drinking when she was throwing up? Cats will tend to shy away from foods that - for whatever reason - they have thrown up - so, perhaps the same thing with water for your girl?

She wasn't on any pain meds when throwing up. That's why I think the throwing up was due to the pain.

 

[countrygirl576]

As of late last night she is back to drinking normally. Got to thinking maybe the fluid under the skin the vet gave her Wednesday lasted until last night? She is back to her normal routine..eating..drinking..pooping and peeing. Now if I can only do the same thing. Takes me a long time to settle down and turn my brain off. Now I know why we are called Crazy Catlady.