Cant Get My Cat To Drink Out Of Water Bowl Or Pet Fountain

[AnnaJm]

My cat Ziggy is 9 years old now. He used to drink out of the faucet, so I kept it running. Then I switched to giving him water by hand by hand-pouring water into a bowl, which he then drank out of the pouring water. My cat was diagnosed with a bladder stone last year, and his diet cleared up the stone. But since then, Ive tried 2 different water fountains with no luck. He was not interested in the fountains at all. In fact, he was scared of the 2nd fountain (the largest one, it was very expensive too). Im afraid that my cat will get another bladder stone if I cant find a way to get him to drink on his own. I dont want to go back to running the faucet all day, but I might have to. He is a very picky cat. He asks me twice a day to give him water, but I know he needs to be drinking much more than he is. The only idea I have seen is to add tuna or broth to a water bowl and try to train him in that way. What do you guys think?

 

[Furballsmom]

Baby meezer!!!

You could certainly try that, also try adding an ice cube or two.

Also, try filtering the water with a pur or brita ( if you're stateside). I know pet Fountains have charcoal filters but those don't get major contaminants out.

In other words, he might simply not like the taste of whatever your municiple water treatment plant is doing, and they often can't get all of the human meds, pesticides, fertilizers etc etc out.

Also per a tip from another member, if you try a filter pitcher be sure and deep clean it to avoid buildup

 

[susanm9006]

I would keep trying different styled fountains. There are some as inexpensive as $20 on Chewy.

 

[Hellenww]

If you have the fountain off and pour water into it will he go near it? turn it back on after he walks away.

I've been looking at these but if the fountain scares him so might these.

 

[ArchyCat]

What are you feeding him? Dry kibble or canned? If it is kibble, he will need to drink more than if he is is eating canned. The canned provides more water when it is digested.

 

[danteshuman]

I was thinking maybe s pet fountian with store bought water for the extra finicky cat? Have you tried adding water or broth (safe for cats type) to his wet food?

I just have to say he is so adorable!!!!

 

[rubysmama]

Did his diet change involve changing to mostly canned food? If so, as A ArchyCat mentioned, wet food is mostly water, so cats who eat mostly canned food don't drink as much water.

My Ruby eats mostly canned, with kibble as treats, and she doesn't drink water too often. I do sometimes add a teaspoon or so to her canned food when I feed her, especially in the summer when it is hot and humid. Sometimes I actually mix it in. Other times I just pour it around the food, and as she licks up the wet food, she licks up the water too.

Ziggy is gorgeous, btw.

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

Omg your baby is so cute!!

My cat is also a faucet drinker! Is it a siamese thing? Lol. Anyways, I found the perfect fountain that makes her drink more it makes her feel like she has several faucet spouts to drink from. She walks around in circles to drink from all of them lol. I hope this helps you!

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh you may have just been a possible lifesaver.
One of these days my boy won't be able to make the jump to the top of the counter to get to the sink faucet...he despises steps, and lifting him is fine, but....
Hopefully it's a long ways off, but this could be a solution!

 

[maggie101]

My cats only use my fountain if it's fresh water so now I use special tilted bowls and change the water every day. I am getting rid of my fountains!

 

[Catlover579]

What kind of water bowl is he drinking from now? It it small or large? My cat doesn't like regular cat size bowls lol he uses a larger stainless steel bowl for water. (Like the dog bowls) and I have to have it filled to the top . It might also be the kind of water. Have you tried different types of waters? I give my cat purified bottled water or spring water.

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

Along with what Furballsmom and Catlover579 have said, the type of water matters too. I don't drink the tap water where I live, so I don't expect my cat too either. I have gallon jugs I refill away my grocery store.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

My cat Ziggy is 9 years old now. He used to drink out of the faucet, so I kept it running. ... But since then, Ive tried 2 different water fountains with no luck. He was not interested in the fountains at all. In fact, he was scared of the 2nd fountain (the largest one, it was very expensive too). ... I dont want to go back to running the faucet all day, but I might have to. He is a very picky cat. He asks me twice a day to give him water, but I know he needs to be drinking much more than he is. The only idea I have seen is to add tuna or broth to a water bowl and try to train him in that way. What do you guys think?

What two fountains have you tried, specifically?

I recently decided to try a smaller version of the Catit Fountain with my cat, and I'm on day 10 or 11 of having it set up and running. She was freaked out at first, had some instances of approaching it and batting at it. But she has finally moved more towards taking sips from it (yay!) -- I think that might be because I finally set a folded towel underneath it to decrease the amount of vibrations it caused as it sat directly on either our wood floor or on a placemat on the wood floor. It's quieter that way. Either she has just taken a long time to get used to the thing, or else she does like its noise dampened a bit (even though it is not that loud, being a small, more inexpensive fountain).

I replace the water every three of four days with cold(er) water as, after a few days, the temp of the water does rise to room temp. (She likes cold water.) I also keep two water bowls out in any case, even though I have a fountain. Your cat should be able to have access to drinking water all the time, hopefully.

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

I replace the water every three of four days with cold(er) water as, after a few days, the temp of the water does rise to room temp. (She likes cold water.)

That's odd that your water gets room temp. I have the flower one and the water stays cold the whole time. My cat also only likes cold water, like yours. We're have such picky creatures

 

[susanm9006]

One of mine preferred hot bath water over any other source. I used to have to wait until she was done drinking before I could soap up.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

That's odd that your water gets room temp. I have the flower one and the water stays cold the whole time. My cat also only likes cold water, like yours. We're have such picky creatures

Do you have the Mini Catit or the regular-sized Catit? Maybe it's a factor of size

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

Do you have the Mini Catit or the regular-sized Catit? Maybe it's a factor of size

I have the flower catit I posted earlier in the thread.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I have the flower catit I posted earlier in the thread.

Ah. I turned off my adblocker for this page to see the image Amazon link in your post. I see now. Yep, you have the regular-sized one.

 

[AnnaJm]

I have both the Catit fountain and the Drinkwell 360 (a large fountain). After he didnt use the Catit fountain, I had heard that cats dont like plastic fountains because the plastic absorbs smells. So I got him a stainless steel fountain. But he seemed scared of the black clips around the base (which were really unnecessary for me), and reacted to them upon first seeing the fountain. So I removed the clips. But he then refused to go anywhere near it, almost seemed like he was trying to avoid the entire vincinity, so I had to give up and go back to hand watering him. I used fresh spring water in the fountains and when I pour water for him. I like the idea of those automatic faucet attachments for cats. I had been unaware of those. I am going to try that route. Only thing is, it wont be spring water- but maybe he wont mind. Additionally, I wanted to ask about how to make a meat broth (not a bone broth), because I'd like to get him to drink a lot of water. It would have to be pork based because that's the only meat he has shown interest in.

 

[AnnaJm]

Here is the Drinkwell Fountain I tried. It's even bigger than it looks here. But you can see the black clips on the edge of the bowl that scared him away on the first day.