Cat drinking a lot of water here lately

[jr70895]

My 7.5 year old male cat has started drinking a lot of water here lately. He hates wet food but does eat a little and I always add water to it. I have a vet appointment for next week to have him checked out.
He mainly eats dry food, trust me I've tried wet but he just doesn't eat it, at best he licks the juice. I timed him tonight and he drank water for 4 minutes and 38 seconds straight. Normally he drinks water but never that long. He actually ran to the water bowl and started drinking. I suspect either diabetic or kidney issues.
He's on Purina Pro Plan weight management and Fancy Feast various wet flavors.

 

[maggie101]

My cat drank (emptied) a huge bowl of water. Vet thought it was strange that I took her in because of that. She had UTI. Put your cat on a waiting list so he can possibly be seen sooner. Have you tried mixing the with wet? Or toppers

 

[silent meowlook]

Is he urinating allot?

Not a vet. So, just saying what I would be concerned about if he was mine.
Diabetes
Kidney disease
Those would be the big ones I would be worried about.
If he is overweight, I would be leaning more towards the diabetes.

Is he on any medications? Any other health issues? How is he otherwise?

 

[silent meowlook]

If you have a human glucometer at home you can test him. It won’t be very accurate but if it is high, you know there is a problem. Either way he needs to see a vet. But I would try to get him in sooner than next week.

 

[stephanietx]

It could also be nausea, especially if he's not eating well.

 

[Tea Maria]

When my female cat had a UTI she was drinking a lot and would lie down in front of the water bowl and stay there. She was also urinating a lot. I later found out she also had kidney disease and hypercalcemia (high calcium), which can also cause excessive thirst, but once her UTI was discovered and treated her drinking became more normal.

 

[jr70895]

Thanks for the input. My cat also will lay down by his water bowl.

I was able to get him into the vet today because they had a cancellation. They did a Senior Panel blood test including Urinalysis testing. The vet said everything looked normal and nothing stood out. Glucose was 104. His calcium level is normal. However, he had a few items that were high.

BASO—inflammatory cell associated with parasitic disease, hypersensitivity and allergy

GLOB (globulin)—increases may be seen with inflammation and potential chronic infection;
decreases may be seen with blood loss, gastrointestinal loss and immune deficiencies

Na+ (sodium)—increases may indicate dehydration; decreases may be seen with loss during
diarrhea and vomiting or with Addison’s and kidney disease

pH—reflect the acid-base status if the animal is well-hydrated...7.0. The normal urine pH range for dogs and cats is 6 to 7.5.

The vet said he was not concerned with any of these items. I will see how he does for the next week or so. I'm still not convinced he doesn't have some sort of kidney issue.

Thinking about changing his dry food to Young Again, vet said high protein diets in cats isn't always the best option.

There is a cats only vet clinic in my city and if he doesn't appear to improve will take him their for additional testing if needed.