Cat not drinking nearly enough

Willowwombat

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I took my male cat Dude to the vet last week. He got a clean bill of health, except that he's dehydrated. Not severely, but enough that his skin is a bit loose. The vet had me try a special food that's slightly salty and he ate it once, then rejected it completely.

It occurs to me that I've never seen him drink. There are three large water dishes around the house including a very expensive cat fountain that is cleaned regularly. My Willow has commandeered one dish and I can hear her drinking several times a day. There is also a large water dish outside on the balcony.

He does eat wet food, but I'm concerned that he's just not getting enough liquid. Also, he pees several times a day -- not a large quantity, but several smaller amounts. He does not have a urinary infection, per his test last Friday. His bloodwork was, in the vet's words, "perfect," especially for a ten-year-old cat.

Any thoughts on what to do?
 

Babypaws

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If it was me I put add a little water to the wet food he eats. If he’d let you, you could try giving him some water from a dropper. I had a sick cat that wouldn’t drink so I would give it to her using a dropper, did that several times during the day
 

maggie101

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Churu tubes,only online and tiki sticks,both almost 90% water. If you have covered litterboxes,uncover them. Diaheria can make him dehydrated.
 
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Willowwombat

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He's apparently in very good health, just a bit dehydrated, but enough so that the vet was concerned and wanted him to get more water.

I've only had him since last October, so I don't have a full history. Basically, he's a 10-year old kitten most of the time, behaviourally.

I only know that my Willow is constantly slurping water but I cannot recall ever seeing Dude drink. He has his own enormous water bowl beside his food. I moved it there a few days ago to encourage drinking, but I don't see the water level going down.

I'll try adding a bit of water to his food.
 

Babypaws

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He's apparently in very good health, just a bit dehydrated, but enough so that the vet was concerned and wanted him to get more water.

I've only had him since last October, so I don't have a full history. Basically, he's a 10-year old kitten most of the time, behaviourally.

I only know that my Willow is constantly slurping water but I cannot recall ever seeing Dude drink. He has his own enormous water bowl beside his food. I moved it there a few days ago to encourage drinking, but I don't see the water level going down.

I'll try adding a bit of water to his food.
Could a water fountain interest him to drink?
 

Alldara

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Congratulations 🥳 that's awesome news!
I took my male cat Dude to the vet last week. He got a clean bill of health, except that he's dehydrated. Not severely, but enough that his skin is a bit loose. The vet had me try a special food that's slightly salty and he ate it once, then rejected it completely.

It occurs to me that I've never seen him drink. There are three large water dishes around the house including a very expensive cat fountain that is cleaned regularly. My Willow has commandeered one dish and I can hear her drinking several times a day. There is also a large water dish outside on the balcony.

He does eat wet food, but I'm concerned that he's just not getting enough liquid. Also, he pees several times a day -- not a large quantity, but several smaller amounts. He does not have a urinary infection, per his test last Friday. His bloodwork was, in the vet's words, "perfect," especially for a ten-year-old cat.

Any thoughts on what to do?
Do you add any water to his wet food? You can add a bit of warm or cool water and mix it in depending on what he likes. In summer, I'll mix in as much as they'll let me before they refuse it.

Older cats can have this slight dehydration problem despite wet food, fountains and water on every floor *cough* Nobel*cough*.

One thing my vet mentioned is as they get older, moving to a soft treat, rather than a dry treat or freeze dried treats can be helpful as those do not contain water.

If you do feed dry, you can up the ratio of wet to dry, or try rehydrating the dry food to see if he likes it.
 

louisstools

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You might also try a fountain as someone else suggested. Fountains are great b/c they create a bit of noise and movement so the cat is more enticed to drink than from still water. My cat is drinking way more since I got fountains for her and I can tell that she really enjoys it b/c she'll kinda play with the water stream.
 

game misconduct

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I took my male cat Dude to the vet last week. He got a clean bill of health, except that he's dehydrated. Not severely, but enough that his skin is a bit loose. The vet had me try a special food that's slightly salty and he ate it once, then rejected it completely.

It occurs to me that I've never seen him drink. There are three large water dishes around the house including a very expensive cat fountain that is cleaned regularly. My Willow has commandeered one dish and I can hear her drinking several times a day. There is also a large water dish outside on the balcony.

He does eat wet food, but I'm concerned that he's just not getting enough liquid. Also, he pees several times a day -- not a large quantity, but several smaller amounts. He does not have a urinary infection, per his test last Friday. His bloodwork was, in the vet's words, "perfect," especially for a ten-year-old cat.

Any thoughts on what to do?
i only ever see graycie drinking really late at night.or before sun rise when i wake up an start with my coffee and lil after perhaps his drinking times are like graycies
 

Robyn5678

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My cats didn’t like a fountain but I just bought this and they are drinking out of it. I’d keep adding more water until they don’t eat the food. I usually can get a 3 ounce can of water into the food before it’s too much. I also don’t mix it in, I kind of just pour it around like a moat

CZPET 3L Pet Water Dispenser... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FXC61NT/?tag=thecatsite
 
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