Cat Not Drinking With Cone On

[Brooke_10121]

Im sorry this is my third post within the span of like two days. Also I know this isn’t a substitute for veterinary advice, if this continues I’ll definitely contact a vet! My boy has a cone on because he got a cat bite. Needless to say he doesn’t enjoy it. Whenever he comes around I try to make sure he eats and drinks by holding the bowl up. He ate a little bit didn’t drink any water.
We gave him a break from the collar, and watched very carefully to make sure he didn’t lick his wound. I brought him over to is food and water. He ate a normal amount, but still didn’t drink anything. We gave him plenty of time, but he didn’t.
He doesn’t appear dehydrated to me, but wouldn’t he be? He’s moving around, but also laying down a lot because he’s still getting used to moving around in the cone. He could have drunken some water when I didn’t see by I don’t know.
I refresh his water daily, so I don’t think that’s the issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - is he eating wet food? So, I'm assuming you took him in to the vet for a checkup regarding the bite which is when the cone was applied?
What happens if you remove the cone and see if he would drink from the kitchen sink faucet?
If his diet is the same as it was before the bite, did he drink a lot then?

 

[lalagimp]

Wet food. Tommy had a cone on for a month, and I was adding water and bone broth to his canned and raw food. They can get enough hydration through their food.

 

[Brooke_10121]

We don’t take him to the vets after an incident he had, he completely freaks out and he escaped, and we almost lost him. I did a lot of research, and we decided to get a cone so he couldn’t lick the bite, and disinfecting spray.
I haven’t tried to get him to drink from the faucet, I can try that. He never really drank much water, but I’m just worried because he hasn’t seemed to drink anything at all. He eats dry food.

 

[Brooke_10121]

Wet food. Tommy had a cone on for a month, and I was adding water and bone broth to his canned and raw food. They can get enough hydration through their food.

I can add water to his dry food.

 

[Brooke_10121]

Hi - is he eating wet food? So, I'm assuming you took him in to the vet for a checkup regarding the bite which is when the cone was applied?
What happens if you remove the cone and see if he would drink from the kitchen sink faucet?
If his diet is the same as it was before the bite, did he drink a lot then?

I forgot to reply instead of just making a post on the thread- my bad! I answered though!

 

[Furballsmom]

you're fine, no worries.
See if also you can get him to eat wet food - and soon. Dry food only (which if I remember right has a higher carb ratio than wet) and no drinking is a bad combination, you're right. Also, if you don't have one already see if you can get a water fountain.
If you add water to the dry food, don't leave it sitting out very long - dry food has a lot of bacteria in it that will multiply in a moist environment.

 

[Brooke_10121]

you're fine, no worries.
See if also you can get him to eat wet food - and soon. Dry food only (which if I remember right has a higher carb ratio than wet) and no drinking is a bad combination, you're right. Also, if you don't have one already see if you can get a water fountain.
If you add water to the dry food, don't leave it sitting out very long - dry food has a lot of bacteria in it that will multiply in a moist environment.

Ah sorry for the late reply ^^ I will try to get some wet food and see how he likes it. Lately I’ve been reading up a lot more on cats and their health than I used to, and I’ve seen that giving him all dry food like we have isn’t the best idea. Would it still be good to have a mix of wet and dry food in his diet? He absolutely adores the type of dry food we give him, and I’m not sure how well he’ll take getting it cut off cold turkey lol. I’ll definitely try to invest in a water fountain! They seem pretty ideal! And thanks you for the tip of not leaving out The moistened dry food out very long- still learning haha!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - I think you're an AWESOME cat person!!
This cat household uses both wet and dry, the Big Guy is 13 and his checkups have been good. Granted every cat is different but I think in your case serving both is just fine.
If you have issues getting your boy to eat wet, there are tempting toppers to try and convince him it really IS in his best interest LOL

 

[Brooke_10121]

Hi - I think you're an AWESOME cat person!!
This cat household uses both wet and dry, the Big Guy is 13 and his checkups have been good. Granted every cat is different but I think in your case serving both is just fine.
If you have issues getting your boy to eat wet, there are tempting toppers to try and convince him it really IS in his best interest LOL

Oh thanks haha! You as well! Thanks for the tip - I think I’ll try those too. Considering he’s an outdoor cat as well and eats mice sometimes he should like it. He got his shots though so no chance of diseases! Lol

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Brooke_10121]

Also I have a question about diets if could help me? Would it better to free feed a cat or meal feed them? My family is all pretty much gone from 8 to 3 in the afternoon, but my mom’s work schedule is flexible, so she could come home to feed him again around midday, depending if he’s outside or not.

 

[Furballsmom]

I know that many people do a meal schedule of wet in the am and pm, or am, midday and pm, and then free feed kibble, that sort of thing.
On the flip side, a lot of us leave wet food out all day with no issues of it going bad along with the dry.
The main thing I think for you to determine what works best for him (just to doublecheck, he's an adult, right?) is that as long as you can lightly feel his ribs with a thin layer of fat over them, you're in a good place for him regarding weight. You could even start to track his weight with a bathroom scale if you wanted.

 

[Brooke_10121]

I know that many people do a meal schedule of wet in the am and pm, or am, midday and pm, and then free feed kibble, that sort of thing.
On the flip side, a lot of us leave wet food out all day with no issues of it going bad along with the dry.
The main thing I think for you to determine what works best for him (just to doublecheck, he's an adult, right?) is that as long as you can lightly feel his ribs with a thin layer of fat over them, you're in a good place for him regarding weight. You could even start to track his weight with a bathroom scale if you wanted.

I was worried that leaving out wet food would cause it to go bad, but it’s go to know that it most likely won’t. Yea he’s an adult, he came to our house as a stray a few years ago(left a neighbors house down the road due to their dogs harassing him) and we think he’s around 10. Tomorrow I can try to get him on the scale, I’m almost certain he’s somewhat overweight, which is why I’m wondering if free feeding is part of the problem. He gets plenty of exercise outside though.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Brooke_10121]

 

[talkingpeanut]

Is your boy neutered? If not, he will keep getting into fights.

How is his injury looking? I’m concerned that he may need oral antibiotics.

 

[Brooke_10121]

Is your boy neutered? If not, he will keep getting into fights.

How is his injury looking? I’m concerned that he may need oral antibiotics.

He’s neutered, just territorial. Hopefully he’ll learn his lesson as he doesn’t enjoy the cone, and hates not going outside, poor thing. I’m hoping he doesn’t though.
I can send a picture if you’d like. It scanned over, but because he kept licking it got raw again. It’s looking better today though. I’m not sure if he needs antibiotics or not, I was thinking about that a lot today...

 

[Margret]

He absolutely adores the type of dry food we give him, and I’m not sure how well he’ll take getting it cut off cold turkey lol.

1. You don't cut him off cold turkey. See this article: Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade). If you decide to switch him to regular meal times rather than free feeding, this article should help: Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals.
2. If you're worried that he's overweight, that kibble that he loves so much may be the problem. Most kibbles contain a lot of grains, which are high in carbohydrates. Cats don't do well with carbs; they need a diet that's mostly protein. And carbohydrates are pretty much empty calories.
3. The companies that make kibble know that it isn't really good for cats, so one of the ways they sell it is to add addictive substances to it to make it hard to ween your cat from it. That's why your cat loves his kibble so much, and that's why you need the help contained in the articles.

Margret

 

[Brooke_10121]

1. You don't cut him off cold turkey. See this article: Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade). If you decide to switch him to regular meal times rather than free feeding, this article should help: Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals.
2. If you're worried that he's overweight, that kibble that he loves so much may be the problem. Most kibbles contain a lot of grains, which are high in carbohydrates. Cats don't do well with carbs; they need a diet that's mostly protein. And carbohydrates are pretty much empty calories.
3. The companies that make kibble know that it isn't really good for cats, so one of the ways they sell it is to add addictive substances to it to make it hard to ween your cat from it. That's why your cat loves his kibble so much, and that's why you need the help contained in the articles.

Margret

Thank you very much! I’ll definitely read those articles and decide what’s best for him! I the addictive substances part makes sense, it disgusts me that companies do that? Any idea what those are? I can check to see if his kibble has any