Catnip In Water Bowl?

sailon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
173
Purraise
67
In an article on cat health I read last night it mentioned crushing catnip leaves into the water bowl as an inducement to get a cat to drink more water.

Anyone ever heard of this?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

sailon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
173
Purraise
67
Thanks Betsy. I was curious because in the 3 years I've had Maxine I have never, ever seen her drink from her water bowl. She eats only canned food and my vet says she gets all the water she needs from her food. Still, though she's very healthy, I would think she would drink water at least occasionally.
 

betsygee

Just what part of meow don't you understand.
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
28,326
Purraise
17,461
Location
Central Coast CA, USA
We have water fountains in our house. All four cats use it, apparently they like the circulating water. But cats are all so different--my first kitty had kidney disease towards the end, so I was trying to encourage her to drink more water. She didn't like the electric water fountain, but loved water with ice cubes in it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

sailon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
173
Purraise
67
I had thought about a water fountain, but for whatever reason never got around to it. In the meantime, as soon as Max wakes up (what a life!) I'm going to try your ice cube suggestion.

Thanks again.
 

abyeb

Charlie's Purrson
Veteran
Joined
Feb 18, 2017
Messages
7,565
Purraise
9,599
We have water fountains in our house. All four cats use it, apparently they like the circulating water. But cats are all so different--my first kitty had kidney disease towards the end, so I was trying to encourage her to drink more water. She didn't like the electric water fountain, but loved water with ice cubes in it.
Charlie also doesn't like the water fountains, and putting ice cubes in the water has really encouraged him to drink more. He sometimes likes to bat the ice cubes around the bowl, or push them around with his little nose, but after that he always settles down to take a nice, refreshing drink. :)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

sailon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
173
Purraise
67
Sounds good. Thanks. Still waiting for Max...
 

RussB88

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jul 22, 2017
Messages
1
Purraise
0
I had thought about a water fountain, but for whatever reason never got around to it. In the meantime, as soon as Max wakes up (what a life!) I'm going to try your ice cube suggestion.

Thanks again.
I got a fountain called aqua cube at wal Mart for $20. Can also buy charcoal filter refills there also. But am still looking for suggestions to get my girl to drink more
 

Columbine

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
12,921
Purraise
6,224
Location
The kitty playground
Going back to your first post sailon sailon :wink: Catnip in the water sounds really interesting:think: I've not heard of it before, but I could see it really working for a catnip fiend :)

Ice cubes in the water can be a bit hit and miss. I remember trying it with my childhood cats one especially hot summer, and all 5 cats were totally baffled by it
My guys adore chicken water (cooled leftover liquid from plain poaching chicken), and that always gets drunk in record time :yummy: Another easy trick to get more water into your boy is to add a little extra water to his wet food. I do this routinely for my girl, and she really likes it (especially if I use hot water to take the chill off some refrigerated food :winkcat:).

There are lots more ideas here too - Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake
 

arouetta

Slave of Bastet's acolytes
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
2,117
Purraise
2,891
I haven't tried catnip since one of my cats apparently doesn't have the gene for it, but seeing how they kept going after my husband's ginger ale when it had valerian root mixed in, I tried that in their water during the fireworks. Bad mistake. They would go up to the bowl and sniff and walk away. I have two cats that guzzle water so them walking away without a drink was not in character. They seem to only like pure water.
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,114
Purraise
17,349
Location
Los Angeles
I have water fountains and have been happy with my cats' responses to them for years. There are also water dishes in the house and I found one time, by accident, when I filled a very tall deep pitcher and set it down for a minute that a couple of them loved the idea of drinking out of what looked like a deep pool. I have used old glass coffee carafes and large size glass measuring cups for this.

As for catnip in water, my cats love catnip and if any lands in a nearby water dish it seems to be treated a debris in the water and the dish is ignored.
 
Top