Does Anyone Else's Cat Drink Less When It's Hot?

smosmosmo

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We've been having a heat wave for the past week or so - it was 93 degrees here yesterday, and we don't have air conditioning. I've been running fans and giving Smo chilled water but have noticed that she drinks significantly less when it's warm out than when the weather is mild. The hotter it is, the less she visits her water bowl. It's weird, you'd think she'd be doing the opposite since it's so warm out.

Has anyone else noticed this with their cats?
 

di and bob

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Maybe she doesn't like chilled water.... It could be that they drink less because they move around less. Cats are desert animals so they love and can handle heat a lot better then we can. I often wet the cement on our patio and the dirt under bushes for our Stewart ( an outside stray). It has been near a hundred and more the last few weeks, he appreciates the coolness!
 

queenkiki:)

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my cat always has room temperature water but she does tend to drink less water when its hot
 
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smosmosmo

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di and bob di and bob I think she prefers it chilled since she drinks more cold water, but it's only a couple extra visits to the bowl. Also I have to chill water in clean cups because she doesn't like the taste of ice...such a diva.

She isn't moving around much so maybe that's it - she's too hot to play very much and is spending 95% of the day lounging around somewhere. I guess she can't be bothered to drink when she can't be bothered to move, lol.
 

danteshuman

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Maybe try room temp water, cool things to lay on, frozen tuna juice, mixing a little extra water/cat safe broth into her wet food or wiping her down with a damp washcloth.

My boy gets stuck inside with the AC cranked up when it is hot here.
 

FeebysOwner

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If there are particular spots Smo hangs out in add some extra water bowls nearby. Perhaps, if they are closer to her and she has to move less, she will drink more??

You can also try adding just a little bit of tuna water from canned tuna to give the water a flavor that might entice her to drink more.
 

DreamerRose

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I can't tell any difference, but keep in mind that cats are not only desert animals, but they don't sweat, so they aren't losing any water through evaporation.
 

mwallace056

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but they don't sweat, so they aren't losing any water through evaporation.
Hm someone correct me if I'm wrong but don't cats swear through paws? I mean they don't sweat much or have many sweat glands but they have a few, like the paws, chins, lips and the skin around the anus. I got all this on a quick Google search
 

DreamerRose

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That's true, but it's such a small amount it doesn't make much difference in terms of evaporation. The only time for me when it did was when my cat had a fever and I could tell by her sweaty paw pads. The don't sweat like we do, with perspiration running down our faces.
 
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smosmosmo

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I'm leaving bowls all over and serving wet food every day, which I think is helping her stay hydrated.

Also, does anyone know if it's okay to keep a fan running on a cat? I don't do this deliberately, but I sleep with a fan facing the bed because it's too hot to sleep without one. She's started sleeping on the bed by my feet again, probably to catch the fan's breeze. I always wake up feeling a little congested with a runny nose from sleeping with the fan on, but I'm not sure how this works for cats. She's at the foot of the bed so it's not blowing directly on her, but she's so much smaller than me and I wonder if it's affecting her negatively even though she seems to enjoy it.
 

1 bruce 1

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Our cats get a lot of moisture in their food, so they don't visit the water bowl a lot, but we've noticed what you've noticed, and what di and bob di and bob said about being desert animals is correct. We have central air and keep it cool (I do not enjoy hot weather) but a few rooms are mostly unused and the AC does not reach these areas. Some of the cats will seek out these rooms that approach 88 degrees during the day and spend all day there, while the rest of the place is about 72.
Our cats will also go outside in their catio, if it's open, on the hottest of the hot days and stay there, but won't set foot outside once the temperature dips below 40.
 

Lisannez

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What type of food are you feeding the cats? We feed our cats wet food and it has a lot of liquid in it and they rarely drink water. But they do pee more than they did before the wet food. It has been over 100 where we live. We always have water for them. They almost never drink it.
 

MoonstoneWolf

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My cats get a lot of wet food. Friskies Pate in fact and they still drink a lot of water. And here in St Louis we not only have the heat but we also have excessive humidity because we're smack in the middle of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. I don't care what the news reports say or even what Al Roker says, 110 heat index here feels like 150.
 
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smosmosmo

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Lisannez Lisannez She's getting a 3 oz serving of either Natural Balance Platefulls or BFF's minces in gravy - whether or not she she eats the entire serving depends on the day. With the wet food added she seems to pee about as much as she would on extra water and only kibble, which is good.

MoonstoneWolf MoonstoneWolf Humidity on top of heat is a nightmare. We're lucky in that we just get dry heat - both Smo and I would be totally wiped out if it was humid on top of that.
 
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