Does Your Cat Drink A Lot Of Water?

Hey therr0789

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I recently changed my cats food to a vet diet. Not sure if its the heat or food but they seem to drink more than usual. My one cat just had bloodwork/doneU less than 3 months ago nothing to worry about. I have a Tupperware glass bowl and they go thru a bowl in a day. Even if I feed wet food same thing. Not sure how much water is too much.
 

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What is the vet diet? Is it all dry food?

Cats have naturally low thirst drives. The domestic cat is descended from a desert cat originating in North Africa/the Middle East. Their physiology is such that they are supposed to obtain moisture from their food (i.e., from raw meat and organs). They aren't the type of animal that regularly goes to a water hole to drink. My vet always says that if a cat is drinking lots of water they are dehydrated.

Most cats on an all wet diet will drink very little if any water. 2 out of 3 of my cats do not drink water at all. One of them will drink maybe once a week. They eat all wet (raw) food.

If your cat is drinking lots of water on an primarily dry diet, then they are probably dehydrated, especially if the dry food has lots of salt. I would decrease the dry food and increase wet. Prescription diets are usually the worst for this because they are full of awful ingredients and often salty. They do this on purpose to try and get your cat to drink more but it's actually quite unhealthy because they dehydrate the cat and force it to go the water bowl. If your cat is on a primarily wet diet and drinking lots of water it could indicate an underlying health issue.
 
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Hey therr0789

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Urinary so mod calorie dry purina urinary tract health wet. I don't give the wet as much as I should. They have always loved water though from drinking out of the faucet when it drips to there water bowl. Oh they did xrays on my cat too. Not sure what the next steps would be at the vet but we he was just there due to a blockage. The vet always stresses make sure they have plenty of water so I'm not sure they are dehydrated. The foods dont show sodium levels but I'd assume way more than their grain free merrick salmon only dry they were on. I'll have to call the manufacturers to check on sodium levels.
 
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Hey therr0789

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Urinary so mod calorie dry purina urinary tract health wet. I don't give the wet as much as I should. They have always loved water though from drinking out of the faucet when it drips to there water bowl. Oh they did xrays on my cat too. Not sure what the next steps would be at the vet but we he was just there due to a blockage. The vet always stresses make sure they have plenty of water so I'm not sure they are dehydrated. The foods dont show sodium levels but I'd assume way more than their grain free merrick salmon only dry they were on. I'll have to call the manufacturers to check on sodium levels.
They also seem to be gaining weight and their coats are not as soft anymore. My guess is sodium then.
 

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Urinary so mod calorie dry purina urinary tract health wet. I don't give the wet as much as I should. They have always loved water though from drinking out of the faucet when it drips to there water bowl. Oh they did xrays on my cat too. Not sure what the next steps would be at the vet but we he was just there due to a blockage. The vet always stresses make sure they have plenty of water so I'm not sure they are dehydrated. The foods dont show sodium levels but I'd assume way more than their grain free merrick salmon only dry they were on. I'll have to call the manufacturers to check on sodium levels.
Here are the ingredients:

Feline Urinary SO® Moderate Calorie Dry Cat Food - Royal Canin

They're pretty bad. Most likely the added salt in the food is dehydrating your cats. There is no logic to feeding a cat with urinary issues dry food packed with salt. It doesn't make any sense to dehydrate a cat that is already probably dehydrated to the point that they are going to a water bowl to drink. My advice to you is to cut out the dry food and feed all wet.

You don't need to stay on the urinary wet forever. You can mix in other cheaper wet foods and eventually take your cats off of the prescription wet food when they are all better.

Edit: Your cats are also probably gaining weight because the dry food is loaded with fat and carbs. Cats are obligate carnivores and need high animal protein. Wet food usually has more protein and less carbs, so feeding all wet should also help with the weight issue.
 
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Hey therr0789

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I've seen the ingredients thanks tho. I'm worried about tooth decay with wet. Plus bad breath. Its also way more expensive. Do I really have to stick to urinary food either way since it was vet recommended or can I just add more wet in their diet? I know I xan do whatever I want essentially I'm just not sure whats best other than all wet diet. Also the SO has no taurine which I find odd.
 
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Here are the ingredients:

Feline Urinary SO® Moderate Calorie Dry Cat Food - Royal Canin

They're pretty bad. Most likely the added salt in the food is dehydrating your cats. There is no logic to feeding a cat with urinary issues dry food packed with salt. It doesn't make any sense to dehydrate a cat that is already probably dehydrated to the point that they are going to a water bowl to drink. My advice to you is to cut out the dry food and feed all wet.

You don't need to stay on the urinary wet forever. You can mix in other cheaper wet foods and eventually take your cats off of the prescription wet food when they are all better.

Edit: Your cats are also probably gaining weight because the dry food is loaded with fat and carbs. Cats are obligate carnivores and need high animal protein. Wet food usually has more protein and less carbs, so feeding all wet should also help with the weight issue.
What wet food has more protein? The food they been on have had 32 percent. I've seen way less in wet food. Is it by size of product?
 

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I've seen the ingredients thanks tho. I'm worried about tooth decay with wet. Plus bad breath. Its also way more expensive. Do I really have to stick to urinary food either way since it was vet recommended or can I just add more wet in their diet? I know I xan do whatever I want essentially I'm just not sure whats best other than all wet diet. Also the SO has no taurine which I find odd.
Neither wet nor dry food is good for teeth. They can both lead to tooth decay. If you're worried about teeth, you can start brushing or you can feed them raw chicken/turkey gizzards as treats.

You don't have to stick with the prescription food forever and I would recommend that you don't. If I were you I would cut out the dry completely, feed the wet prescription until they are better and then slowly mix in some other brands of wet food and keep them on the wet for the rest of their life.

What wet food has more protein? The food they been on have had 32 percent. I've seen way less in wet food. Is it by size of product?
Most wet foods are higher in protein than dry foods. Most dry foods are primarily carbs. Here is a list of different protein/fat/carb amounts in different wet foods: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

You might also want to read this page about cat urinary health. It's quite helpful: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection
 

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Not sure what the next steps would be at the vet but we he was just there due to a blockage.
Any cat who had a blockage should never ever ever ever eat dry food again. That is the worst you could do and just asking for another blockage. I think that is very irresponsible of a vet to even suggest a dry, Urinary S/O or not.

The vet always stresses make sure they have plenty of water so I'm not sure they are dehydrated.
Particularly because a previously blocked cat will block again. It happens more frequently in cats who are dehydrated.

I'm worried about tooth decay with wet.
Don't. Plus some tooth decay is no where near as big a concern as blocking. Unless you are brushing your cats teeth daily, there will be tooth decay. Food makes no difference.
 
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Thank you for the information. I was always told a vet diet should not be long term by professors. I now work in the animal care field and have no idea what to believe anymore.
 
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Any cat who had a blockage should never ever ever ever eat dry food again. That is the worst you could do and just asking for another blockage. I think that is very irresponsible of a vet to even suggest a dry, Urinary S/O or not.



Particularly because a previously blocked cat will block again. It happens more frequently in cats who are dehydrated.



Don't. Plus some tooth decay is no where near as big a concern as blocking. Unless you are brushing your cats teeth daily, there will be tooth decay. Food makes no difference.
The vets tell clients to do wet only(mine did) but a combo of dry and wet is cheaper and affordable to a lot of clients. Unfortunately thats just how it is. According to the vet yes sodium is in the diet to entice cats to drink more. Its not necessarily a bad thing for cats to be getting their water from the bowl and the wet food. The diets have been changed and formulated to be able to keep feeding on a daily basis. Idk what do believe honestly. Thats why I'm here to get thoughts from cat lovers. I'm not trying to come off as arguing just stating what I've been told. Also dog and cats seem to come in more with blockages because the owners decided to take them off the urinary foods. But whos to say that down the line the pet wasn't going to end up coming in regardless off the food you know?
 

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The vets tell clients to do wet only(mine did) but a combo of dry and wet is cheaper and affordable to a lot of clients. Unfortunately thats just how it is. According to the vet yes sodium is in the diet to entice cats to drink more. Its not necessarily a bad thing for cats to be getting their water from the bowl and the wet food. The diets have been changed and formulated to be able to keep feeding on a daily basis. Idk what do believe honestly. Thats why I'm here to get thoughts from cat lovers. I'm not trying to come off as arguing just stating what I've been told. Also dog and cats seem to come in more with blockages because the owners decided to take them off the urinary foods. But whos to say that down the line the pet wasn't going to end up coming in regardless off the food you know?
Even feeding fancy feast or friskies is better than feeding dry for a cat with a history of blockage.

I would have to disagree. Dehydrating a cat by giving it salt so that it will drink from a water bowl is not a good idea for any cat, especially one that is prone to blockages.
 
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I love talking about cat nutrition. The bottom line is cats are obligate carnivores and need meat. Dry kibble doesn't provide proper nutrition for them and leaves them dehydrated. I think the whole point of the prescription diets is that they are made so that vets have a go to food to recommend because so many pet owners have no idea or no interest in researching what they feed their pets. They will know exactly what the owner is feeding their pet with no confusion. Take the added sodium to get them to drink more. What is that added sodium do to them in the long run? Is it better or worse than having them on an all canned diet and adding water to that perhaps? So many unanswered questions.

Half the clients I see feed the food that their friend told them to, or that they saw advertise on tv, or sometimes they have no clue what they feed! That blue bag, or that red bag.... The script diets are designed for those people who don't know. There are a LOT of better foods out there. If the vet said "you need to find a low phosphorus food, with little to no carbs" and send them on their way... Most people would be overwhelmed and not know how to figure that out. There are just too many brands and varieties out there. Script diets are an easy go to for the vast majority of people who know little about cat nutrition.

That being said many vets also don't know a lot about nutrition either. IMO many don't need to focus as much on that because prescription diets exist, its covered for them, they can focus on the many many other things they need to learn and keep up on in veterinary medicine.

Just some of my observation over the years.

PS I always tell clients, yes wet is more expensive. But it is less expensive than a $1500 hospital stay to unblock a cat or surgery. McDonalds is also cheaper for us. No one should live on that though.
 

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PS I always tell clients, yes wet is more expensive. But it is less expensive than a $1500 hospital stay to unblock a cat or surgery.
Very good point.
 

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Dehydrating a cat by giving it salt so that it will drink from a water bowl is not a good idea for any cat, especially one that is prone to blockages.
I know. That line of thinking makes no sense to me and seems completely wrong.
 

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What wet food has more protein? The food they been on have had 32 percent. I've seen way less in wet food. Is it by size of product?
Wet food is around 80% water/moisture so the protein, fat, etc. listed on the can is going to seem low because of the high water content. You have to do a conversion to either "as fed" or "dry matter" to be able to do an adequate comparison with dry food or between foods. There are lists that already have done this for many foods. There are also calculations listed online on how to do the conversion yourself or you can find an online converter.

PS. My cat used to drink from the water bowl quite a bit when he was eating all dry. He's on all wet/raw now and he still drinks from the bowl. We don't often notice him drinking any longer but there is some food residue that he drops into the water every day so we know he still visits the water bowl.
 
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Hey therr0789

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I love talking about cat nutrition.
Same tho. I have taken nutrition courses and professors are dead against most rx diets. Its crazy how things are constantly changing for diets. One year its grain free is healthy next it could be harmful. Crazy.
 
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How do we even know that the protein source in their food is actually a good one tho and not like low grade McDonald's meat. Then again maybe it doesn't matter for cats. Nah it has to right lol
 

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I don't really know that low grade meat matters as much for cats. In the wild they eat whatever. Mice, rats, chipmonks, not to mention whatever they ate as wild cats. If you want to get technical, how natural of a diet is beef to a cat? You don't see little Fluffy who hunts mice and bugs, taking out an entire cow in the wild :lol::lol:
 
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