Flavored water

[tyleete]

I know there are some things like Nulo out there to flavor water. But my cat has severe food allergies & poultry and fish are bad.
I just wanted to give a shout out to what we do to ensure she's drinking enough. I take about 1/4cup of regular water and put it on a food bowl. Then I add 4-6 pieces of her dry food to it. I never leave it in there for more than 20min tops. Just pluck them out, and she absolutely loved this stuff. She drinks at least 1 cup a day of water doung this.
If you've got a cat that doesn't want or (in my case) can't eat wet food, I think this is a cool way to encourage drinking.
I've had 3 due from kidney failure and am desperate to not have more.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Thanks for the info. By doing this, you need to change out the water and wash the water dish well every day so bacteria doesn't grow. That should be habit anyway, but just mentioning it for anyone else reading this thread.

 

[tyleete]

Definitely! This is a new thing for us and I'm just so happy she's taken to it. So wanted to share.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
These two things might help;
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

This is from todaysveterinarynurse .com ;
making sure all water bowls are cleaned daily may encourage water consumption. Circulating water fountains can be provided for cats that like to drink running or dripping water, and multiple water bowls should be offered throughout the home. Also, the size and depth of water bowls may need to be considered, and different types of water (e.g., distilled, warm, cold) may need to be tried.

 

[Alldara]

A long thin water dish has done the trick here. It's just a human container without a lid. A human cup is also acceptable they think. We had two fountains, but went down to one when they started drinking less??

Try many water things in many places is my advice to add to yours

I'll try some flavoured water sometime! They didn't like catnip water when we tried that.

 

[tyleete]

We also use long, thin bowls throughout the main living area as well as regular cat or dog water bowls. I read somewhere once that cats are lazy (can't imagine where they got that idea) and will rarely sell out water. So we have it everywhere.

 

[Docs Mom]

I use pyrex bread pans. They are glass, so easy to clean. I went to these when I adopted a cat with BIG tomcat cheeks. (neutered late) No stress on his whiskers when drinking. I also use Brita filtered water in a couple of them.

And I keep them far away from the food. Its amazing how gross the water gets when food gets dropped in there.

 

[tyleete]

With her dry kibble, I only leave it in a short bit and it doesn't fall apart. So it's really not gross. And my cat can't eat any wet food or the puddle pop returns immediately. With this, she went from maybe drinking 1/4-1/2cup a day tops, to easily drinking a full cup of water.
I've watched 3 of my cats due from kidney failure and am trying to not have many repeats of that. It's a miserable way to go