Help needed... cat needs to drink more water.

dthlo

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I recently adopted my first cat (a 4yr old indoor torbie). Half her diet is Blue wet food, and the other half is dry food put into a puzzle feeder and in training. In order to ensure that she gets enough water in the day we've tried the water fountain, but that didn't do the trick. Therefore, we've been mixing water (about 1/2 cup H20) in with her wet food. I gather she's not to fond of this as it takes a very long time for her to finish her 'wet' meal.

Was hoping my catsite friends here may have some pro-tips to make sure my kitty doesn't get dehydrated.
 

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EmersonandEvie

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Golly, that's a LOT of water! It probably was more a gruel to her. Remember that wet food is already about 70% water. Try 2 tbsp, max. You can also cut the amount of dry in her feeder puzzle and give her more wet instead. Two wet meals a day, plus 2 tbsp of water each time, is will give her what she needs.

You could also try boiling plain, no salt added chicken in water and freezing it into bite sized-cubes that she can lap up when they thaw.
 
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dthlo

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Yes. Based on my cat's weight, she needs 1 cup (8oz) of water per day. 1 small can only has 2.1 oz of water in it (70% water). Which is why I am adding an additional 4oz (8 tbsp) in her wet food.

Ice cubes sound like a fun idea, but how do you keep them from sliding off the bowl and onto the floors?
 

EmersonandEvie

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Yes. Based on my cat's weight, she needs 1 cup (8oz) of water per day. 1 small can only has 2.1 oz of water in it (70% water). Which is why I am adding an additional 4oz (8 tbsp) in her wet food.

Ice cubes sound like a fun idea, but how do you keep them from sliding off the bowl and onto the floors?
I think she would respond better if you gave more wet food in general and watered it down less. Treat the puzzle toy more like a snack vs an entire meal.

Do your bowls not have a lip or a little depth to them? Alternately, you could have a bowl designated for her chicken water.
 

LTS3

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Yes. Based on my cat's weight, she needs 1 cup (8oz) of water per day.

Every cat is different. Some may drink quite a bit, others not to much regardless of diet. Weight of the cat doesn't matter. Just provide a bowl of fresh water daily. Adding water to the canned food helps but 1/2 cup of water is overkill IMO. A few spoonfuls is plenty and most cats tolerate that.

Here are tips to encourage water intake:



Ice cubes sound like a fun idea, but how do you keep them from sliding off the bowl and onto the floors?
Just fill the bowl halfway or less with water and add the ice cubes. As the cubes melt, the water level in the bowl will rise. Some cats will paw out the cubes and play with them on the floor. It's just water so it's not going to make a huge impossible mess to clean up.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. How did you come to conclusion that your girl isn't getting enough water? Given what I have read, if a cat is primarily eating wet food (which is between 70% - 80% water that comes out to around 200+ ml a day, or nearly 7 ounces, in equivalency), that would bring down the extra water requirement a day to about 30ml which is 1 ounce. 8 ounces = 1 cup. You can't go by the oz of food in a can and multiple it by 70% to get the actual water content. It is much more complicated than that - some of which as to do with dry matter basis.

There are also water fountains that act like a dripping faucet, which might work better for her. Even placing her paw in the water/faucet might help her to become more used to the idea of drinking water.
 
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Texaskitty

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Might try the water fountain again but put it somewhere else, like on a counter by the bathroom faucet or kitchen faucet. We put ours on the floor in the kitchen first, they ignored it, on the counter close to the sink, they've been drinking out of it ever since.
 

ladytimedramon

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Also look at different styles of fountains. First fountain I got my cat ran away from. She's more comfortable with something that's a "slow waterfall into a bowl" than a "faucet-like stream". She likes her current fountain but because it's plastic and hard to clean, I'm getting a different one. Not dumping the old one until I see whether or not she accepts the new one since it's a different shape..
 

LyyliBlue

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Hi! :)

May I ask, how do you mix the water with your kitty's food?
Because I also do this for my Swany, and I noticed that he liked it very pureed and really well mixed. You see?
Because if I simply put the water in it without pureeing the food, the water is like separate from the food, and he doesn't like it much.
But it's really soupy. :( But otherwise he doesn't drink.

Based on my few readings, a cat needs around 60 ml of water per kg of body weight, with an allowance of 50 ml and 70 ml, globally.
So I make sure my Swany get his total amount from his food too, because like yours he doesn't drink in his fountain.
I lost my preview beloved kitty from urinary problems, so he has 70 ml per kg because I'm always very stressed.
He ways 4 kg, so he has at least 280 ml per day.
(I confess that he gets even more, often, but he seems to be fine with it, because he runs to drink the gravy/water before eating the meat lol, and he purrs very loudly when he licks his broth.)
Basically I add 250 ml of water to 400 g of wet food, knowing that he eats more than 200 g a day.

Otherwise, to make a gravy, you can put the wet food into a blender.
Or a small part of the food that you use as a topper.
So the food will no longer look like meat in water but tasty puree.
Or you can mix water with baby food with only meat in it. But it should be a very small part of the daily portion.
Or you could maybe use some delectables as toppers, like Tiki Cat's (I believe, I'm in France so I don't have them, but I saw them while making some research for my baby's food).
It's tubes with a puree in them. Duck, chicken, fish...
You can add water to it.
And also, if you give more wet food, the whole thing will be less soupy I assume.
I like so much the ice cubes idea!
 
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dthlo

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Turns out Nina's not fond of ice, but have been pureeing the food with unsalted chicken stock and decreasing dry food. So far she seems ok with the change. Also heard that wet food can sit out for up to 4hours??
 

FeebysOwner

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Also heard that wet food can sit out for up to 4hours??
I feel comfortable with leaving Feeby's canned food out for up to 8 hours if need be. And, I will mix just a little bit of water to it throughout the time it sits out so that it doesn't dry out - that would be another way to add moisture to your cat's diet. While the chicken stock is better than no liquid, some water would be even better. Maybe try diluting the chicken stock gradually over time to see if she will still eat the wet food that way?
 

Mr. Meow

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How many fountains did you try? I went through 3 different designs before I found 1 all my cats love. Some cats like the sound of running water, some just want movement, some like it pouring out like a waterfall.
I wouldn't give up on finding a fountain that works.
 

LTS3

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What does your vet say about water intake and your cat's hydration level?

If the cat isn't dehydrated (easy check: pull up the loose skin at the back of the neck as far as it will go. Release. If the skin snaps back into place, the cat is hydrated), there is no need to get more water into the cat. Extra water will come out as urine and that may mean more larger pee clumps to scoop daily. Too much water will dilute the blood and sodium levels too much which can cause health issues, a condition called hyponatremia.
 

Juniper_Junebug

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Does she like shredded? The Tiki Cat After Dark is 82% moisture and would be easy to add a little water to if you felt that was necessary, since it's basically shreds in broth anyway.
 

ladytimedramon

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When I was in one of the pet stores. I saw a "water flavor drops" for dogs. It's sort of like the Mio drops for humans. Maybe that would work for cats as well?
 
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