How much water to give a cat?

Georgina887

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Hi all,

since I switched both my cats to wet/raw, neither of them ever drink from a water bowl. On dry food, I would regularly see them lapping. I know that means they’re getting a lot of moisture from food but I don’t think that’s enough. I know that both my cats are around 4kg so they need around 250ml a day. That seems like a lot to me when measuring it out. I don’t know how much of that will be had from food and how much extra I should mix in with their food?

can anyone help?
Thanks so much
 

sarah430

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If your cats have drunk from the water bowl previously I think it's safe to say you can trust them to know when to drink. You can monitor their litter box to see if they're peeing. That's what I did with my kitties after I transitioned them to 100% raw and it looked like they were never drinking from the bowl. I actually marvel now when I do actually see that they are drinking from the water bowl occasionally. They seem to get nearly all they need from the raw.
 

daftcat75

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House cats are descended from desert cats who get their moisture from food rather than watering holes. A cat cannot and will not drink enough water from a fountain to match what they can get from a wet/raw diet. If you don't see your cats drinking anymore, it's probably because they don't need to. That you saw them drinking before illustrates just how dehydrating a dry food diet is. A typical wet/raw food will be around 78% moisture. For every six ounces of wet/raw you are feeding, your cat is "drinking" over 4.5 oz of moisture or about 133 ml. I think 250 ml daily for a 4 kg cat sounds a bit much. That would mean each cat is eating 12 oz of food a day. Can I ask where you got that number?
 

JulietteTruong

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Ever since going all wet, my Juli has not used her fountain. I do add a little water to each meal. And I see her go pee several times a day, she’s getting plenty of fluids.
 

Babypinkweeb

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One of my cat is on all wet with added water (maybe 2 tbsp a day) and another is on wet and dry. I leave out water for them but usually only the one who gets dry food drinks from it. They both pee plenty so the wet food only one must be getting enough moisture.
 
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Georgina887

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House cats are descended from desert cats who get their moisture from food rather than watering holes. A cat cannot and will not drink enough water from a fountain to match what they can get from a wet/raw diet. If you don't see your cats drinking anymore, it's probably because they don't need to. That you saw them drinking before illustrates just how dehydrating a dry food diet is. A typical wet/raw food will be around 78% moisture. For every six ounces of wet/raw you are feeding, your cat is "drinking" over 4.5 oz of moisture or about 133 ml. I think 250 ml daily for a 4 kg cat sounds a bit much. That would mean each cat is eating 12 oz of food a day. Can I ask where you got that number?
I got it from a few sites on a quick Google. It seemed like a lot to me too. Thanks for the info about how much water is in wet food. Makes it clearer how much moisture is in their food.
 

wrosegold

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I’m transitioning my 9 lives (I have 9 bebes!) to raw but with their wet food they always get a tablespoon of homemade bone broth & H2O added. Also keep 6 watering dishes including fountains available with fresh water. I have a 19 year old with CKD and a few that I don’t see drinking asoften as I’d like so I also include a packet of Proplan Vet HYDRACARE liquid supplement for them. Actually all of the 9 musketeers like it so everyone gets 1-2 packets a day, plus the extra calories don’t hurt any of them…as no one is over weight, so it works out well.
 

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