How Much Water??

[FaBEAR]

I rarely ever see my kitten drinking water ... is it normal? I change his water daily anyway but there never seems to be any water drank from the bowl. The only time he drinks water is when I put a glass of water on the table for myself and he takes it upon himself to drink out of that!

 

[lalagimp]

If the kitten is eating wet food, then this is not out of the ordinary.

 

[FaBEAR]

Oh ok that's good. Yes he eats both wet and dry but mostly wet food at this age!

 

[aliceneko]

I was worried about this with Toffee when he was a kitten, and someone recommended that I put warm water in his bowl mixed in with the leftover juice from his food if he had wet food (which he did), and it worked - he and Fudge still have their water like this to this day. Sometimes if they still don't drink their water I'll add a small amount of water to their wet food so that I know they're getting some liquids.

 

[kittyluv387]

You can also sneak in extra water when he gets his wet food if you're worried.

 

[LTS3]

And always have a bowl of fresh water available even if you never see your cat drink from it

 

[molly92]

Yes, cats who eat wet food drink much less water directly but actually consume more total water and are better hydrated than cats who eat just dry! My cats eat all wet and one of them barely ever drinks from their fountain, and the vet says she's great! (My other cat drinks a ton, but that's because she has kidney disease, so she is not a healthy example.)

Some cats also like drinking out of tall glasses (not sure why), running water from a faucet or fountain (because it mimics a running stream and it's fun), and from a water source that is in a different location from their food (so the water isn't "contaminated" by their nearby "kill".)

 

[Azazel]

How much wet food are you feeding? If mostly wet, then as others said, that is normal and healthy. But if it’s half wet and half dry then he still might not be getting enough water. A lot of cats only drink water when they’re feeling dehydrated. Cats that go to their water bowl a lot are very dehydrated.

Cats just don’t have a strong thirst drive and that’s why all wet food diets are best.

 

[cheeser]

Just echoing what everyone else has already said.

Back in the days when our cats used to get some dry food, we'd see them drink from their bowls quite often. But after we transitioned them to wet food only, seeing them drink from their water bowls is about as rare as seeing the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot.

However, just to be on the safe side, we add a little water or broth to their canned food to provide a bit of extra moisture. We also keep close tabs on their urine output. If the clumps in the litter box suddenly start to look a little smaller than usual, then we try to get more aggressive about getting more fluids into them, and do the tent test to make sure they're not getting dehydrated. Yeah, I really am that paranoid, especially since one of our kitties gives me good reason to worry about all sorts of things.

 

[Q2U]

Are you leaving the toilet seat up by any chance?

 

[Notacrazycatlady]

Can I butt in and ask about the opposite problem? My niece's cat, Riddle, drinks A LOT of water--I mean at least a half a cup often closer to a full cup of water a day. I understood it when he first came because my niece feeds a primarily dry food diet and he was running a fever (allergic reaction to flea bites). I feed primarily wet with dry food available for grazing and he continues a month later to drink a lot of water--not quite as much as he did originally, but noticeably more than my cat ever did. The only way I ever knew Angus touched his water was when I'd find food particles in it.

When I took Riddle to my vet to take care of the fleas and allergic reaction, I mentioned the excessive water consumption so they tested him for diabetes and ran a urinalysis which came back fine, so at the time the water consumption was chalked up to the fever and dry food diet. There are plenty of pee clumps in the litter boxes --truly huge clumps at that, so what's going in is definitely coming out.

Two questions:
1. Could he be continuing to drink that much water out of habit more than actual thirst?

2. At what point is a vet visit in order for excessive water consumption--given that diabetes test and urinalysis has already been done. (He has a vet appointment tomorrow anyway to deal with a random vomiting issue--I'd just like to be able to give my niece specific instructions on what to watch for since Riddle will be joining her at her new place in another week or so).

*Apologies for the thread hijack

 

[molly92]

Can I butt in and ask about the opposite problem? My niece's cat, Riddle, drinks A LOT of water--I mean at least a half a cup often closer to a full cup of water a day. I understood it when he first came because my niece feeds a primarily dry food diet and he was running a fever (allergic reaction to flea bites). I feed primarily wet with dry food available for grazing and he continues a month later to drink a lot of water--not quite as much as he did originally, but noticeably more than my cat ever did. The only way I ever knew Angus touched his water was when I'd find food particles in it.

When I took Riddle to my vet to take care of the fleas and allergic reaction, I mentioned the excessive water consumption so they tested him for diabetes and ran a urinalysis which came back fine, so at the time the water consumption was chalked up to the fever and dry food diet. There are plenty of pee clumps in the litter boxes --truly huge clumps at that, so what's going in is definitely coming out.

Two questions:
1. Could he be continuing to drink that much water out of habit more than actual thirst?

2. At what point is a vet visit in order for excessive water consumption--given that diabetes test and urinalysis has already been done. (He has a vet appointment tomorrow anyway to deal with a random vomiting issue--I'd just like to be able to give my niece specific instructions on what to watch for since Riddle will be joining her at her new place in another week or so).

*Apologies for the thread hijack

How old is Riddle? I only have experience with kidney disease, but it sound possible to me. Lots of water drinking, large urine output, and vomiting are symptoms. It could be too early for the urinalysis to show anything outside the normal range. My cat's kidney disease was suspected because her urine was dilute, but her creatine and bun levels did not start to creep up for several months. It could be something else, or it could be nothing, but kidney disease is very common, especially in older cats. I would ask for another urinalysis when you go back to the vet, so you can at least see if his numbers are changing at all. I would also cut out dry food and feed all wet, which would be important if he does hage kidney disease, and still good for him even if he doesn't. And then you could also rule out dry food as making him thirsty if he still drinks as much on all wet food.

 

[Notacrazycatlady]

How old is Riddle? I only have experience with kidney disease, but it sound possible to me. Lots of water drinking, large urine output, and vomiting are symptoms. It could be too early for the urinalysis to show anything outside the normal range. My cat's kidney disease was suspected because her urine was dilute, but her creatine and bun levels did not start to creep up for several months. It could be something else, or it could be nothing, but kidney disease is very common, especially in older cats. I would ask for another urinalysis when you go back to the vet, so you can at least see if his numbers are changing at all. I would also cut out dry food and feed all wet, which would be important if he does hage kidney disease, and still good for him even if he doesn't. And then you could also rule out dry food as making him thirsty if he still drinks as much on all wet food.

He's two and half (born March 9, 2016--she got him from a friend whose indoor cat had kittens and fell in love with him). I did figure out through trial and error that his vomiting was connected to dry food. He vomited four times over seven days and when I removed all access to dry food, it's now been over four days without any vomiting. Would prednisone help if it was kidney function? He got a shot of prednisone to ease his allergic reaction from the fleas and he didn't throw up at all for more than 2 weeks. That's how I realized that he wasn't simply eating too fast and regurgitating, which is what my niece thought it was. I've been trying to keep an eye on his water consumption and pee clumps in the litter and it doesn't seem to be decreasing since I removed the dry.

 

[kittyluv387]

He's two and half (born March 9, 2016--she got him from a friend whose indoor cat had kittens and fell in love with him). I did figure out through trial and error that his vomiting was connected to dry food. He vomited four times over seven days and when I removed all access to dry food, it's now been over four days without any vomiting. Would prednisone help if it was kidney function? He got a shot of prednisone to ease his allergic reaction from the fleas and he didn't throw up at all for more than 2 weeks. That's how I realized that he wasn't simply eating too fast and regurgitating, which is what my niece thought it was. I've been trying to keep an eye on his water consumption and pee clumps in the litter and it doesn't seem to be decreasing since I removed the dry.

You could get his blood tested for creatinine, BUN and SDMA. There is no cure for kidney disease. All you can do is feed a low phosphorus diet. There's no need to panic though. And if his values are just a little over the norm i would just switch him over to low phosphorus canned (non prescription). I recently had an outside consultation for my cat with suspected kidney disease. Turns out he's fine though and his slightly elevated blood values just need to be monitored.

 

[Notacrazycatlady]

I will definitely discuss this with the vet tomorrow, but how much water would be considered a reason to seek vetting? If I encourage my niece to measure his water consumption and he's drinking a half cup a day--is that too much? Should his water consumption be less than a quarter cup on a wet food diet? Or are there any guidelines on how much water a cat should or shouldn't be drinking?

 

[molly92]

2 is really young for chronic kidney disease, so still double check with the vet, but it seems unlikely at this point. Wet food, avoiding fish, and being careful not to overvaccinate can reduce the chance of developing kidney disease going forward.

Good that the vomiting issue was identified, and he's getting all wet. There really isn't a definitive guideline for how much water a cat should be drinking because "normal" can vary a lot from cat to cat. This might just be his normal. A bit unusual, but there are always outliers and he might be one. Monitoring his drinking habits could help because if they ever starts to change, it would be a good time to check in with the vet.

 

[Azazel]

Does the wet food you’re feeding have salt in the ingredients?

Most cats will drink little to no water on all wet food. But as mentioned, there are always outliers. Since excessive drinking is strange for cats though I would still bring it up with the vet.

 

[FaBEAR]

Oh I wasn't getting notifications for this thread. Thanks for all the replies! To answer some, he eats about 1/4 dry food and 3/4 wet food. Toilet seat is down half the time (me) and up half the time (husband lol), and I did catch him trying to reach down into it yesterday (gross!)

Great idea adding water to the wet food by the way because he seems to prefer the jellyNess to the chunks of meat.