Increased thirst?

detroitcatlady

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My cat Treasure has always had an obsession with water. She likes to play in it and get herself wet. She also likes to drink water out of the bathtub, sink and faucet and has become more and more obsessed with doing so. This has been a part of her personality since she was a young kitten, so when she began drinking the water bowl and fountain dish dry I was not concerned at first. It didn't seem like she was drinking more than normal since I also saw her playing in it and dumping it on the floor and assumed that this is what was happening with all of the water. I also have 2 other cats as well who sometimes play in water dishes or knock them over. Over the past several months  I have noticed that she is becoming more and more vocal and demanding about me turning the water on in the bathroom ( she will sit in the bathroom meowing constantly until someone turns on the water and lets her drink) and will drink the water dishes dry to the point that I am refilling them twice as often as before. She also seems to have a bit of water weight in her belly, which doesn't really seem 'normal' to me but the vet wasn't concerned when I took her in to see her. She said it was probably because she was drinking so much water and thought it was diet related. They didn't run any tests and just told me to avoid giving her any dry food or mix water in with her food. However I am still concerned and would like to know what things to watch out for. She is not even 2 years old yet.
 

LTS3

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Insist on having blood work done. Blood work often reveals things that won't show up in general physical exam. Make sure the vet includes a fructosamine test for diabetes. Excessive drinking is a typical sign of diabetes. Juvenile diabetes can happen. The blood work will also show how well the kidneys are working, too. If you felt the vet was dismissive of your concerns, take your cat to another vet for another opinion.

If you can, feed only canned food with extra water added.That will help keep your cat well hydrated and might satiate some of her thirst. A water fountain is also a good idea.
 

jenny82

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I second the blood work and canned food.

My cat started drinking a lot more than normal and it turned out to be diabetes. If that's the case don't worry, it's manageable.
 
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detroitcatlady

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I plan on taking her to see another vet. Diabetes or kidney issues are my main concerns so I think it is important to have her blood tested.

She has access to a lot of water dishes and a water fountain. She just seems to be constantly thirsty and it is starting to get to the point where she doesn't want to do anything besides sit in front of the water dishes/fountain or in the bathroom all day.

She drinks a lot of water but it doesn't seem to satisfy her. I try to feed her wet food most of the time the only challenge has been that my youngest cat is still eating dry kitten food and it is very difficult to keep Treasure from eating it as well and very difficult to feed them separately. My cats often only want to eat when they see the others eating and it has become very difficult to keep them from eating each others food.
 

mingsmongols

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Yes, another vet. Your average vet is like doctors care, they can deal with routine procedures and the sniffles but not much else. I'd suggest taking her to a veterinary hospital to see an internal medicine specialist. It sounds expensive and it is but its a lot less expensive then just going from vet to vet getting bits and pieces of information as your baby suffers. 
 
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detroitcatlady

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I took her to a different vet and lots of tests done but everything came back negative.  Not diabetes or kidney related at least not based on the test results. The vet was as puzzled about it as I was. He agreed that something didn't seem right but since nothing is showing up in the tests he really didn't know what to suggest or recommend. He said she seems to have an issue with constipation and that could make her want to drink more and told me I should give her miralax and mix it in with her food. Clearly she is drinking a lot of water and her behavior is strange at times, especially the way she is so vocal about demanding more water. The vet thought her excessive drinking may also be a behavioral thing related to stress.
 

mingsmongols

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Its possible then that her condition is do to an imbalance in her hypothalamus. The hypothalamus controls your thirst drive and other motivational behaviors as well as emotion expression responses such as those connected to pleasure and rage. Having a high thirst drive with exaggerated behaviors is well within the means of an improperly functioning hypothalamus especially since diabetes and kidney failure have been ruled out. This could be something as simply as the chemicals in the hypothalamus being out of wack or could be related to a tumor or growth in the diecephalon region of her brain or her pituitary gland. An MRI and CT scan will rule out or explain if it is a physical condition related to distortion or a tumor of this region. There's not many veterinary hospitals that can make an accurate diagnoses of these types of condition but your state veterinary school which normally handles inspections of cattle, infectious disease in animals, and necropsy's would be the best place to go as they have the resources and many veterinarians available that are finishing there doctorates with fresh information in there minds. There like the animal version of the CDC! If tumors and distortion are ruled out then its probably a chemical imbalance and there are medications available but not may vets out there qualified to administer them. Feline cat diffusier might come in handy to help handle the stress until a more accurate diagnoses can be made. I know it's a frustrating situation but the more things you rule out further help to  come up with an accurate diagnoses of her condition.
 
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detroitcatlady

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The vet didn't seem to think
 
Its possible then that her condition is do to an imbalance in her hypothalamus. The hypothalamus controls your thirst drive and other motivational behaviors as well as emotion expression responses such as those connected to pleasure and rage. Having a high thirst drive with exaggerated behaviors is well within the means of an improperly functioning hypothalamus especially since diabetes and kidney failure have been ruled out. This could be something as simply as the chemicals in the hypothalamus being out of wack or could be related to a tumor or growth in the diecephalon region of her brain or her pituitary gland. An MRI and CT scan will rule out or explain if it is a physical condition related to distortion or a tumor of this region. There's not many veterinary hospitals that can make an accurate diagnoses of these types of condition but your state veterinary school which normally handles inspections of cattle, infectious disease in animals, and necropsy's would be the best place to go as they have the resources and many veterinarians available that are finishing there doctorates with fresh information in there minds. There like the animal version of the CDC! If tumors and distortion are ruled out then its probably a chemical imbalance and there are medications available but not may vets out there qualified to administer them. Feline cat diffusier might come in handy to help handle the stress until a more accurate diagnoses can be made. I know it's a frustrating situation but the more things you rule out further help to  come up with an accurate diagnoses of her condition.
The vet I took her to last didn't seem to think that she was actually drinking more because she is thirsty, but that it is behavioral. There have been a lot of other things going on other than her drinking a lot of water. She used to be a very submissive cat and now she has become the alpha cat of my house, constantly drinking all of the water out of the bowls and also making sure she is always the one to eat first, sometimes eating my other cats food and pushing them away when they try to eat first. It doesn't seem to matter how many bowls there are or if I let her drink from the faucet too, and the behavior is with other things now too not just eating/drinking. Now she is doing the same thing with toys and cat beds and cat trees, not wanting my other cats to use them when she is. She is becoming very possessive and territorial of things. Initially I was concerned that this could be diabetes because it was mostly her drinking and eating too much but since the vet ruled that out he seems to believe it is most likely behavioral and she is doing it because she feels insecure and wants to make sure she gets enough. My other cats used to "bully" her a lot especially when she was eating. They would push her away a lot. My vet thinks this could be why she has become so fixated on certain things. My vet thinks she is trying to keep all of the resources for herself because she is nervous and thinks otherwise she won't get any. I really didn't see her as being nervous or stressed, especially since she was getting along so well with my other cats playing with them, sleeping with them, etc. There could be other issues, the vet wasn't sure, but it does make sense that some of her behavior could have been triggered by stress caused by my other cats behavior towards her. Thanks for the info
 
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