Cats not drinking water.

[AngelZoo]

OK.

For about the past week I've had a feeling that my cats weren't drinking as much as they normally do, this kind of goes along with the ammonia smelling litter box, (which smelled fine yesterday, I will check it soon today).

Over the past 2 days, I have measured out the amount of water I gave them, and the same amount has been in there untouched... very unsual for my cats, they specially eat after their 2 meals.

To compinsate for this in the mean time, I've given them mostly watered down wet food with a little dry. And this they will eat.

Any suggestions besides buying a $50 foutain bowl, to get my cats drinking again, or why they might have stopped?

[Lerah021399]

Have they always been eating the watered down wet food w/ dry? Cats that eat dry food will drink more water than those that eat wet food. So if your cats were only eating dry food before, they will drink less now that they are eating the wet food. Just a thought.

[catlover4ever]

My Tigger will only drink water from the faucet. It can be from the tub, the bathroom sink or the kitchen sink but other than that she drinks NO water.

I would continue with the watered down food. A sign of dehydration is a loos of skin elasticity. When the skin along the back is picked up into a fold, it should spring back into place. If the cats are dehysrated the skin will stay up in a ridge. They will also be dry in the mouth and the gums will be dry and tacky to the touch.

Hope that info helps.

Meg

[moosmom]

Try putting ice cubes in the water. You don't have to buy an expensive fountain. They have plastic waterers you can buy at Wal-Mart for a couple of bucks.

Although I have a fountain (I'm not rich, I found a brand new $39.99 PetMate water fountain on the clearance table of Petco for $20 cuz it didn't have filters). I bought a box of filters for it. My cats LOVE it!! I keep it filled with fresh, filtered water every day. I also keep at least 3 bowls of water with ice cubes around too.

[catland]

Do they have access to other water? A fish tank, toilet, shower, sink? Is the water bowl clean? Do they go outside, and if so, could they be getting water from somewhere else?

Cats were originally desert animals, which is why their urine can become so strong and concentrated (and stinky!). But since this is hard on their kidneys, it is a good idea to get them to drink water.

Maybe try a different bowl, or a couple of bowls? You could also turn on the sink and see if they drink from that. (obviously you can't leave that on all day but it might get them to get a good drink at least once or twice a day.)

When the weather is really hot, I turn on an outside sprinkler to just burble out a little bit of water and my Joxer loves to drink water this way.

[Soledad]

While the cost of a water fountain may seem high, I think it pays for itself when you think about how it prevents vet trips due to UTI's. You may want to make that investment.