Cats and their water needs article...

[AmberLee]

This article interested me, and I thought you might enjoy it too.

Drs. Johnson and Smith on cat's water needs

Sorry it took so long to fix the link. My mind and memory seem to have vanished recently. Darn.

[AmberLee]

It's finally fixed, thank you for your patience.

Very interesting article , AmberLee !! Thanks for the trouble to make that link work

My cats have a water-fountain ("PETSMART") , but this one looks so much better :
I will have a look if it is available here in Belgium too !!

[Cataholic]

Very interesting article. What is strange to me is how much water my cats seem to need/crave! They drink ALL the time, and always have (so it isn't a change in water consumption..something to watch for).

Anyone else have thirsty kitties?

[Blustang24]

Thanks for the link to the article amberlee! That really helped me understand some things about my cat at my parents house. :-) And why Orion doesn't drink water too much at all. Thanks again!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Cataholic
Anyone else have thirsty kitties?

Tubby has always seemed like a thirsty kitty. But I think the main reason for that is he only drinks when I'm around. Seems everytime I go in the bathroom - here comes Tubby, wanting a drink. I have put out water bowls and such in the past, and the water just sits in them getting stale, until I eventually dumped the water out and got used to the fact that he mainly drinks out of the toilet, and mainly when I'm in the bathroom.

Peanut doesn't seem to drink as much as Tubby, but she is a smaller cat too.

Thanks for the article, Amberlee.

[lizbud]

AmberLee,

I'm a little surprised by this article. My kitties, well two out of the
four, drink quite a bit of water. Not sure how often they drink,
but when they do, they seem to drink a lot. Hmmm.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Those of you who have drinking foundations (with filter and circulating water...)

How often do you change out ALL the water?

(BTW....Edwina finally drinks out of hers exclusively....except when she can con one of us for a drink out of the d$%# humidifier!)

[Cataholic]

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
.....and got used to the fact that he mainly drinks out of the toilet, and mainly when I'm in the bathroom.

Let us hope that you are done 'using' the bathroom when Tubby starts his drinks????

( I am crying so hard right now as I type this!! )

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Cataholic
Let us hope that you are done 'using' the bathroom when Tubby starts his drinks????

( I am crying so hard right now as I type this!! )

Oh yes. I always make sure there is fresh water in the bowl.

However, there have been many, many times when I had to use the facilities, but Tubby was already "using" it. I then either have to wait my turn or go to one of the other bathrooms in the house. I really must get a picture of Tubby using his "fountain." He really crawls right in and makes himself at home. Here's one of Peanut, but she doesn't "get in" as much as Tubby does. I come in and he's got his butt high up in the air, using his tail for balance - it's really kinda funny.

[neko1]

Originally posted by Cataholic
(so it isn't a change in water consumption..something to watch for).

Definately!! Any severe increase or decrease in water consumption should be brought to a vet's attention.

My kitties really don't drink too much water.

[boscibo]

Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
Those of you who have drinking foundations (with filter and circulating water...)

How often do you change out ALL the water?

(BTW....Edwina finally drinks out of hers exclusively....except when she can con one of us for a drink out of the d$%# humidifier!)

I do mine (Drinkwell with the resevoir) about every 10-12 days - I do a partial breakdown and cleaning.

The only thing I don't like about the fountain is I can't tell how much my cats are drinking exactly. I need to fill the resevoir back up every 3 days or so, I use the filtered water from my fridge.

Once, something got stcuk inside the fountain (either cat food or I suspect a piece of carpet from the cat tree - how in the world they managed that is beyond me) and it messed with the water level - it didn't overflow, but it was right up at the rim of the bowl. I took it totally apart and cleaned the whole kit-and-kaboodle, and it fixed the problem.