Waterlus Cat

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Waterlus Cat
4
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 12:49pm
I changed Simba's water dish(I know should not have done that, NOW)and now I have not seen him drinking water of any kind. I know cats are secretative about their water intake, but I used to catch him once in awhile drinking, now nothing. Except for the odd time he wants to drink out of my husbands water glass. I have even put a glass by his dish now to see if that will get him to drink, nothing. I have seen indications in his litterbox of urinating but not like before. He gets wet and dry food everyday though so he is getting some moisture from that. Should I be concerned??? Has anybody used those water fountains, he is facinated with water in the tub so wondering if this would work? Any advice is appreciated, Kathy
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
In reply to: saskmom2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 1:01pm

Some cats can be very picky about their water. Some like it cold, some like it running, some need to have it filtered, and some will only drink out of certain types of bowls. My mother's cat, for example, will ONLY drink cold water out of a fresh glass. For nearly 13 years my mother has poured her cat a glass of water several times a day. LOL.

You can try the fountain. I've never needed it, but I know that many people find them invaluable. Cats don't drink a lot by nature, but they obviously do need SOME.




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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: saskmom2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 1:09pm

Hi Kathy.


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Registered: 12-01-2003
In reply to: saskmom2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 2:13pm
My cats seem to drink a lot of water. I bet you would love the fountain!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-26-2000
In reply to: saskmom2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 5:33pm

The more dry food a cat eats the more water they drink as dry foods keep them in a chronic state of dehydration. Therefore the need to drink more and they definitely should. When my kitties ate dry food they drank a lot of water and had a fountain.

When we made the switch to feeding canned food only which was 2 years ago I noticed that they didn't drink any water that I could see despite the fact that it's always fresh and available. However, since canned is more species appropriate and closer in balance of nutrients to what they would get from their normal prey they don't need to drink the water as it's already in their diet. Basically their normal prey contains approximately 75 percent water. Dry foods only contain 10 percent water vs canned foods at approximately 78 percent water. Therefore, canned foods therefore more closely mimic their natural diet and are better suited to meet the cat’s water needs than dry.

In short, if Simba is eating more canned than dry he's probably not going to drink as much. If he likes the canned then I would suggest eliminating the dry all together as they really have no need for dry food. Curious as to what the point is of feeding both?

JMO

Lynn