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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / April 2007Water consumption: what's normal?
I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we didn't really think much of it (or think it wasn't enough) until her first cystitis attack. From then on it was a battle to try to get her to drink enough water. Three sources, water added to her food, etc. Well, now it seems to me that she may be drinking too much, but I'm not sure if it's "too much" or just a normal amount, and I'm not used to seeing her drink "normally"? This pet food recall has me jumping at shadows... maybe. She's not and hasn't been eating any of the *foods* on the recall list, but does eat food from brands involved in the recall. It's either that, or starve, as she's fussy and it's hard enough finding stuff she'll eat - and she requires veterinary formula to keep the cystitis under control. How much water should a 10# cat drink in a day? jmc Depending on if the furball is on wet or dry food. Most cats get their water from the wet food. Spirit is a dry food eater he drinks way more than the others A sure sign of diabetes or definite a vet visit is over consumption of water. I started seeing Rumble playing in the water more than usual. So I took him in. It turned out to be diabetes which he is now under control using Fancy feast diet > I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water > consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > jmc > I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water > consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > veterinary formula to control cystitis, so I'm assuming that she may > already be eating canned food. MaryL > jmc Any change in water consumption should be seen as a signal for an immediate visit to the vet. This can be an indicator of several diseases, such as diabetes or kidney disease, so Meep should be evaluated ASAP. Does Meep eat dry food? If so, please try to change exclusively to a premium canned food. There is a much higher incidence of diabetes among cats that eat dry food than canned food. I realize that you said Meep needs a veterinary formula to control cystitis, so I assume she may already be eating canned food. If not, please ask your vet about the same formula in canned food. (That will also provide additional water.) MaryL Could also be hyperthyroid. Needs bloods tests. On Apr 29, 9:15�am, "MaryL" <stanco...@yahoo.comTAKE-OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote: > > I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water > > consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > MaryL Suddenly, without warning, MaryL exclaimed (29-Apr-07 10:45 PM): >> I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water >> consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > MaryL Can't. Tried. Multiple times. She won't eat most wet food (which, considering the pet food recall, may be just as well!). She gets as much wet as she'll eat, which is one small can per day. She won't touch *any* of the veterinary wet formulas I've tried, so half her dry is vet formula (I've spent hundreds of dollars trying food she won't touch). I add a bit of extra water to the wet she does eat as well. Problem is, I'm not 100% sure it's a change. It could just be a change in where she drinks from - we just moved and it looks like she's drinking from just one bowl now (and now she is, 'cause the Drinkwell broke yesterday). jmc >Problem is, I'm not 100% sure it's a change. It could just be a change >in where she drinks from - we just moved and it looks like she's >drinking from just one bowl now (and now she is, 'cause the Drinkwell >broke yesterday). How is the kitty litter box? When Kira started drinking more, I also found a lot more urine in the box. > I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water > consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > jmc If your cat is neutered, her daily energy requirement is about 45 kcal/kg. So, assuming she's healthy, her daily water requirement is about 45 ml/kg. An easy guide is about an ounce per pound. When measuring her water intake, don't forget to include the moisture in the food and about another 12 ml/100 kcal from oxidation of nutrients. This is a little outdated- I haven't had time to update my site. But the principal is the same. "Daily water needs, in milliliters, often are "guesstimated" as equal to the metabolizable energy requirement in kilocalories or approximately 60 ml/kg. Once the diet is consumed, oxidation of nutrients produces an additional 10 to 13 grams of water for each 100 kcal of metabolizable energy. Thus a 4 kg cat consuming a 240 kcal canned diet containing 78% moisture will consume 237 ml or 98% of its daily water need directly from the diet. Thus the cat needs to drink less than 1 oz. of additional water per day whereas a cat consuming a 240 kcal dry diet needs to drink over 7 oz. of water per day. This can be difficult because cats are not naturally big drinkers. Feeding a canned diet containing 78% moisture virtually guarantees homeostatic control of water balance in the cat. " http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm Phil Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (30-Apr-07 5:36 PM): >> I'm trying to figure out if I should be concerned about Meep's water >> consumption... for most of her life, she's not drank much, though we [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Phil Phil: Always a font of information, thanks! I think she's OK then. She eats about 2/3 of her diet dry, one small can of wet per day (that's all I can talk her into) with 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of added water. In the last 20 hours, she drank about 5 oz of water... and she's a 10# cat. If I've got this right, she's drinking just enough, or slightly less, than optimum according to your formula. jmc
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