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Cat Forum / General Topics / February 2005How to get a cat to drink more water?
My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink much, and apart from mixing water in his dry food-which he is getting used to, how else do you give your cats water? 1.Bath/sink taps open 2.water dish 3.water in dry food 4.??????? Any ideas pls. He MUST have more water, or this might escalate to obstruction or bladder stones :( Tnx Gee > My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is > advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Tnx > Gee http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4.php How about switching from dry to canned food? Judy >>My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is >>advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Judy My cat had the same problem, and my vet also recommended that he drink more water. I got him to do that by buying one of those cat water fountains. It sure has worked. Cats are naturally curious animals, so when they hear an unusual sound, they will get up to investigate it. This investigation will lead them to the water fountain, which usually leads to them having a drink of water. At least that's what happens with my cats. <jacquie0> wrote in message news:E5ydndkQrfvJv1jcRVn- > more water. I got him to do that by buying one of those cat water > fountains. It sure has worked. Thanks, good idea, can you send me a link pls of which fountain you have? That is to make sure I got one that definitely works with cats :) I think he'd like a fountain. > <jacquie0> wrote in message news:E5ydndkQrfvJv1jcRVn- > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I think he'd like a fountain. The fountain that I purchased is called "cat it" which cost me 29.99 (plus tax) Canadian. It has a filter in it which also helps to keep the water clean. I also found that the water for some reason stays cold. My 2 cats love it, and I will also "catch" them pawing at it for fun. I guess you could say that I have "killed two birds with one stone". They not only have a water fountain to drink from, they also have a new toy. LOL. > <jacquie0> wrote in message news:E5ydndkQrfvJv1jcRVn- > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I think he'd like a fountain. Here's a link to the Cat It fountain. http://tinyurl.com/6zr29 Judy We bought a pet fountain for about ?20. Both our cats now drink loads more water. In our area water is metered and we cannot afford to leave taps dripping! Does seem as if most cats like running water and the fountain provides the movement while re circulating it. Merry Christmas Sandra > We bought a pet fountain for about ?20. Both our cats now drink loads more > water. In our area water is metered and we cannot afford to leave taps [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Merry Christmas > Sandra Thanks, good idea, can you send me a link pls of which fountain you have? That is to make sure I got one that definitely works with cats :) Here is the link, hope you find it useful Sandra http://www.marlinpetproducts.com/ "Judy" <wumpygirl@**DITCHME**yahoo.com> wrote in message > http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4.php > > How about switching from dry to canned food? > > Judy I did get this quastion before. Its a wrong presumption that he was only on dry food. He had both wet and dry avaliable 24/7, and he ate it all, perhaps more of the dry food. Also I change their foods a lot to give them variety. And to top it they do get Hills hairball regularely and other Hills when I can afford it. Mainly they are on Felix and Classic wet,and Gocat/whiskas dry food. He was a stray so is always first at the table and last to go :) My little Hoover :) My (not so little) 14 pound Hoover :) So I guess its a combination of not drinking enough water and body predisposition. Maybe its a switch from outdoor life diet(birds, mice, rats) to human made cat food. Dunno. Other 2 boys eat the same and are ok, one is even older then Charlie so has been on this kind of diet for longer.Although they were never strays. :~) > I did get this quastion before. Its a wrong presumption that he was only on > dry food. He had both wet and dry avaliable 24/7, and he ate it all, perhaps > more of the dry food. Also I change their foods a lot to give them variety. > And to top it they do get Hills hairball regularely and other Hills when I > can afford it. Mainly they are on Felix and Classic wet,and Gocat/whiskas > dry food. I found my 3 cats would eat wet food with more water added to it (so 1 can of wet food, plus 1/2 can of water). Stir up good. It makes more of a gruel but the cats chow down on this better than straight wet food (they dont seem to like the consistency of regular wet food). (As an aside, I started doing this when one cat was on science diet prescription for a few weeks and it seems to be really paste-like and darn cat wouldnt' touch it, add water, he ate right up) Since I cant afford a water fountain right now, this was a cheap way of getting more water in them each day. Charlotte Remove the kitty to reply. > My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is > advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Any ideas pls. He MUST have more water, or this might escalate to > obstruction or bladder stones :( Try pet milk. It's had the lactose removed and taurine added, and cats generally love it. > Path: typhoon.sonic.net!feed.news.sonic.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!chi1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!news1.optus.net.au!optus!news.mel.connect.com.au!news-north.connect.com.au!news.xtra.co.nz!53ab2750!not-for-mail > From: Ashley <ashleyjaneNOSPAM@xtra.co.nz> > Newsgroups: alt.cats [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > X-Complaints-To: abuse@xtra.co.nz > X-Trace: news.xtra.co.nz 1103446183 219.88.93.49 (Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:49:43 NZDT) > NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:49:43 NZDT > Organization: Xtra > Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.cats:171265 > > > My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is > > advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink much, and apart from mixing water in his dry food-which he is getting used to, how else do you give your cats water? > > 1.Bath/sink taps open > > 2.water dish [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Try pet milk. It's had the lactose removed and taurine added, and cats > generally love it. Is it available in the US? What are some brand names? Margaret > Is it available in the US? What are some brand names? I would assume so, but it always surprises me what you guys do and don't have available. Whiskas has a pet milk, but I avoid it because it's got added sugar. The one I buy in the supermarket here, in New Zealand, is VitaPet >> Path: > typhoon.sonic.net!feed.news.sonic.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!chi1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!news1.optus.net.au!optus!news.mel.connect.com.au!news-north.connect.com.au!news.xtra.co.nz!53ab2750!not-for-mail [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Margaret Yes, look for it at pets stores, PetSmart & Petco are two that carry it. KMR is the name brand. Stands for Kitten Milk Replacer. --? The ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep | My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is | advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] | Tnx | Gee Do you buy Mozzarella Cheese? Here it comes in a bag floating in water which the cats *love* to drink. Carola > My Charlie has just been diagnosed with having crystals in urine, so is > advised to drink more water (+special food). Since he doesn;t really drink [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Any ideas pls. He MUST have more water, or this might escalate to > obstruction or bladder stones :( It's too bad you're having this problem. At least you're catching it early. Not to bring up controversial subjects, but you seen to have found (for your cats) the best of both worlds, outdoor exercise without outdoor dangers. I wonder if you could ask your vet about the incidence of bladder stones/crystals in UK (where, according to some posters, most cats are let outdoors at least part of the time) and US (where many cats never are). I've heard an interesting speculation, that cats allowed to go outside and spray (or at least urinate frequently, without having to use a litter box) do drink more water, making their urine more dilute. Rather than a study of neutered vs intact cats and stones, I wonder if it might be good to suggest a study of confined vs some-time-outdoors cats and stones. Perhaps you could ask your vet if he has noticed any pattern there? If there are any never-outdoor cats in the UK, maybe a study could be done collecting urine samples from both to analyze for dilution. Good luck, Margaret "Margaret" <email@withheld.com> wrote in message Hi Margaret,sorry about the late post, I dunno how I missed your reply til now! > Not to bring up controversial subjects, but you seen to have found (for your > cats) the best of both worlds, outdoor exercise without outdoor dangers. Thank you. Yes, harness and leash are not the perfect solution for cats, but its not bad at all, and most have accepted the harness as they did the collar. And yes its certainly like you said best of both worlds, giving me a peace of mind and them access to safe outdoors. > wonder if you could ask your vet about the incidence of bladder > stones/crystals in UK (where, according to some posters, most cats are let [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > never-outdoor cats in the UK, maybe a study could be done collecting urine > samples from both to analyze for dilution. Its an interesting point you raised here, and it could have some truth in it. Charlie WAS an unnuetered stray and has probably done some serious spraying around in his life before moving in. Although he still goers outside on a harness and leash, he doesn't spray as often nowadays and perhaps it has had some effect on him keeping urine inside for longer periods of time, and not drinking as much. Thinking about he now sleeps the full 8 hours at night with us,and I'm sure he could never relaxthat much and that long when he was a stray, so yeah I bet he was urinating and spraying more. I dunno,I will put this to the vet when I see him next. Still, vet said crystals are formed for many reasons together not just one, so in his case its not only keeping the urine in for longer periods, but also more dry food, (more food full stop :)) probably not the best quality food all the time, also the predisposition and finally he does NOT like to drink water/milk, the silly sod :) But hes much better now,after a month of antibiotics and that Royal CaninUrinary LP34, and his crystals have been greatly dissolved,and are now found in traces only and blood is all gone from the urine. Thanks God. I just lie with him sometimes looking at him and thinking how much I love this boy and how I'd die if he dies of this crystals. He is just so sweet, so young and doesn't deserve this. And the vetsaid they are sodangerous in males that his urethra could get blocked and if unnoticed, he could die within 24hrs! That sure scared the heck out of me! They all now get much less dry food and much more wet food and more water all over the house :) Gee you do not say wether your cat goes out if he does i bet he dringks out of puddles or any container with water in it.do get the vet to give you a urinary diet food it will help.my cats often drink out of the bird bath or an old jug i top up in the middle of my sink and they soon let me know when its empty so make sure you have water in a lot of different places. you do not say wether your cat goes out if he does i bet he dringks out of puddles or any container with water in it.do get the vet to give you a urinary diet food it will help.my cats often drink out of the bird bath or an old jug i top up in the middle of my sink and they soon let me know when its empty so make sure you have water in a lot of different places. |
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