How To Get Your Cat to Drink More Water: top 10 strategies
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- It can be really difficult to know how to get your cat to drink more water. With these 10 simple steps your cat will easily be drinking as much as they need to
Cats tend to have a low thirst drive which is why you often won't actually see your cat drink. This is also why getting your cat to drink more water can be challenging.
The problem with this is that if your cat becomes unwell for any reason, or if they have a disease that compromises their ability to conserve water then they can quickly become dehydration. Examples of this are diabetes, kidney disease and liver disease. Dehydration can be very dangerous, compromising overall health and potentially making their condition worse.
So what can we do to change this? Well here are my top 10 tips for how to get your cat to drink more water.
- Switch to wet food
- Refresh Water Bowls Regularly
- Change the water type
- Add Flavor
- Use Different Bowls
- Running Water
- Add Water to Your Pets Food
- Water Location
- Increase the Number of Meals
- Subcutaneous Fluids
If your pet has a condition that is prone to making them become dehydrated then increasing their water intake might make all the difference in ensuring they have an excellent quality of life as well as potentially extending their life.
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The information provided on the Our Pets Health TH-cam channel is not a substitute for the examination, assessment and advice given in person by a suitably qualified veterinary surgeon. The information is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute specific vet advice for any individual cat, dog or other animal of any species.
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What is the best thing you've done that helped to get your cat to drink more?
We have put more water bowls around the house and where they are most likely to walk past. Although the cat water fountain is a good idea too which have yet to try.
Great, making water available wherever they are. What type of bowl material do they like best?
They like both plastic and ceramic, but I have noticed that they like the big containers that used to be for yoghurt more!
Is it possible if you could do a video on cat seizures? do's and don'ts when the cat is having one, and what to do after? often feel completely helpless when it's happening :(( heard that it's a symptom of kidney disease, and vet recently told us that both of our 18 year old cats (brother and sister) has renal issues. :(( also, could you recommend what homemade foods we can give the cats as renal diets (although they seem to be really good) are often too expensive to be given all the time.
Thanks for the great content you have been putting out!
Thank you from my entire family for this video. My 10-year old Siberian didn't drink enough water and was suffering from cystitis and couldn't pee. Several times we took him to the vet for urine pumping. After watching this video we put 2 extra bowls, have them at each floor at spots where he has a better observation, switched to ceramic, change water more often and also when we see another cat washes her paws in a bowl. all that did miracles, it's second year when my boy doesn't have emergencies
love this!!
From myself being in hospital from dehydration and almost loosing my dog to dehydration I now have a deep fear of dehydration so I try to make sure while family stays hydrated. I constantly remind my husband to drink water too!
Ice in their water bowls, extra water to their wet food, wet food mixed with kibble.
All great strategies. Thanks for sharing!
After each of our cats were hospitalized for UTIs ($1500 per episode) we were told by our new vet to buy distilled water for our cats (no minerals in distilled water). Add a $6 aquarium pump to a large flat pottery bowl (thrift store) and you have successfully created a wonderful fountain that's easy to clean and your cat will love it! You don't need to spend a lot of money on a "cat fountain!" Our two cats are now UTI free for over a year!
Today I lost my cat because of UTI..
I use Zero Water filters, which is the same as distilled but more convenient.
This is the best video on getting your cat drink more water. Excellent! I watch the most recent ones including Chewy’s.
I'm so pleased you found it helpful!
I need this because my cats 3rd eyelid is showing because he doesn't drink water much
Thank you very much for your detailed and informative videos!
happy to help Brian
This Video was helpful thank you very much
Oh I just put a thin layer of water from the fridge on a plate and add an ice cube
That should do the trick!
When I give him his favorite dry treats.. I will often soak them in a water bowl first.. then after they have soaked up some water.. I then give them to him and he loves them. He has no problem with drinking yet, but I figure it can't hurt. :) He eats both wet and dry food but lately I have mostly switched him to a wet food he seems to like :)
Sounds like you've got him taking in plenty of water, definitely cant hurt if he enjoys it!
Great idea! Thanks!!
Adding flavour helps so much. At least in my case. Real ingredients. No added salt. Brilliant
My kitten no drinking water milk only.😞😞😞😞😞😞
What flavor do you add?
We used to have a reverse osmosis water system in our kitchen but it got too costly as we had to rent the equipment since we are renters. Vita my cat loved it!!! Switching back to a Brita system though was also appealing. She accepted the transition.
Thanx so much for xellent advice
That's great thank you
The intro alone make me want to subscribe 🙂
Thank you! My cat is two weeks out from a urethral blockage and after finishing his antibiotics and pain medication his water intake has tanked... Needless to say I am worried. I will be moving his fountain to a quiet spot he frequently hangs out in and cleaning/changing water more often. I was adding water to his prescription wet food and then also giving him stock afterwards but didn't know the salt (even though it is low sodium stock) was probably not doing him any good. I will be boiling chicken and fish and trying out the ice cube tip. Ahh thank you so much!!
pleased to help! If you've not seen them, you might find my cat cystitis playlist interesting - th-cam.com/video/W6QeHzFzNpI/w-d-xo.html
My cat just had a blockage. 😔 trying to get him to drink more water.
@@amberwells5390 hi! It has been some time since that comment. I wanted to update what we have been doing that works for my cat. He only eats urinary prescription food and medication (his veterinarian prescribed gabapentin). That and only that. We feed him a mix of dry and wet and in that mix, water goes in. When giving medication, we put a bit of wet food into a lot of water and mix in the medication. Water, water, water. We added a litter box to the house and refresh his water each morning and night. After trying many different things we are happy to have found something that works. He has not had a blockage since I posted that comment. Stay vigilant and keep a watchful eye over your cat. If I feel that my cat is not acting right or his fur looks dull and rough, he goes to the veterinarian no questions asked. A check up costs so much less than clearing a blockage. This all might seem like a lot of work and time... In the beginning it was stressful and tedious but 2 years out, it's just daily routine. Good luck!
My cat likes warm water. Filtered water+a bit hot water fits her perfectly.
sounds great!
Excellent video!! Thank you!
Pleased to hear it helped!
This is very informative! My problem though right now is that my cat has a fever. He eats very little and I just force feed water in his mouth using a syringe. My question, however, how often can I administer water to him in a day? I am scared I might be giving him too much water than he needs. I hope you can help me. Thank you in advance.
There's this special formula made for cats, and there's this other stuff you can put in a needle under the skin on their back. Maybe ask at the vets. I don't think you have to put your cat to sleep.
Add some water to their food both wet and dry. Not too much, almost gravy consistency
I never see my kitten drink from the water bowl, so I add a smidge in with her wet food and also give her a few kibbles in water as a light lunch. When she's off of the wet in a few months, I plan to continue with the kibble in water for her
My vet said ALWAYS be sure to feed wet food no matter what so they get some liquid. Add some hot water to make it last longer. You can do half a can in the morning and put the other half in the fridge for night. It’s extremely important to do in summer even with an indoor cat because most cats won’t get enough water otherwise. It’s no fun the treatment for kitty constipation, let me tell you, speaking from experience unfortunately
I have a male, about 3 years old. A bit plump, but not obese. For the last few months we've noticed his stools have been kinda dry and solid. The thing is we've done everything you recommended. Cold food, ice in his water, iced tea, wet food, including tuna, fish, chicken breast. Basically spoiled rotten. But now hes constipated. Cries when trying to go. Poor guy. We're trying as many treatments as we can. About 4 days now. Were trying the gel in the tube. The liquid u give with a dropper. He did do a slight squirt the other day. But that's it. I'm just disappointed that we've done all the things that vets say and utube vets. And still, we have 1 outta 8 cats, with constipation. Thanks doc.
constipation can also be a medical issue - th-cam.com/video/TwpQf-BhjMo/w-d-xo.html
@@OurPetsHealth Oh I'm sure. After about 4 day's of different hair ball relief meds, he did do a small wet poo. About an inch and a half long, 1/4 inch thick. Really wet. The cork is there. Taking him in tomorrow. We're hoping for good results.
I had a shot of constipation about 3 years ago. First ever. I tried everything oral , with no luck. I was entertaining a kidney stone at the time, and having regular spasms of super pain, that would cause nausea, was so strong. I was about to go to the VA for an enema when a severe spasm hit me. The cramping was so bad it pushed the blockage out of me, and I was good again. It made me realize our bodies, human and animal, can do things beyond our expectations. And even science and medicine. But we're going to take him because we feel terrible hearing him cry. Knowing he's in pain.
Thanks for writing.
Wet food - expensive water! LOL
Lol
I have a cat that gets constipated all the time and then I have to help her get it out. I never see her drink water so what I do is I take him food that's not the chunks, and I moved it up with a fork as much as I can and then I add 3/4 of the can size it came in full of water and add that in it. Whatever she doesn't need to eat at that time I put it in the fridge raider and I'll give it to her later. Plus I had just a little bit of mail eggs and a little bit of fiber that you get in those containers. She hasn't been constipated for a long time now
I’ve been giving him wet food so now he won’t even touch his water 😂. I separate his food and water bowl by putting his bed in between the stainless steel bowls
Hope some of these other tips help if you're still. Wet food is about 80% water so a great start in increase water intake
Maybe give him cat formula instead. At least it has flavour and he'll drink it.
My cat is 15 years old and my sister left him locked in her room all day for 7 hours and I thought he was dead when I came home and I’m letting him have as much food as he wants and he is starting to drink
It's important senior cats especially always have water available. Hope he's ok
My cat eats wet food (chicken or meat cooked at home with no spices or vegetables). Plain homemade chicken stock is added to his food bowl for every meal so it's like a soupy meat dish he eats. He doesn't drink water when he's at home (he goes for a stroll every morning and is back by noon), which is why we make sure his food has plenty of water. Do I still need to make him drink fresh water or is the water content from his food enough? He eats three meals a day and snacks on dry cat food (half a handful) between meals.
Thank you, it's really informative! I tried most of the tips mentioned in the video and my cat really don't like to drink and water is crucial for him because he suffers from Kidney disease...He can't have IV because he also have heart murmur. I try to flavor his food with chicken, use mineral water, and sometimes it works but not enough, than I have to use syringe and force him to drink which is really not ideal...what can I do in this situation?
Like you say, force drinking with a syringe is really not long term solution. You might find with all of the other things you are doing your cat is staying well hydrated. If this is the case extra water won't hurt but may not be providing any extra benefit. If your cat does seem to be on the verge of constant dehydration though and you can't get any more water into him orally then subcutaneous fluids may be what is needed. These are absorbed slowly and are generally not a concern if there are heart issues also present. The best person to speak to would be your vet who may also have other ideas for your cat specifically.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'd love it if you'd subscribe and share this with your friends!
Thank you for the reply! I have already subscribes :D
Hi, I'm not an expert but maybe dry adding water to his food? I do that with my cats dry food atleast once a day to get plenty of water in him. Just make sure when you make that mix you give it to him when he's hungry so he will eat it all up and it won't be left sitting out or it might go bad. I think my cat likes this because the water is flavored so he will actually drink it:)
Do subcutaneous fluids not a syringe. It’s too easy to give them pneumonia that way and cause other issues. All it take is one time of it not going perfect and it’s a deathly situation. Use hot water in addition to canned food and try feeding only canned. Use a dish with a super wide mouth and fill it up to the very top:)
There's this brand called Whiskas, and they sell special milk for cats. It will keep cats hydrated as well. I don't believe every cat will drink it, but if your cat likes it, keep feeding it this milk along with its food. Also if you can make chicken or fish stock on the stove without adding salt and seasoning and feed this that your cat when it is cool enough, most of the time they love it! I believe vets have stuff in packets to help the cat keep drinking water too.
Cat fountains. Plastic and metal..chicken broth drink...hydra care. Just smeared on their fur so they gotta lick it.this helps if stressed and off food.once system starts then after they ok eating and drinking..malt paste
Where can I find the link you talk in the video?
Water fountains worked best :)
I have 5 cats today i lost my cat because of UTI now I have a 4 cats now another cat also UTI infection but hes recovered I'm worried about my other cats they are not drinking enough water Now I give water to my 2 cats with syringe after eating cat food 2 syringe morning n night ( I'm doing right 🥺 or not )I don't want to lost my another cat because UTI plz guys watch your cat they r drinking enough water or not... Especially in dry cat food system just because our cats are not drinking enough we lost theme..
i got my kitten to drink by adding a bit of colouring to the water, seemed she was having difficulty seeing it. use vegetable based natural colourants
There used to be this blue colour for dental health that I added to my cat’s water. This was decades ago though. I wonder if it still exists, but it helped my Persian drink more water. The vets said the product was useless for dental heath. I believed them. It was no better than mouthwash for humans.
because living in a city, i give them mineral water, in stainless bowl
I have a water filter with a flower on top and it spills out water and it plugs into the wall and it’s always cold and I change the water every other day because it’s always cold it’s a fountain.
I have this too but she barely drink water in it. we also have 3 water bowls placed on different parts of our house. Still...
My cat loves. Ice in her water 🐈❤😘
My cat has kidney disease and he doesn’t drink any water; I’ve tried two different water bows; one plastic which has water down wet food and the other bottle water in a metal bowl. He drinks some water in the wet food option., it he will not go over to the water unless I walk him to it. He also has trouble making poops due to the lack of water. I also tried the ice cubes with water down wet food liquid and just looks at it .
have you tried boiling some chicken and using the flavored water, or adding a little tuna juice? That might be the next thing to try as well as a glass or china bowl. I hope you are managing to keep his kidney disease otherwise well controlled, the wet food option is a good one to be giving him
The broth will be ok to give him and the tuna water? I haven’t given him a glass or ceramic bowl yet, that’s next! His vet says he’s kidneys are ok but he also gets very constipated and when he make a bowel movement it’s small and hard. Mind you he is 17 years old and doing quite well with his age, minus the Kidney issues and constipation.
the broth will be absolutely fine. You just want to avoid salty stock cubes
Cat fountains are the best solution, my cat wasn’t too keen on it at the beginning, but once he got the hang of it he has been drinking plenty of water and you don’t have to change the water daily.
a lot of cats love fountains so normally well worth the investment
Some cats don’t like the sound! My cat is one of them. Would love to get a quiet stainless steel fountain to match her feeding bowls. Right now I am having an affordability crisis.
My cat was just unblocked, however they couldn't insert the catheter enough. They flushed him and he managed to pee for himself but they found crystals in his pee.
He was put on fluids for half a day and sent back home with a new food for him to eat. He is eating it just about, but I have to entice him with some biscuits.
I can't get him to drink at all. And using a syringe is just not enough. He's back and forth to the litter tray again now and only producing small amounts of pee. What can I do, if he goes back to the vets they'll want to put him asleep 😢 please help as soon as you can, He's only just over a year old.
All raw diet works great also vitamins E and vitamins B
Put Ice cubes In the water bowl and change often .It makes a world of difference
Yes, you have to be careful with the soap and completely rinse it off.
How have you been managing to get them to take apple cider vinegar?
I keep water in kitchen and then kitty can drink from our drippy tub and o
I give wet food too and leave a thing of water in bedroom so she has plenty of ways to get water
My Cat doesnt eat kibble . My only eats Wet.
I’ve already given my cat water by a syringe and she liked it, but she drinks water regularly and she’s a healthy cat.
great. If you're seeing her drink plenty already then you probably don't need to make any changes
I've started to feed my cat dry food but I add some meat and a lot of water and he eats it all up
Great 😁
Hello, sir. I am sorry for asking this question. But what is the meaning of running water exactly?
Like coming out of a tap, fountain or stream. The water is moving
@@OurPetsHealth Oh I see... Thank you so much! 😁
Maybe my cat likes tap water more. I want to add water to his wet food but afraid he won’t eat if I do that
Thank you so much I’m gonna try a ice cube and after the vet I’ll get her a cat water fountain....I added extra water to her food ...I must of opened up 50 cans with the gravy and added water every time I open it ,.she licks the fluid off and then won’t eat anything else ,,so I go throw that out and get her more.....she is an only fur child and I’ve had her since she was 6 weeks old ,,she is my avatar sweet Fiona
Dont feed dehydrated kibble- that way they get lotza moisture just by eating wet food.
unfortunately i lost 4 of sister cats which were about 5 months old the first one stop eating food and died after 3 days and then 2nd cat stop eating food and died same way due to dehydration the next day third cat died because of dehydration she was taken to hospital as well injected normal saline and dexamethasone but she died when i get home then the fourth cat death were very tragic and painful she was getting weaker that day afternoon i feed her medication for vommiting rehydration ors and digestion through needle at night time and start heating in my room but when i get up at 3 am she was lying under bed and put in bed and she died at 4 30 am she was the strongest of all 4 cats i cry alot in the mid of the night because i lost all my four cat sister because of vommiting and refusing to eat there is no proper vet in pakistan
Could you please share how I manage extremely dehydrated cat?
hopefully you caught my answer in the livestream. A really dehydrated cat ideally needs to be treated with an intravenous fluid drip
I usually don’t see my cat drink water I try to add more water on his plate, he eats the food with some food soaked but I still don’t see him drink water also he poops out circle poop i sm worried if he is dehydrated or anything like that.
Plz take care of your cat I lost my cat because UTI..its deadly urine infection.. Give her/ him water with a syringe if he doesn't drink anything ..
If you have to, get your vet to teach you how to put a needle under the skin on the cats back. There is this fluid formula that can be injected.
If I add chicken broth or tuna juice this is a food. Foods expire at 2 hours when at room temp. Is this meant to stay in the bowl all day? Tuna has salt added in the can. Why is tuna juice ok, but there are instructions to avoid human broths with added salt?
you would add a small amount to impart a little flavor only
When I adopted my cat, she was already about six years old and she was only fed biscuits and now has zero interest in wet food 🙁
You can try supplementing your cat's dry food diet with a complementary cat food such as plain canned chicken or tuna. I don't know what country you're from but in the UK we have a brand called "Encore" which my cat LOVES.
My cat is actually scared of running water
I hope one of the other options suits your cat better!
So i can add sugar to thw water?
you can although cat's aren't attracted to sweet things
Cats can’t taste sweets
Hi I started adding water to my cats dry food and he really likes it. (: does anybody else do this?
It's a great way to get more water into them if your cat will still eat it!
Gave my cat wet food with little bit of water
I put food and water and mics the woter and food and she drinks mor water
Good job
I got my kitten the other day she was eating wet food but wasn’t drinking any water
Sorano AE same
SaMe
cat got sick with bad kidney has to put her down gave
her bottle water tap water is well water did not know bottle water not good for a cat
My cat will ONLY drink from running water...
That's quite common and where cat fountains are great
cats hate stainless bowls, dogs dont care.
Uh, no they don’t. My cat Vita was an excellent drinker. Two sets of water bowls in two different locations. Only recently she lost interest. Found out I need to clean out the jug and change the filter. It was only 1.5 months old but we’ve been using it a lot lately.
My cat has sand in his bladder, and he can't pee... He is going nuts, and I am going nuts as well.
If he can't pee then that is an emergency with the blockage needing to be cleared - th-cam.com/video/cemeKM_T53s/w-d-xo.html
My cat suffered the same as well last week... he freak out and I freak out as well.
Omg my cat is experiencing that now!! But what did you do? Please update. I really need some advice
@@moonvismc927 hello my friend!
This is going to be long. Buckle up!
We are still dealing with his problem.
We found out that his urethra is extremely thin. We believe that we may have spayed him too early (since we adopted him from the street and didn't know his age at the time) and that caused his urethra to stop developing.
We are giving him dry cat food that helps him to pee more and making him drink more water.
We did have to take him to the vet to get his bladder drained though (but that was due to him completely stopping peeing. If your cat can still pee a few droplets, then it may just be cystitis and you should give him some anti inflammatory medicine to help him out with it (contact your vet tho!).
We found out that it was his previous cat food that caused the sand in his bladder, together with some stress (him and my other cat had a bad fight a few days before his crisis).
We found out that the cat food we used to give him changed it's formula and started using more plants instead of meat to reduce costs, which caused the sand to form in his bladder.
The suggestion of a fellow cat owner that is not a vet and just wants to help, is switching his diet. Buy them cat food that will help them pee (we are giving him a brand called Urinary) or switch it to wet cat food, try to destress them and increase their water intake, give em raw meat or wet cat food, or put water in his usual dry cat food, wait 10-20 min and give it to them (if you wonder the amount of water to add to his dry cat food it is around 1 part water to 2 or 3 parts cat food). Don't just feed him raw meat tho, they need the nutrients that comes in the industrialized cat food.
However, do take them to the vet, just so you can know if they are in an aggravated state or not. Dont let it be too late. We almost lost our baby to this hell.
Edit: please excuse any grammar mistakes I may have made.
Kayan Y. Thank you so much! I actually took my cat to the vet and had him confined for 3 days so that they can clear out all the sand in his pee. I'm thinking of switching his diet as well. Btw thank you so much for taking the time to type it out I really appreciate it!
Instead of giving my cat wet food.... Can we add some water to cats regular dry food..... (much better then wasting money on wet food😒)
Don't forget to reply!
It's really not a waste to buy wet food or make it at home. It is a much healthier option for cats. I have one and I rescue local strays/feral cats. Almost all malnourished or injured cats heal faster when on a wet food diet.
I’m begging my sweet tabby to eat and drink ..she isn’t peeing well and her 💩 is not as good as it was ,,,so Tommrow to the vet ...I’m soo worried about her..I’ve been begging her to eat and drink ..this came on suddenly ...she got better Saturday now today Sunday she is sick again ,,ughh I’m so worried I’m even feeding her where she is laying ,.she is 8 years old and very special to me
Hope the vet visit goes well and she's soon on the mend
Im just wondering what the vet said our cat is going threw the same
I almost didn’t click this because you don’t have an apostrophe after Pets (Pets’) lol I assumed you would know what you were talking about because of the incorrect grammar. I almost never correct grammar because it is impolite but I thought in this case I’d let you know so you can get more views:) it’d be good to update this video and do a second one because of the massive heat wave. Maybe mention adding hot water and bone broth but be sure to let ppl know to never give a cat onion or garlic! It’s super dangerous!
Or it could be Pet's if we are just talking about a single pet people are looking for information for!
Also you can play with them more often if they are inactive and they'll feel more thirsty