How can I encourage her to drink more?

Mitties doesn't drink like she used to. As most of you know, she has constipation problems and is on all wet cat food with added fiber. She is also taking Lactulose stool softener. I rarely, and I mean rarely, ever see her drink. So, following the advice received on these forums, I bought her a water fountain and have put another bowl of water in the bedroom. I have seen her drinking out of that bowl once in a while, but never from the fountain. She's not afraid of it because she had one in the past. I even put a pebble of her dry food in there and she watched it twirl and dance around in the current, but then just walked away. At least she's getting water from the wet food, but what else can I do to encourage her to drink more? Since she's taking extra fiber, I don't want her "plumbing" to get too clogged with not enough water to "flush it down."

The good news is she IS pooping, but has to try 3 or 4 times before it'll finally come out, but at least it is coming out!

Any advice? You've all already been so helpful and Mitties and I appreciate it!

A lot of members here use cat fountains.
The running water attracts cats to drink more.

Mine drink out of the kitchen faucet, so unless you're willing to let her up there and teach her to do it, I doubt my method would help you

When mine were babies, they were always drinking from my cold water glass, versus their water bowls I put out for them. So I started giving them cold water out of glasses and I am very satisfied with their water intake.

Im glad shes pooping..... we do have a dance around here called "The Poopy Dance" to encourage kitties who need to poopy. Just ask, if you need us all to do it for your baby girl.

Darn, I wish there was some sort of "cat attractant" for water like they make for litter!

We're going through the same thing with Leo following a recent bout of struvite crystals.

I bought a water fountain. Lilly loves it; Leo couldn't care less. Go figure, right?!

They have a cup of water *in* the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink. That way, if they dump it, the water just goes down the drain. Leo prefers these to the water fountain, but he still doesn't use them very often.

In their water dish, I started adding ice cubes. The ice cubes are from water I used to boil a chicken breast. This gives the water just a little bit of flavor, which Leo is enjoying (once the ice cube melts; he's scared of the ice).

I also am mixing a couple spoonfuls of warm water into his wet food - until it gets a "baby food" consistency so that he's at least going to get a little more water that way.

Good luck!

What fountain do you have? My Twitch likes the Drinkwell, but not the Petmare Fresh flow because she prefers the free falling water.

I scattered glasses(plastic & glass), coffee cups, bowls(plastic, ceraminc & glass), large mixing bowls, etc. all over the house. Eventually, the kitties told me which was their favorite. I then narrowed it down so now I have the types of containers they like to drink from spread about.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

What fountain do you have? My Twitch likes the Drinkwell, but not the Petmare Fresh flow because she prefers the free falling water.

I scattered glasses(plastic & glass), coffee cups, bowls(plastic, ceraminc & glass), large mixing bowls, etc. all over the house. Eventually, the kitties told me which was their favorite. I then narrowed it down so now I have the types of containers they like to drink from spread about.

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I used to have the Catit dome thing, which I saw her drinking out of often (about a year ago). I got rid of it because it was a pain in the butt to clean. We went back to just a ceramic bowl and that worked fine for a while but I only saw her drinking out of it about once a day. I decided to buy the Petmate because the falling water would scare her (I'm 99% sure it would because if a drop accidentally splashed on her she'd never walk past it again).

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I started to worry when I read that most people's kitties drink a dish or 1/2 a dish a day. Maybe she drinks when I'm not looking, but it never looks like any water EVER goes down. I will try mixing a little more water with her wet food. I just hope she's getting enough. Seems since I switched her to wet she hardly ever drinks.

what about chicken broth?

Originally Posted by dragonfly183

what about chicken broth?

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She won't touch it. I think I have the pickiest cat in the world.
Thanks for trying though! I have since put two more bowls out in various places. We'll see what happens. I'm also thinking of moving her fountain. Currently it's right next to her food bowl which I've heard is not the best spot. We'll see what happens....

I recently purchased a CatIt and I have no difficulty keeping it clean. I clean it thoroughly every Saturday as part of my weekly chores. Mika took to it immediately and I didn't think Bijou was using it much since I didn't see him drinking from it. Well lo and behold, I saw him using it the other night and he seemed quite thirsty and their litter holds large clumps of urine so I'm guessing they are drinking fine. I fill it every Saturday with 4 bottles (small) of water and by Thursday I usually have to add another bottle so I think they are doing OK.

One more thought...what about the various cat milks?

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I recently purchased a CatIt and I have no difficulty keeping it clean. I clean it thoroughly every Saturday as part of my weekly chores. Mika took to it immediately and I didn't think Bijou was using it much since I didn't see him drinking from it. Well lo and behold, I saw him using it the other night and he seemed quite thirsty and their litter holds large clumps of urine so I'm guessing they are drinking fine. I fill it every Saturday with 4 bottles (small) of water and by Thursday I usually have to add another bottle so I think they are doing OK.

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I forgot to mention that I use the clumping cat litter (A&H) and every day there's 3-4 "pee clumps." So maybe she IS getting enough and I'm just paranoid?

My husband is getting fed up with my obsessiveness with the cat. If she goes in her litterbox I peek around the corner to make sure she's not straining trying to poop. If I haven't seen her drink in a while I go bring her a glass of water and see if she'll drink from it. If he sees me looking at Petsmart or eBay he asks, "What are you buying her NOW?" But I can't help it, like my name says, I'm an obsessed cat mom! Very fretful... I just need to relax I think!

You are just making sure she is ok, thats not obsessive its caring ........ They totally rely on us and its beautiful that she has a Meowmy wanting the very best for her.

When my cats ate dry food, they would drink a lot of water. I put cups all over the house and they used them all. They drank from the toilet , the sink, the faucet, everything.

When I switched them to wet food only, they quit drinking. I don't think they need to. It's very rare that I see any of my 8 use the water dishes.

I have read that cats who eat dry food and drink "a lot" are still getting far LESS water than a cat eating only wet food. From what I see in my cats and in the litterbox, it's very true.

I don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to water.

If she's responding well to the fiber and the wet diet, that's wonderful. I will say that some cats simply need the added moisture and not the fiber. More fiber isn't always better, but you know what's working and that's the important part.

Originally Posted by beandip

When my cats ate dry food, they would drink a lot of water. I put cups all over the house and they used them all. They drank from the toilet

, the sink, the faucet, everything.

When I switched them to wet food only, they quit drinking. I don't think they need to. It's very rare that I see any of my 8 use the water dishes.

I have read that cats who eat dry food and drink "a lot" are still getting far LESS water than a cat eating only wet food. From what I see in my cats and in the litterbox, it's very true.

I don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to water.

If she's responding well to the fiber and the wet diet, that's wonderful. I will say that some cats simply need the added moisture and not the fiber. More fiber isn't always better, but you know what's working and that's the important part.

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That makes sense and makes me feel so much better. When she was on all dry she was always drinking. Now that she's on wet I have only seen her drink once! So no wonder I panicked. Thanks for making sense of it for me!

Originally Posted by TickyTat

I used to have the Catit dome thing, which I saw her drinking out of often (about a year ago). I got rid of it because it was a pain in the butt to clean.

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If it worked, don't knock it!! I also hate to clean out the fountains but they absolutely help the cats drink more water.

(end of lecture)