I don't know if any of you have ever experienced this, but my 10 year old cat seems to have recently developed a strange aversion to water. The strange part about it is that she really wants to drink water, but she just sniffs the bowl then taps the water with her paws, sniffs again and gives up. It's like she has forgotten how to drink! She keeps going back to the water bowl and repeating this like she is really thirsty. After she sniffs and bats at it for a minute she'll then look up at me and cry as if saying "Mommy fix it!". I can't tell if the water is the problem or if it may have something to do with her mouth/nose/whiskers. I don't see anything wrong there and she's eating plenty fine.
This morning I tried several things to get her to drink. I tried plastic bowls, ceramic bowls, a creamic plate, her cat-it water fountain and even a plastic cup. In different ones I have also varied the actual water from tap to bottled to filtered fridge water but all to no avail. She just walks around from bowl to bowl to test them out but never drinks. She did finally drink out of the taller plastic bowl last night and that is the one she apparently favors, but this morning she kept going back to it and sniffing, batting and licking air above the water then giving up. This is the strangest thing I've ever seen!
I have been giving her some water by syringe to make sure she is staying hydrated, but clearly she wants to drink on her own if only mommy can figure out what she wants. Agh! I'm so frustrated. Tonight I'm going to try the homemade chicken broth to see if I can slowly start her on that. I may have to also go buy another type of fountain to see if she'll drink from the pouring spout kind. She used to LOVE her cat-it dome fountain so I'm not
sure why she now refuses it.
Any ideas on what she may be wanting or how I can help her? By the way, I think this started after a recent problem with her fountain that has now been resolved as she is showing no signs of any physical problems.
This morning I tried several things to get her to drink. I tried plastic bowls, ceramic bowls, a creamic plate, her cat-it water fountain and even a plastic cup. In different ones I have also varied the actual water from tap to bottled to filtered fridge water but all to no avail. She just walks around from bowl to bowl to test them out but never drinks. She did finally drink out of the taller plastic bowl last night and that is the one she apparently favors, but this morning she kept going back to it and sniffing, batting and licking air above the water then giving up. This is the strangest thing I've ever seen!
I have been giving her some water by syringe to make sure she is staying hydrated, but clearly she wants to drink on her own if only mommy can figure out what she wants. Agh! I'm so frustrated. Tonight I'm going to try the homemade chicken broth to see if I can slowly start her on that. I may have to also go buy another type of fountain to see if she'll drink from the pouring spout kind. She used to LOVE her cat-it dome fountain so I'm not
sure why she now refuses it.
Any ideas on what she may be wanting or how I can help her? By the way, I think this started after a recent problem with her fountain that has now been resolved as she is showing no signs of any physical problems.