How much WATER to force??

I have been having to force feed and water my 8 year old cat that has a URI.

I have read posts that say to make sure they are being fed about the same amount that they would usually eat on their own.?>?>?

Food, no problem, but water>? How much water does a cat lap up per day?? I have never really thought about it.

Does anyone have an idea of how much I should be forcing my cat to drink per day??? HELP

Is she getting wet food? Is that will have water in it. I am not an expert on force "drinking" a cat lol I would suggest to get a drinkwell fountain, our cats love it (they think it's fresh water) and it really encourages them to drink more.

Originally Posted by Slipstream

Is she getting wet food? Is that will have water in it. I am not an expert on force "drinking" a cat lol I would suggest to get a drinkwell fountain, our cats love it (they think it's fresh water) and it really encourages them to drink more.

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My Samantha has been REALLY sick with a URI and is not eating or drinking by herself. I am having to take little finger tips of food and smooshing it on her tongue to get her to eat.

I have also had to use a syringe to get water in her, I am wondering HOW much water do I need to get her to take each day. Right now I am getting MAYBE 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in at a time, and I try to do this about 4 times a day, sometimes more, if she isn't REALLY stuffy, I don't want her to choke and have it go into her lungs.

When she is well, she is a good eater and drinks fine too! I am just trying to keep her hydrated as well as fed!

I am interested in knowing the 'safe' amount too. If nobody comes up with an answer, I will report what our vet says next week when Ossi goes for his annual. He has had on-off problems with constipation and I have tried different diets and goo:s with him without much luck. However, he is extremely good at "playing doll" and will drink water if I snuggle with him and give it from 'bottle' (tiny turkey baster type of rubber ear syringe).

I have worried if I am giving him too much in one go because he will drink a lot (like nearly 1/4 cup). I have not noticed any ill effects - it helps his belly issues though.

I was going to ask the vet anyway if this is insane strategy. Ossi will come running and purring when I show him his bottle. He'll jump right up on my lap and flop over, big baby.

How cute, the purring when he sees the bottle.

If you can, please let me know what the vet says about the amount of water. I don't want kidney problems on top of her URI issues!!

On a sad note, our chinchilla died today, first our cat, Tom died in Sept, then BOTH our other cats getting really sick with the URI's and now poor Chloe.

Thankfully, Samantha seems to be doing better I was really worried for a bit!

things can only get better, right?

Originally Posted by Luv Furbabies

How cute, the purring when he sees the bottle.

If you can, please let me know what the vet says about the amount of water. I don't want kidney problems on top of her URI issues!!

On a sad note, our chinchilla died today, first our cat, Tom died in Sept, then BOTH our other cats getting really sick with the URI's and now poor Chloe.

Thankfully, Samantha seems to be doing better

I was really worried for a bit!

things can only get better, right?

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He's going in on Tuesday, I am certainly trying to remember that question.

Warm thoughts to you on your sad times and good vibes to Samantha!

Ossi cleared his annual with flying colors and I remembered to ask about the water intake.

Our vet said that cup of water/day/10lbs of cat is safe in healthy cat. Not in one go of course and should take into account what else cat is taking in.

I guess crucial word is 'healthy cat' here, and I have to say I had a feeling the vet was a bit hesitant when giving the advice. I don't think this office deals a lot with very sick cats' home care anyway. She did not elaborate at all on the risks for kidneys etc when I queried.

I don't know if that is very helpful for anyone but she was not at all worried about me offering Ossi 1/4 cup of extra water /day.

Originally Posted by Luv Furbabies

I have been having to force feed and water my 8 year old cat that has a URI.

I have read posts that say to make sure they are being fed about the same amount that they would usually eat on their own.?>?>?

Food, no problem, but water>? How much water does a cat lap up per day?? I have never really thought about it.

Does anyone have an idea of how much I should be forcing my cat to drink per day??? HELP

Click to expand...

If a cat is so sick, that it needs to be force fed, I use something like gatorade. For an adult cat, approx. 20 cc every 2 hours that you are awake. If you have any sort of antibiotics, look them up on the internet for a correct dose for your size cat. Use a google search. Write in the word feline or cat, plus the name of the antibiotic you have. If it's used in cats you'll find doseing information. You can save a lot of cats with gatoade & a antibiotic for 3 days or so. As soon as the cat perks up & starts eating again, it will probably be fine. If they don't improve in 3 days, you'll have to go to a vet. Sometimes what you think is a URI is much more serious, like FeLv or FIV.

I have found that if you leave a taller container of water out, cats prefer drinking from it. I use a clear plastic pitcher & the cats have abandoned drinking from their water bowls. Try it & see if your cat starts drinking more. I'm not sure WHY they prefer it, but I'm guessing that they don't like leaning down to drink. They just stick their head in the top of the pitcher & sip away. They haven't knocked it down & I've been doing this for about 5 months....

Samantha is drinking, eating, poopin and peeing on her own! I don't have to take her to each station to do her duty.

The one thing that we still have is some sneezing. Not alot, but daily, about 10 times per day. I can't even think that she has FeLv or whatever that deadly thing is. The baby, Levi who brought the whole sickness in after getting fixed at a dumpy place. She was given rabies and Felv shots.

Sam is about 8 years old. We just lost our other cat, Tom in Sept to cancer, our Chloe, chinchilla 2-26, I can't lose Samantha too.

Sending more for a speedy recovery!!!

Hope things are going well for you!

I took Kille for his annual today. I tried another vet, and out of curiosity I popped the water question to her too. She is supposed to be somewhat of a cat expert since she has worked years on cat-only practice before this office.

In her opinion, one should not exceed 300 ml of fluid in 24 hrs regardless of the size of the cat.