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Drinking more water

post #1 of 14
12/28/09 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 
Butzie has been drinking a bit more water lately. I think but I am not sure. However, I have moved a few times and I am getting a divorce so she may be stressed. It's okay, she never liked my soon to be ex-DH anyway. He doesn't like cats.

Other than that, should I be worried about the water intake?
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post #2 of 14
12/28/09 at 6:29pm
Yes, I would advise you to have a blood panel done to check for kidney disease, hyperthyroid disease and diabetes, to name the first three things that come to mind.

Stress can cause illness in cats, including and especially kidney disease.

It could be change in water, or change in circumstances, but the sooner an illness is caught, the better the chances of treatment or maintenance.

You are smart to notice this in Butzie, and the next step is a trip to the vet and blood work.
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post #3 of 14
12/28/09 at 6:42pm
Get a blood panel.
All my cats with CRF did that.
There are other sicknesses that can cause it also.
Diabetes,Kidney and Thyroid or some of them.
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post #4 of 14
12/28/09 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by butzie View Post
Butzie has been drinking a bit more water lately. I think but I am not sure. However, I have moved a few times and I am getting a divorce so she may be stressed. It's okay, she never liked my soon to be ex-DH anyway. He doesn't like cats.

Other than that, should I be worried about the water intake?
I have four bathrooms and keep a large bowl of water filled in each. It should go without saying I keep the toilet lid down. Since they eat only dry cat food 24/7, I need to keep all four bowls filled each day. These cats are heavy drinkers!
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post #5 of 14
12/29/09 at 4:12am
Increased water drinking was the sign that my cats had diabetes. Please follow advice and get blood work done.
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post #6 of 14
1/11/10 at 10:05am
Thread Starter 
I got all the blood work done for Butzie and she is just fine, thank goodness.

I think that since I have been here I haven't given her wet food and it is dry in this place. So, I have a bowl of water for her. Plus, she has taken to drinking not just out of the toilet but out of the glass of water that I keep beside my bed. Okay, so now I keep that glass full so that Butzie can drink from it and I got a coffee cup for my water. You know, the usual in cat land.
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post #7 of 14
1/11/10 at 10:28am
Were you actually catching her drinking more or just noticing a lot less water in the bowl? This time of year (actually most of the year here) the humidity is low here and the water level drops pretty quickly.

I've noticed that if you have your water out the cats just have to get into it and drink as much as they can - your water tastes better than theirs does.
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post #8 of 14
1/13/10 at 5:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Persi & Alley View Post
I have four bathrooms and keep a large bowl of water filled in each. It should go without saying I keep the toilet lid down. Since they eat only dry cat food 24/7, I need to keep all four bowls filled each day. These cats are heavy drinkers!
Wow, 4 cats go through 4 large water bowls per day? Despite them being on a strictly dry diet, that seems like an awful lot to me. What type of dry do you feed? (maybe one that's higher in salt?) Are all 4 bowls pretty much empty by the end of the day?
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post #9 of 14
1/13/10 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by butzie View Post
I got all the blood work done for Butzie and she is just fine, thank goodness.

I think that since I have been here I haven't given her wet food and it is dry in this place. So, I have a bowl of water for her. Plus, she has taken to drinking not just out of the toilet but out of the glass of water that I keep beside my bed. Okay, so now I keep that glass full so that Butzie can drink from it and I got a coffee cup for my water. You know, the usual in cat land.
How old is Butzie?

Was it within the last couple of weeks that you had her bloodwork done or longer than that? If it was longer, things in cats can change even over a period of 1-2 months so for example, what was normal in terms of bloodwork 2 months ago could be very much different now.

I'd suggest keeping the lid of the toilet down. Not good for cats to drink out of the toilet. There's often very toxic chemical residue from toilet cleaners in there, very hard on cats kidney and liver.

Maybe try adding an extra water bowl if she's seeking out water so much.

But if it's been longer than a couple of weeks ago since she had bloodwork done, I'd be seeing the Vet again. The stress that's going on in your household (the moves) can be extremely stressful to a cat and can be the "FINAL STRAW" that pushes them over the edge to developing diabetes, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism.

what type of dry food do you feed?
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post #10 of 14
1/13/10 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_food_lady View Post
I'd suggest keeping the lid of the toilet down. Not good for cats to drink out of the toilet. There's often very toxic chemical residue from toilet cleaners in there, very hard on cats kidney and liver.

Maybe try adding an extra water bowl if she's seeking out water so much.
I agree with this: my very first cat suddenly began drinking a lot and he had kidney disease. Since then I haven't let my cats drink out of the toilet so I can monitor how much they're drinking in addition to what's in a toilet after cleaning.

I also placed bowls at different places so it wasn't far to go for water.
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post #11 of 14
1/13/10 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by clpeters23 View Post
I agree with this: my very first cat suddenly began drinking a lot and he had kidney disease. Since then I haven't let my cats drink out of the toilet so I can monitor the what they're drinking in addition to what's in a toilet after cleaning.

I also placed bowls at different places so it wasn't far to go for water.
Excellent point!....that if one's cat is drinking out of the toilet, it's impossible to really gauge how much they're drinking.
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post #12 of 14
1/15/10 at 11:29am
ok, i am probably going to sound stupid now but how do cats drink out of toilet bowls????would they not fall in? maybe our toilet bowls are just longer here, i dont know , lol. if mine tried they would most certainly fall in, still trying to picture it!
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post #13 of 14
1/15/10 at 12:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TROANT View Post
ok, i am probably going to sound stupid now but how do cats drink out of toilet bowls????would they not fall in? maybe our toilet bowls are just longer here, i dont know , lol. if mine tried they would most certainly fall in, still trying to picture it!
Oh yeah, they would find a way without falling in! Why is it that a cat would rather drink toilet water, or mud puddle water than drink from a clean bowl? I have no idea!
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post #14 of 14
1/15/10 at 11:26pm
totally true Dustys Mom! my dogs sometimes drink out of the pool!x
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