How much do they need to drink?

I just can't figure out if she drinks enough on a daily basis. Well, actually, she does not drink at all. She used to, months ago, when we first got her and when she ate pretty much dry food only. Ever since we switched to about 95% wet, she doesn't care for her water bowl at all. I can't say I've ever seen her drink.

Her litterbox looks good; she's fine and healthy (I took her in less than a month ago because I had some food concerns that proved to be just a product of my imagination).

Does she have to drink? How do I make her? We ordered a fountain and it should be delivered today or tomorrow and I have to admit that's my last hope.

She likes broth, though. Like, Merrick Five Star cans (especially turducken) come with a lot of broth and she'll drink all of it in a secon, but since she doesn't like turducken, for instance, it's not really price effective for us to buy it just for the broth.

Should I cook broth? Not the trashy version from the store I'd never eat myself, but the real thing, with meat and water, pretty much? Or would that just fill her up without giving her enough nutrients?

Or am I overall too concerned about nothing? Does 95% wet diet give her enough liquid on a daily basis?

I've heard that most cats have a very low thirst drive. Mine definitely do not - they're only 9.5 weeks and eating almost all wet food at this point, but their water bowls still get down to half or less every day (they each have one).

But most won't want to drink as much as mine do - not sure if not drinking AT ALL is normal or not - sorry I couldn't be of much help!

Mine eat 3-4 ounces of wet food daily, to which I add the same amount in water. They never drink water either. I think they get enough from their food. Each cat usually leaves 2 large clumps daily in the litter box. I don't know if this is too little but they are healthy and the vet gives them the thumbs up.

I suppose I shouldn't really worry, then?

The fountain was delivered yesterday and we put it together. She is interested in it... but just enough to put her feet in it and splash around. Maybe someday she'll drink from it, too.


Luckily, it was on sale, so we got it for about $35.

95% wet probably gets her almost enough if not enough water. If you are really worried, you could always have her urine tested to see if it seems a bit concentrated, and then yea, you could try making your own broth.

Based on my cat's water bowl, she doesn't drink hardly at all. She does like the fountain, so that may work for you, and she likes to drink out of the bathroom sink, so I fill that up each morning and just leave it full for her.

She eats about 4-5 ounces of wet food daily, which is I'm sure where she gets most of her water. I use clumping litter, and there are several urine clumps present each day, so I'm pretty sure she's getting enough water. Do you use clumping litter? It makes it easy to know how much they "go".

Yup, I recently switched to the clumping thing, so I could monitor the clumps. And I'm happy with what I see, there are several on a daily basis, pretty big as well.

I am not worried enough to have her urine tested, I just realized the other day that I had no clue how much water a day a cat would need.

Thanks, everyone!

If you are concerned that your cat is dehydrated, try this:

Pinch the skin on your cat's scruff (not hard), twist gently, not too much and let go. If the skin springs back quickly, then she's adequately hydrated. If it springs back slowly, she's dehydrated.

Alternatively, check her gums. If they are dry, she's dehydrated.

You can use this formula to calculate how much water your cat should drink.
(30 x kg) + 70

So if your cat is 6 kg then the formula becomes:

(30 x 6) + 70 = 250

So your 6 kg cat would require 250 ml or 1 cup of water per day. This is based on Resting Energy Requirement (RER). Also consider that you are feeding wet food so that provides some moisture.

if you are concerned, you can always add more water to the wet food and mix it up My cat always slurps up the water from his food bowl first, then he'd eat the rest.

A 95% liquid diet should give her enough hydration. It does not sound like you are necessarily as concerned as you are asking a question. Everything looks good from here and if her litter looks okay to you then she's probably just fine.

It is a good question that I might have to research myself. By research I mean if I can find some data on something like "how many ounces of water does a typical cat need daily" type of research.

Thanks everyone.

She really seems fine and healthy, and the vet said not so long ago that she was just fine. The main concern was, well, the fact I was clueless. But now it's getting better - I'll keep an eye on your new thread, NutroMike, too.

The fountain in the hallway serves no purpose, she absolutely doesn't care for it. But that's not so new; other than her cat tree, she doesn't care for anything we've ever bought. I buy cat toys for my own amusement, I think.

I really think her litter is okay. On a daily basis, by which I really mean 24 hour period, there are at least two baseball sized (or bigger) clumps. Plus one or two number 2s.

As far as adding water to her wet food meals... I try. Sometimes it flies, but mostly she just refuses to touch any of it. She's weird and picky sometimes, yet not nearly as much as I hear some cats are.

For my own convenience, I picked one of the fountains up off the ground and put it up in the corner on the kitchen cabinet. Now its their preferred fountain again. Go figure.

I don't see my cats drink from it much, but I know the level that the drinkwell goes down based merely on evaporation, and they definitely go down at different levels so they are definitely drinking.

Our diet is around a third dry though, so likely why they drink more.