Can a cat drink TOO much?

I've noticed that Picasso (~5 months) has been drinking a lot.. especially in comparison to Monet where I rarely see him drink from the water bowl.

I've been having to refill the water every day when its almost empty (where before, I could leave the water out for days and not a drop was gone.. of course, I always changed it every day anyway).

I thought maybe it was because there's two cats now, water went down quicker, but observing Picasso this morning, she drank nearly a quarter of the bowl in one sitting. I swear, she's the world's most hydrated kitten!

She uses the litter box a lot, so I know she has no troubles with her peeing or bowel movements. She plays and eats normally, nothing out of the blue to be worried about.

Now, this led me wondering.. if too much water can be a bad thing for cats? I'm thinkning that she's still a kitten and running around makes her extra thirsty

Edit: I exaggerated in some parts, wanted to fix it to be real.

Yes, dilution of electrolytes can be harmful, and in that respect excessive water can be toxic.

It is VERY difficult to reach that level of over-hydration though, as it is not enough to just drink a lot of water in a day as you will simply urinate the excess. For excessive water intake to be toxic, the cat would have to consume huge quantities of water all at once, faster than the body can react. It is rarely seen in humans, and typically only in athletes that sweat huge amounts of both water and electrolytes after say a marathon and then due to strong dehydration try to replace it all at once and can get sick from that. Such conditions I would wager would be impossible to reproduce in a house cat, so I am absolutely confident it is nothing to be worried about.

Some cats just naturally are bigger drinkers than others, and the big drinkers are nice as you know that you can also safely feed more dry food if you wanted without hydration concerns.

thanks for the response, Ducman!

I want to take her to the vet for a checkup. I know she was just at the vet a few weeks ago with the virus, but her chest sounds a bit funny after she plays or is hyper.. she may still have a bit of URI. She also pants after a short, hard play. When I get back from my vacation this week I will take her in, and I will mention the excessive drinking.

Oh, I see, ya that was dumb of me. While the water intake may be completely harmless, I didn't think that it might be an indicator of an underlying problem. Smart getting the checkup.

I hope its not an indicator of an underlying issue. Actually, I totally forgot about the congested sounds from her chest when I was writing the first post, so my bad! When I was googling, I found a few things that scared me, but nothing from google sounds like her.

I am leaning towards a minor chest cold. She isn't congested all the time, just when she runs around too much I'd hear it occasionally (especially when I pick her up and her feet dangles, stretching her body)

I am sure it's nothing.. the vet would be more of a peace of mind for me than anything

I'm glad you'll be taking her in for a Vet visit anyway, because it could be indicative of something, though probably not. If she were a senior, I might suspect kidney disease or diabetes. But, then again, I've got one cat who drinks buckets full, and pees the same amount! My scooper is barely big enough to hold one of his clumps

Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens

I'm glad you'll be taking her in for a Vet visit anyway, because it could be indicative of something, though probably not. If she were a senior, I might suspect kidney disease or diabetes. But, then again, I've got one cat who drinks buckets full, and pees the same amount! My scooper is barely big enough to hold one of his clumps

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I know the feeling about the scooper and clumps. LOL. I have to make sure I scoop just right or it'd break!

I am not worried.. I am thinking she's still getting over her cold and over-does the play too much, lol. A vet visit is in order when I get back.

EDIT: I just got off the phone with her vet. Just wanted to ask. She said as long as what goes in, comes out, she's eating and acting normal, it's OK. She's probably drinking more because of the weather (it is warm in my apartment since I don't like to keep the AC on when I am not home.. only when it gets too hot. the fans are always on though). She said the chest congestion sounds like it's from the kitty cold.. it could take weeks for her to get over the cold 100%. I will be taking her in some time next week anyway