Cat drinks excessively - not the usual problems

Hello! New member here. I'm very happy to have found this forum. I have a kitty health concern I'd like to share and see if anyone can relate.

Background: 15 year old female Maine Coon, spaded when young. Sasha has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and has been taking Methimazole twice a day for the last 14 months. She gets regular blood work and her thyroid is presently stable.

Her most recent blood and urine analysis show no signs of diabetes and her kidneys are functioning normal. She has no infections or UTI issues.

About four months ago, I noticed my little runt of a Maine Coon (5.75 pounds) was drinking a lot more water than usual. It's pretty consistent at 1/2 cup per 24 hours. For a cat her size, that's a lot! She also urinates many times a day in her pan. This is all new in the last four months.

As stated above, the vet has ruled out many of the obvious issues associated with excessive water intake. She has also been sleeping more and no longer has her moments of hyperactivity when she runs up and down the stairs. Otherwise, she is in a good mood and purrs just as often as always.

At this point, I wonder if she is beginning to show signs of a brain tumor or the aftermath of a minor stroke or anyeurism? Once in a while, she has a weird paw twitch but I think that may be part of being an older cat.

Anyone else ever experience this sort of issue? I'm concerned that she is overtaxing her healthy kidneys and at some point they will not work as well.

I would think the meds may cause a bit of increase in thirst ... did her dose change?

Does she eat primarily dry food ? If so the "quote normal" amount is 4-6 oz for a ave cat ( I have got to see pics never seen a main coon that is the wt of a singapura )

any diet changes at all? even flavor could trigger ..

I have two cats who just like to drink ( 2 out of 4 ) but they are 13 and 15 lbs ...

I have only senior of this age drinking more with a CRF cat

i'd put the cat on raw food though transition slowly. the thirst should go away as they get fully converted on the raw food. They normally, on a natural prey based diet, don't drink that much water on their own. That's a sign there is a big problem for sure. Dry food is the worst for cats and most especially the grain based ones. At the VERY least go for a grain free brand like Orijen or even Evo.

With a cat that age i'd be sure to make the diet changes slow and careful.

Good luck! hope you can find a solution soon and the kitty feels better. I have raw diet info on my website here: Diet & Health for Cats

Dawn

Thanks for the feedback. She has always been a tiny girl and is a finicky eater. She actually eats heartily if I buy a new brand or flavor of food but grows bored of it after a week or two. If I switch to a different food, she gets all excited again and eats. So no issues with changing her diet - she actually prefers this.

She always has a bowl of grain-free dry food and eats a full bowl in about every 4 or 5 days. For a treat, she goes nuts for a few pieces of cooked shrimp or a small piece of low sodium deli turkey or ham. Mind you, those are rare treats.

I think I will introduce some raw diet options for her next.

Finicky eaters can be suffering from digestive issues that aren't noticed including IBD. And IBD and other gut disorders can cause excessive thirst too. i suffer from this and when i'm having a bad flare up i drink 3 times as much water and can't seem to get enough probably because my body is trying to flush toxins leaking into my body from the damaged intestinal walls.

I would introduce her also to a high quality probiotic like Primal Defense powder. This will help her digestion also (it helps my IBD a great deal).

Good luck! She's lucky to have a caring owner like you =)

Dawn
Pendraig Siberians