Increasing water intake?

teeneythebetta

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Im 15 years old and I do odd jobs to earn money, which feeds my two cats.

Their current daily diet: (each cat gets..)

- Mix of Wellness CORE, Blue buffalo, and Innova dry food free-feed (all chicken/turkey based, NO fish)

-1.5 oz of canned food (lower quality brands like friskies, fancy feast, whiskas, all chicken/turkey, NO fish)

I feed bad because I know wet food is healthiest for them due to the high water content. But I cant afford to give them high quality canned food. What ways can I get them to drink more to maybe compensate for the loss of water they are getting? :/

I tried a DIY cat drinking fountain but because of the way they drink, it was splattering all over from their tounges xD And I cant afford to buy a cat fountain.
 

Willowy

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Which formulas of dry are you using? Lately we've been having threads about how to find a fish-free kibble, and regular CORE and Innova sure have a lot of fish. Not sure about Blue.

Personally, I would increase their canned food intake. . .it doesn't have to be high-quality canned food. Even low-quality canned food is lower carb than most kibble. I feed my kitties canned Friskies (and a few other brands mixed in here and there). I'd go with something like 80% (or more) canned and 20% (or less) dry. A website! www.catinfo.org
 

just mike

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Im 15 years old and I do odd jobs to earn money, which feeds my two cats.

Their current daily diet: (each cat gets..)

- Mix of Wellness CORE, Blue buffalo, and Innova dry food free-feed (all chicken/turkey based, NO fish)

-1.5 oz of canned food (lower quality brands like friskies, fancy feast, whiskas, all chicken/turkey, NO fish)

I feed bad because I know wet food is healthiest for them due to the high water content. But I cant afford to give them high quality canned food. What ways can I get them to drink more to maybe compensate for the loss of water they are getting? :/

I tried a DIY cat drinking fountain but because of the way they drink, it was splattering all over from their tounges xD And I cant afford to buy a cat fountain.
I don't know what your budget is like so I'm just gonna throw in my
.   How long have you had your cats and what are their ages? First off, I am a proponent of a mostly wet diet.  Your cats are getting approx 1.5 oz wet daily or do you feed that amount to them more than once daily? 

While most of us believe a wet diet is better for cats because they are obligate carnivores, many of us know that many folks on budgets do not have the option of feeding a premium wet food due to budgetary reasons and will feed kibble or wet or perhaps mixed as you are. 

You are concerned about the amount of water your cats are intaking.  Do you have any idea of about how much they are drinking?  Do you see them at the water bowl often or just every so often through the day or do you never see them at the water bowl?  A sure fire way of finding out is watching the litter box.  If their urine output is really low you will notice smaller and fewer clumps in the litter box.  If this is the case, they are probably not hydrating themselves enough and need their water intake increase somehow.  Usually this is through wet food because cats are geared to get their moisture from their wet food and not from a water bowl.

I think what I would do if I were in your situation would slowly increase their wet food and gradually reduce the amount of kibble they are getting.  Doing it gradually will allow them to adjust to the diet.  This may be the easiest route for you to take. FF classics are a fairly decent food and I'm glad you are reducing or eliminating their fish intake
Begin by buying the best wet your budget will allow and eliminate slowly the kibble.  This will keep you within budget, allow your cats to intake more moisture and give you peace of mind
You may also ward off potential issues such as obesity, diabetes, UTIs etc. by going on an all, or mostly wet diet.
 
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teeneythebetta

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Thank you guys.

So would it be better for them to eat mostly friskies canned food and a little bit of the high quality dry?

My male is 4 years old, my female is almost 2

Their water bowl is filled about 1 inch full, and although I refresh the water twice daily- id say they probably drink one whole bowls worth within a 24 hour period combined.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I posted this reply on your other thread (apparently it double posted in the beginning with you originally posted)

Well, I don't think you can force a cat to drink unless you do it be actually putting it in their mouth via an eyedropper or syringe
.  One of mine used to love to drink from the faucet, however, until we did get a fountain.  So, everytime we were in the bathroom, we just turned on the fountain very low, and she drank.  Have you tried that? 

What was your DIY fountain like.  Maybe they took in more water than you think?  Or maybe you could find a used one on Craigs List?   (If they seem to enjoy it.  BTW, I don't use the charcoal  filter in mine, I think it's just an unncessary expense, so, really, there's, really just the one time expense of the initial purchase.

But, if they are drinking about an inch per day of water in a bowl, that seems like  a reasonable about for cats. 

Also, I DO agree with trying to change their food to more canned, but was just answering the question asked
 

whollycat

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Im 15 years old and I do odd jobs to earn money, which feeds my two cats.
... What ways can I get them to drink more to maybe compensate for the loss of water they are getting? :/
One thing that is simple to do is add some extra water to their canned food. You'll have to experiment with how much is too much.

A big A+ for learning at such a tender age what is good for kitties!
 

kittylover23

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I agree with adding water to the canned food! Also, you could try a wet food with naturally more water (Weruva). It is also one of the best kitty foods out there and kitties really seem to love it!
 
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teeneythebetta

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Thanks everyone.

I have since doubled the amount of wet food they get and I have been adding a bit of water to it. :)
 

raintyger

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We add water to our cat's food, one tablespoon per 2 oz. serving. We did try 2 tablespoons once, but that was too much--her lab tests came out dilute urine, and then we had to lower the water and test again to make sure the dilute results were because of the water and not kidney disease. After adding the water to the food, the water dish pretty much fell to disuse, although we keep it out just in case.
 
 

gussy14

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You are doing such a good thing by wanting to feed your cats the right food!

http://www.catinfo.org/ Is a super-helpful website. The vet who made the website says that any canned food is better than any dry food, so know that whatever you can afford to feed them is fine.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf This section of the website also has a variety of foods and the percentage of calories from fat, protein, and carbs.We feed our two boys some more "premium" brands, but we also keep certain kinds of Friskies in rotation (which they absolutely love - the bowl is always licked clean, which is more than I can say for some of the fancy brands).

You want to go for the lowest carbohydrate percentage that you can - less than 10% is ideal. You don't have to get Weruva or Natural Balance for this - FF and Friskies have these. Around here, I can get a 5.5 oz can of Friskies for $0.50 on sale, so we can feed the two of them for $1 a day (half a can each in the morning, half a can each at night). Also, if you have a Trader Joe's near you, they sell a good quality cat food for $0.70 for a 5.5 oz can.

One of our cats struggled with urine crystals for a couple months, and while we were feeding him the prescription diet, we added a bit of water to the wet. Granted, our cats are not terribly picky, but they ate the "porridge" just as voraciously.

Good luck!
 

trudy1

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try walmart special kitty 13 oz canned food for about .70/can  my cats seem to like it mixed with some dry, they have several different flavors

also you might try emailing dry cat food makers and explain your situation...sometimes they will send you coupons

if you can contact you stores' Blue Buffalo sales representative they also can give you coupons (explain you situation, age, etc.)...we got one for $5 off a few weeks ago
 

tobytyler

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Teeneythebetta what lucky cats you have!  You have kindness and wisdom beyond your years. Most kitties love chicken broth and that's an easy way to get more fluid in them.  Just make sure the broth does not contain onions/garlic which is tricky because most do.  These are toxic to cats and can cause anemia. Also some commercial broth can be high in sodium.  Maybe you could make up a batch yourself and freeze it in small quanities to have on hand.  Kitties will also readily drink the water that you drain from a can of tuna.  I would be leary of using this on a regular basis though.  Personally I don't feed any tuna to my cats, but occasionally will give them tuna water as a special treat.  The vet can also set you up to administer sub-q fluids at home if your kitties are sick and need extra hydration.  Hope this helps!
 
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