Water intake?

Hi everyone!

I am wondering how much water a kitty should drink per day.
I have been monitoring my cat's intake, and she drinks about 1cup per day, give or take. She is on mostly a dry food diet at the moment, and I am working on getting her switched to wet, but slowly. (She is 19 lbs, and slowly losing weight and it is vet monitored)

She has always been a water drinker, (drinking the most at night while we sleep) but since I got her a shallow bowl, that holds less, it seemed more obvious to me. I noticed her consumption went on when our radiators kicked on high during the colder nights.. We also sleep with the door closed at night to keep her away from our other bully cat.

She just had a complete senior panel about three or four weeks ago.(she isn't a senior but our vet is thorough) and had a urinalysis about two months ago. No diabetes evident during those tests. I just wondered what was common.

Thanks!

With the info you provided; You cat's water intake sounds normal. But, I have never been able to find specific "guidelines" on the daily recommended amount of water a cat "should" have. The NRC does provide some guidelines (links can be found in this article) but nothing concrete. Basically if your cat is healthy, drinking about a cup a day of water, this would be normal for your cat. If the cat drinks a lot more, or a lot less, suddenly, something may be going on and a vet visit is in order. This article and the links might provide a little more insight into it. It's common sense and written in a way the lay person can understand. This article was written in 2007.

http://recommendeddailyallowances.blogspot.com/2007/03/water.html

Small excerpt:


Water
There are no clear guidelines for water consumption, therefore it tends to be a far more subjective concept to list, here.

While the NRC book, and others point out that cats can concentrate urine, and that individual cats have individual needs based upon canned or dry diets, and activity levels, there are some clear guidelines such as the following, as quoted from the UCDavis site, "Dogs and cats should always have fresh water available. Bowls should be emptied and cleaned daily. Milk should not be a substitute for water and can cause diarrhea in many animals. Lack of water or only offering stale water can lead to dehydration and diseases associated with the kidneys or urinary system. "