Transitioned to all wet food, kitties don't seem to be drinking water?

Hi everyone,

I have 2 kitties and we just moved a week ago on a 13 hour car ride.  My poor female cat Lola had an upset stomach and diarrhea the entire drive.  She is 5 years old.  2 days after the drive it persisted, so I took her to the emergency vet and he diagnosed her with an overgrowth of bad bacteria, gave 200 cc IV fluids, and 1 weeks worth of Flagyl antibiotic and probiotics, and told me to get off the dry food!   So, we have completely switched to wet, which both cats love.  Lola still has slighly loose stool, but much better, I may have to take her back, I'm going to see how she does after the Flagyl is finished.

The switch from dry food to wet has gone beautifully, as they always had wet as a treat in the past.  Now it is all day treats

My concern is that they do not seem to be drinking water!   I've only seen my male cat take a few sips now and then.   They used to drink tons, when we were on dry food (it was Blue Wilderness grain free).   I have not seen little Lola drinking any at all!

Should I be concerned?   Should I add water to their wet food?

Thank you so much for your help!

Here are kitties in the new house, kitchen cupboards

Congratulations on switching them to wet food; what a smart momma (and cats) you are.  And I'm glad the evet recommended wet food instead of some type of Rx (dry) food.

They are getting enough water through the wet food.  You can if you want add a little water to their wet food, but it probably isn't necessary.

Are you still giving them probiotics and if so, what kind?

Thank you Ritz for responding!  

I am still giving Lola the Fortiflora once daily (she has 2 packets left), and bought some Benebac at the pet food store, do you think Benebac once weekly is ok?  If you have any other recommendations for a probiotic I'm all ears!

The water thing is hard to get used to!  They used  to beg at the sink for me to turn on the water to drink, as well as drink plenty from their water bowl!

Fortiflora is an okay probiotic to begin with, but one reason cats like it so much is because it contains some of the same chemicals ("animal digest") that kibble (dry food) is sprayed with.  There are better quality probiotics for less money.

I am not personally with Benebac. But a quick look at the ingredients seem okay, though not crazy about the dextrose.  Like that it has pre-biotics.

The one I and others use (especially for cats who have IBD/IBS or feed raw) is this one.  I give Ritz one a day, sometimes I skip a day.  (I fed raw and started her on FortiFlora [kitty crack for her] then switched her to the Natural Factors Acidophilus & Bifidus Double Strength with Goat Milk.  (The reason 'goat milk' is important is because most cats are lactose intolerant so I wouldn't want it in a cow milk base.)

I'm a firm believe in starting out slowly or tapering off slowly.  So I would give the probiotic once or twice a week.  Note that *some* cats can get diarrhea with probiotics.

You could also run this by your vet.  He shouldn't have a problem with your switching brands.

PS:  her poop shouldn't smell as bad either.

Thank you again Ritz.  I'll run the probiotic suggestion by my vet.   Kitties are bouncing off the walls tonight playing with toys and ripping around the new house!   xo