Cat hydration question

I apologize if this is in the wrong subject I couldn't choose between health/behavior/nutrition. Cats can certainly be complicated creatures



So, my cat Roman was just diagnosed with FLUTD on Sunday evening. She was eating a strictly Wellness brand dry diet (I know now that it is bad to feed all dry) and has a kitty fountain. Lately I have noticed that she is not drinking that much water and I wonder if that is part of the problem. I have now switched her to Hills wet prescription diet for the time being. (She didn't have crystals in her urine so I do not agree with the prescription or the low quality ingredients in the food but I want whats best for her. I CANT see her in pain anymore). I know that she will be getting a lot more water from the wet food but I just want to make sure that she is staying hydrated and healthy so as to hopefully avoid another episode.

She drinks every once in awhile but the odd thing is that whenever I open a water bottle bottle from the fridge she goes absolutely nuts. she grabs it with her paws and shoves her nose in the bottle opening. If I poor it into the bottle cap she will drink it ravenously. At first I thought that she enjoyed the cold temperature, but as soon as I put it in a bowl she is completely ambivalent and walks away. Do you think maybe the fountain has a funny taste to it? It is made of plastic..I wonder if that is the issue?

I really have no idea what she wants! Any suggestions about how I should try getting her to drink more water?

Thanks!

My cat Flowerbelle is the same way. Doesn't matter, warm, room temp, cold: she loves drinking water out of the bottle cap. For us, I think it's just the ritual of it, or she thinks it's a "treat."

How often do you clean the fountain and replace the filter? It can certainly be "off." The plastic fountains need to be cleaned with dish soap and hot water at least weekly. I used to replace the filters every month.

If she's eating the prescription wet food, you can probably get more water into her by adding a little water to the food and making it a bit more soupy.

I put the fountain away after we switched to all canned, and I was mixing in water. They didn't drink much water at that point, and the litter box was my assurance they were getting PLENTY of water. :lol3:

I am washing the fountain weekly as I have noticed it tends to get rather grungy. I bought the fountain from petsmart but none of the filters seem to fit for it. Serves me right for buying cheap. So I guess most probably the water isn't clean enough for her? I want to try a stainless steel one that can go into the dishwasher but I am apprehensive to drop $100 for something she won't use (like the box full of toys I keep buying her when all she does is chase bottle caps up and down the hall for entertainment. ) She used to be fine drinking out of a regular bowl but now since she's had the running water all she does is dip her paw in the bowl it and then shake it off.

Sounds like adding water to her canned food is your best bet.

Maybe just put bowls of water out for her again?

Or in addition to the fountain?

I found that many small bowls worked better to get my cats to drink vs. one larger one. Having water right where they were, rather than having to seek it out seemed to help.

I'm going to try adding water to her food as well as additional bowls. Thanks for the tips!

My kitties kept drinking water out of my cups all the time, even though they always had fresh water in their bowls daily,  Finally I got them a mug just for them and keep it filled with fresh water everyday and have it sitting on the floor of my bedroom,  They love it and I'm always seeing all three of them at it on a regular basis, much moreso than at their water bowls. Go figure. I used to have a fountain but it didn't seem to be worth the effort of maintaining so I eventually gave it up.  Also, they've always preferred to have their canned food watered down a little. They like for it to be juicy I guess and it's fine with me. Between that and the constant drinking at the mug I know they are all getting plenty of water

My boy's really good at drinking water from his bowl but he prefers to get if from a dripping tap, or a hand held syringe or glass -so it's a treat like LDG says.... It has to be fresh or he won't touch it either and I don't think he'd go near a fountain from that point of view. Another thing I think's weird is he won't drink water from a bowl if it's anywhere near his food.  He'll drink from any glass of water unsuspecting guests leave out no matter where they are though!  

I've been thinking about trying one of the little bottles people use in rodent cages that drip down when licked as I've read some people use them with cats.  Mouse seems to like that kind of thing - just not sure how I'd rig it up. Way cheaper than a fountain and easier to clean.  I think a lot of cats prefer to have the hunt / search for their food and liquid so it stays interesting. Of course a diet of nice juicy food would be the best thing (but that isn't an option for Mouse at the moment for anyone who hasn't read my posts on his health).

I found out that petsmart has a 60 day return policy on all of their items regardless of the reason. I'm pretty excited about that, i'm going to pick up a stainless steel bowl right away. Thanks for all the tips guys. Truly appreciated

My guys seem to like LARGE water dishes... like they are drinking from a pool. They also get wet food 2x/day with a little extra water added in for good measure. Seven males and no urinary issues yet ( knock on wood). I have had them for four years.  A couple of them are toilet drinkers, which I do NOT encourage.... and one in particular looooooves to drink from the running tap.

So I guess... you just need to experiment a little bit and see what works with your kitty.

Mine have a water fountain, large bowl in the living room and a short juice glass in the bathroom and bedroom. They love to drink from the cups so I keep them out. I don't care the more water they drink the better since mine won't take but a few licks of wet food when offered. I would experiment with cups and such in different places. Mine love drinking in the bedroom for some odd reason.

Should add that my fountain is stainless steel and I clean it weekly and the filter about once a month. They enjoy it, but enjoy the cups more. I fill everything with my Brita as I did a test one day Brita filled bowl vs tap and the bowl with tap water was left untouched. Have you considered that your kitty might prefer the taste of the bottled water?