Can you give your cat too much water?

So a few years ago my vet told me my cat had kidney disease. Prior to that he had only had dry food. I didn't believe her. But I put my cat on KD dry food.  Soon I read up on how dry food wasn't the best for a cat with kidney issues. I gave up on that food. I went to regular food and added extra water. However, after a few months.. my cat was throwing up. So I worried he had kidney issues. He would not cooperate and we couldn't get blood. We did get urine and that suggested he could have an issue OR he was over hydrated  -- his specific gravity came back that the urine was dilute.  During this time about every 6 weeks my cat would have an attack (which I thought was furballs)

I decided to put my cat back on the dry food. Though I gave him some wet food to make sure he got water.

This March I moved to a new home.  The cat had attacks but maybe like 1x per week. Or less. I thought they were fur balls.

Early April my cat is confirmed via blood test not to have ANY issues with his kidneys. He is given a clean bill of health and I start immediately a diet of wet food only. The way I give him food is 3 oz in the morning and 3oz at night. I split the can and add water to each serving. (so he gets like 4 servings)  I would say I do this without really measuring the water... freely. Sometimes it can be a lot.  He also was drinking out of the faucet. But I don't think that was thirst. It was a new home and I think he was fascinated by the faucet.

After about 6 weeks... I go to visit my cat and his eyes are watering and almost closed shut from the water. I have never seen this before. I assume he has a cold. He sounds congested when he meows.  He starts to have almost daily "attacks" that I thought was hairballs.

I go to the vet, they take an x-ray, they say he has asthma.  I stop the drinking out of the faucet and give him just the wet food with water.  He also gets medication.

So I go along with wet food only and am not careful with his water and how much I am giving him.

A few days ago I thought he sounded like he was congested when meowing... and sure enough.. even with meds.. he had a coughing fit.

I started to wonder could it be too much water?

I have said to the vet that the cat does just an insane amount of pee. I mean now I have clumping litter (no dust) and I can literally clear out all the litter in a few days because the amount that has clumped is substantial.  The litter is supposed to last 3 weeks with one cat but it lasts like 7 before I don't have any left.

Also, despite the fact that I have cut back on food... he hasn't lost... is this "water" weight and he has lost, just be bloated up with water.

He was checked for heart failure via an x-ray and it looked fine, but couldn't it just not work 100% and this added water isn't helping things and he was not having attacks when he was eating dry food.

You could give a cat too much water, but it would be more than he'd voluntarily consume, I think. You could try just giving him the canned food with no water added and a bowl of water---canned food has most of the water a cat will need for the day and he can decide for himself how much he'll drink out of the bowl.

If his body isn't excreting water properly, something is wrong somewhere. A high volume of urine usually also means something isn't right. But if he is getting a lot of water added to his food that could account for all the pee. Getting a lot of water shouldn't cause chest congestion though.

Is your cat getting any kind of meds or prescription food or holistic meds?   Or is it just straight regular canned food and nothing else.

Cats can bloat and retain water.   There are certain deseases and drug side effects that cause this.   

zoneout said:

 
Is your cat getting any kind of meds.  Or is it just straight regular canned food and nothing else.

Cats can bloat and retain water.   There are certain deseases and drug side effects that cause this.  

Click to expand...

Nothing else but Turbut, Bronciodilator.  I had him on steriods in a two week period and then I remarked to the doctor about the large urine, she said the steriods could do that... but I feel like had been off for a while now and tends to do a lot of urine.  He eats only wet / canned food now. I actually wonder if I went back to dry what would happen.

Here is the thing though... he had blood tests in April that came out complete perfection. Nothing at all was wrong.

Additionally he had x-rays when the asthma was diagnosed where they didn't saything but "mild" irritation of the bronci - they said he had no plural effusion. His cardiovascular structures were "within normal limits".

I am cutting back on the water and we will see what happens.  I think over four servings I might be force feeding my cat about 1/4th of a cup of water in addition to his food. Kind of like he eats cat soup.