19 year old cat started to find drinking water difficult

Hi, my 19 year old cat has recently (last 30 days or so) been sometimes unable to drink water. What is strange is that she still drinks cat milk, and I can see she wants to drink water but for some reason she cannot do so very easily. 

I have tried different types of bowls, shallow and deep, even saucers, but what she tends to do is sniff as if she's trying to smell the water, and then she uses her paw to kind of swat at the water, often spilling it in the process.

I am wondering if she's having problems seeing it, but she will occasionally just put her nose in and drink it, so I can only conclude that she knows the water is there, but it's almost like she doesn't know how to get at it. 

It's almost like a psychological aversion or something like that. Not sure what to do about it - she's keeping hydrated on the cat milk but I would prefer her to drink more water. 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

First question - has she been taken to the vet to rule out any other health issues? She probably needs to have some tests done to determine if there are any medical issues causing this, especially at her age.

And in the meantime, second/third question - has she been having any issues with eating lately? And when you say she seems to want to drink but can't... is she hovering above the water bowl by chance?

She goes to vet every 6 weeks for a check up. She's basically at the end of her life - she has a kidney condition and is mildly hyperthyroidial. 

Eating, well, she doesn't eat very much - and she rarely vomits. 

She does kind of "hover" over the water bowl, yes. That is quite a good description. 

thecolour said:

She goes to vet every 6 weeks for a check up. She's basically at the end of her life - she has a kidney condition and is mildly hyperthyroidial. 

Eating, well, she doesn't eat very much - and she rarely vomits. 

She does kind of "hover" over the water bowl, yes. That is quite a good description. 

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That part I bolded and italicized... that's why I was asking about the hovering. Kidney cats often "hover" over water bowls because they are thirsty (very thirsty in fact) but are too nauseous to drink. That's also probably the reason she rarely eats.

I'm guessing the kidney disease is mid-late stage. Are you giving her subcutaneous fluids and anti-nausea drugs by chance? Even hospice kitties will get these as a rule. Is the hyper-t being treated at all?