I say water... cat says no! HELP!

I try and have my cat drink water cause he's an adult but he refuses! He will only drink milk! Is that healthy? Should he be only drinking water? HELP!

most cats drink little water.. does kitty get wet food??

Milk is not good unless it is cat milk

Some cats can tolerate milk....just watch that it does`nt give him the runs.
My boys really don`t eat much wet food...but they drink quite a bit of water every day...it`s a self waterer...so i can fill the bottle 1/2 way, freeze it and then finish filling it with water. It keeps the water cold for hours and my cats love it cold like that.
Linda

i bought a vitamin spray when Prue was jsut new and really sick, its flavored with chicken or something, she loves it! I sprayed it in her water bowl ( jsut one squirt) to get her to start drinking water, and it worked like a charm. No i dont even use it in her water, and she drinks with no problems. thats also how i got her and Icis to eat wet food. Wont work with dry food,,dang brats,lol.

Also cat milk is a good source of moisture, and good for them, just not all the time. good luck!

Try this trick:

Get a large clear glass bowl. Put decorative rocks (cleaned well) at the bottom of the bowl and fill the bowl up with water. You can use aquarium rocks. It helps to give the cat depth perception and let them identify with a puddle of water versus a bowl that looks like nothing is in it.

thats a great idea! my water bowl is ceramic, and has a kitten playing painted on the bottle of the bowl

Also, you might want to get your cat one of those water fountain type water gizmos. Some cats like to drink running water.

Stephanie

I let my boys have the lactose free milk you can buy at the supermarket but never regular milk. Make sure you feed him wet food so he is getting anough moisture.

Since I bought a Pet Fountain, our kitties have been drinking more. You might want to try that - they aren't terribly expensive either.

As strange as this may sound, I found turning on either the bathroom sink or the tub faucet just enough so it's dripping, not actually running, was enough to get my cat to drink. For some reason she just thought this was *the coolest* thing in the world and she started drinking.

The only down side is, now that she's drinking out of a water dish, she sleeps in the sink

But it worked!

I can't add much to this, other than to say that having several water bowls (and/or fountains) spread throughout your home will encourage, i.e., "remind", your cat to drink. Another trick is to freeze unsalted chicken or beef broth in ice cube trays, and to add a cube to each water bowl.

What I do with my kitties is when I give them wet food I just add in a little bit more water. It might not be a lot but if they dont drink water on their own it helps hydrate them a little bit.

I do feed my cat, Xander, wet food. So does that do the hydrating that he needs? I hope so cause he sure ain't drinking water and I ain't giving him milk anymore cause it's whole milk.

Nononononono, wet food does not have enough water for him!!!! If he refuses to drink anything but milk you need to give him milk. It is apparantly the only way to get him to drink.

There are lots of great ideas here -- but if your kitty still insists on milk instead of water, try thinning his milk with water, a little more each day, until he's weaned away from the milk. It really isn't the best thing for him.

And although cats can get by with very little water, it's not good for them to do so. Water helps flush out toxins before they can cause trouble, both for us and for our kitties.

By the way -- may I recommend bottled water? It's more reliably free of impurities and chemicals, and if you get a good brand (I love Ozarka), you can count on it to taste the same every time. That really helps cats feel comfortable with it...