Water

Why won't my cat drink water??? as far as i can see he doesn't drink at all, the water level in his dish doesn't move, i have been putting water in his wet food, so he gets at least some.

try this trick- get a large glass bowl and some aquarium rocks. Wash the rocks off well and place them in the bottom of the bowl, then fill the bowl with water.

I hear those water-bowl fountains work well because cats are attracted to moving water rather than still water. My vet says it's common for cats to not drink enough, so you're not alone.... and I think that's why they make those fountains!

Never heard of the aquarium rock thing but I think it's neat. I might try it just for the heck of it! Just make sure they aren't small enough for your cat to think it's food.

I wouldn't encourage it because in my house it has become a pain but if you are desperate for your cat to drink, try turning the tap on for him.
I did this once and now Sleeves won't drink from anything else, he's pretty polite about it though. He sits on the kitchen floor and cries until someone goes through, then he jumps up for you to turn it on for him
Im happy as long as he's drinking enough though. Spoilt kitty

Originally Posted by Pombina

try turning the tap on for him

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I do that for my two as well I give them fresh water twice a day because Sophie sometimes drinks with her paw so theres often the odd grain of litter at the bottom

Originally Posted by rosiemac

I do that for my two as well

I give them fresh water twice a day because Sophie sometimes drinks with her paw so theres often the odd grain of litter at the bottom

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Is that how it gets there?!? I find lumps of cat meat in there aswell, I joke that they were trying to make soup

I only discovered her drinking with her paw one night because compared to Rosie Sophie was really quiet drinking, then i saw her little paw going in then licking it

Oh and i often find a kibble in as well thats swelled up twice it's size!

Its always been a hassle to get Harley to drink enuf water. I always find litter or odd grain in the bottom of his water bowl, he dips his paw in his water all the time and licks his paw I also find food in there too, now that can't be appitizing to drink water like that!

I moved his food and water dish out to the kitchen last night cuz he had not been drinking much at all lately. I put water in a cup and stuck my finger in it, and he drank the water as long as my finger was in the water!

Now that I've moved his dish next to our water jug in the kitchen (Culligan water jug) he has drank 2 big bowls of water since then, I'm so happy!

I don't know why it made a difference why we moved it, but it was in the same room as his litter box, who knows - maybe he doesn't like it to be too close to the box? I'll never know, silly kitty - I'm just glad that he's drinking more water

I hope that you can find a way to get your kitten to drink more water, I'm sure you'll find something that works! I know that drinking from the tap is fun for the kitties - Harley just plays in it when we turn it on!

Phenom has a glass on the living room table that she drinks out of. she has a regular dish to but she loves to make the water swish around in the cup and then stick her head in it! It makes us laugh everytime!!

Cats are biologically designed to have an extremely low thirst drive. This is because they are originally from the desert. They are designed to get almost all of their water from their food. So it's not unusual for a cat to not drink much water.

For a cat who doesn't really drink water, it is absolutely essential that he eats mostly canned cat food. Otherwise he will almost certainly have severe urinary problems later in life.

Liberty only drinks distilled water. It is a matter of her not liking the taste of other water. Might try bottled water and see if that works. The other thing no matter what I do Liberty will only drink out of a glass . Might try getting something different for him to drink out of. I also found Liberty is scared of the bathroom toilet . This means her primary water source is her water glass in the living room. I have decided I don't care were she gets water from or what type of clean water it is as long as she drinks!

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Phenom has a glass on the living room table that she drinks out of. she has a regular dish to but she loves to make the water swish around in the cup and then stick her head in it!

It makes us laugh everytime!!

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Marlee is the same way! She has her regular self-water bowl, but I found out on accident that she loves drinking out of glasses. First way I found out: It was not long after I first got her, and she was kinda sick and very tiny. I had one of those little bitty paper cups filled with water sitting on my dresser from syringe feeding her water (vet told me to) and had been doing something else. I looked up a bit later and she was sitting on my dresser with her face in the cup, asleep!

We're at the point now where we praise our cats every time we see them drinking water. We have three separate water dishes in our small apartment, and the dishes get moved around periodically so that the cats don't lose interest in them; they stay in the same room, but in different locations in the room. We add water to their wet food, and sometimes we give them tuna water ice cubes to play with/eat. (We used to just pour the tuna water into a bowl for them to drink, but Oz gulped it down so fast he made himself sick, and they seem to get more enjoyment out of the ice cubes anyway.)

I would love to be able to leave the faucet on for Spike, who has a definite interest in "bathroom sink functions," but a previous drip has worn away some of the finish on the basin and I'm reluctant to cause more damage (we rent; if we owned the place, I wouldn't worry so much). As it is, when I'm in the bathroom I turn the faucet on and let him play, but he's much more interested in chasing the strange noises that occur when we drain the kitchen sink (the kitchen sink and bathroom sink share plumbing, so when we drain the kitchen sink, there's a loud gulping/slurping noise coming from the bathroom, and Spike thinks that's just great ).

Spike's big thing is to drag the bathroom water dish out into the centre of the floor (sloshing water all the way) and then whack it with his paw so that it flips over, spraying water everywhere. I wouldn't mind it so much if he would then drink the water off the floor, but as soon as the water's spilled, he just walks away. The fun is in the spilling, I guess. This is what's making me hesitant to get a cat fountain: Spike's a pretty strong cat, so I envision him knocking the fountain over and spraying all that water all over the place. Aaaand I'm not sure if it would actually get him to drink more, anyway, since his interest in running water seems to have more to do with playing in it than actually drinking it. I'm curious to see if the aquarium and rocks idea Hissy suggested would work; it'd look pretty in our apartment, to say the least, so it's worth a shot! (But, out of curiosity, why does it work?)

Originally Posted by rblaude

I hear those water-bowl fountains work well because cats are attracted to moving water rather than still water. My vet says it's common for cats to not drink enough, so you're not alone.... and I think that's why they make those fountains!

Never heard of the aquarium rock thing but I think it's neat. I might try it just for the heck of it! Just make sure they aren't small enough for your cat to think it's food.

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I agree with the fountain idea. If a cat won't drink from stationary water from a bowl, you can try a fountain. I've been trying to have enough money to buy a fountain for months now...I hear nothing but great things about them!

Edit: I didn't mention that the bowl we have for our babies now is a bit in-between both. It's kinda like a water cooler. It has a bottle remarkably similiar to a water cooler bottle, but just a bin that it comes out. It just fills the bin, and when it goes down a certain point, the bottle fills it back up. That way they always have fresh water. We got it from a friend, so I don't know where to buy it, or how much it is, but it would probably be a cheap alternative to a fountain.

Edit 2: Here is a picture that's a lot like the water bottle/bowl we have for our babies. (There's also a feeder thing in the picture...we just have the water bottle.) It sells for about $8 here at Petsmart.

A few things I found that worked....

I changed the water more often, 3 or 4 times a day.

Also, I put a bowl of water right near where I spend the most time in near the computer, because that's where they spend most of their time. They see the bowl and drink from it, when they wouldn't otherwise go back to the kitchen.

I also heard that if you put a little salt in their wet food that will make them thirstier...I haven't heard it's bad for them, so if anyone thinks it might be please say so>

Eddie will not drink water if it is in the same room as his food or his box.......I have 3 seperate water bowls around the house and all of them have pictures on the bottom of them.........Also, if I leave a glass of water sitting around it is fair game as well.

Here is a list from my vet that I use

* Provide fresh water often
*Make sure the water bowl is filled to the brim at all times. Some cats are very sensitive about putting their whole face into the bowl
*Instead of tap water
-refrigerate tap water
-Brita filtered water
-distilled water
-bottled water
*Put a drop or two of tuna juice or clam juice in the water (always provide a 2nd bowl of plain water)
*Ice cubes in the water, can be made out of flavoured broth (tuna, salmon)
*Leave the tap dripping
*water fountain
*Keep the water dish away from the litterbox
*Keep the bowl clean (stainless steel and ceramic are easier to keep clean than plastic)
*Put a clear glass dish in the bathtub near the drain with fresh water in it. (that is the trick for our kitty!!)