Cat will not drink water

[zhuuyeon]

My cat will not drink water whatsoever. I bought her a fountain and she has shown zero interest in it. She has been staying hydrated from me adding lots of water in her wet food until it turns soupy and she pees 4 times a day. She now eats 1.5 cans of wet food per day and I add about 150 mL of water total to her food a day. What can I do to get her to drink water?

 

[silent meowlook]

Many cats obtain most of the water they require from their food, provided it is canned food.

How old is your cat and are there any medical issues?
Did your cat drink water previously?
If you don’t add water to the food will your cat drink?

 

[zhuuyeon]

Many cats obtain most of the water they require from their food, provided it is canned food.

How old is your cat and are there any medical issues?
Did your cat drink water previously?
If you don’t add water to the food will your cat drink?

She’s a year old and I’ve had her for more than 2 months. During the first month I had her, I only fed her wet food occasionally and she was mostly eating dry. She would drink water then. After regularly giving her wet food everyday, she stopped drinking water.

The only medical issue was when they did a urinalysis for a suspected UTI but it came back clear. The issue was that her urine was very concentrated, and that’s when I started adding lots of water to her wet food. I haven’t tried not adding any water yet because I don’t want to dehydrate her.

 

[zhuuyeon]

Forgot to mention that she does still get dry food. 1/4 cup in the morning and the 1.5 can is split into three other meals

 

[Tik cat's mum]

If your cat is eating wet food only I wouldn't worry about her not drinking alot. Most wet food has plenty of water in it already. My boy's are on wet and dry they drink much more than my daughter's cats who are fed wet only. Healthy cat's pee between 2-4 time's a day. Both mine and my daughters cat's go twice a day. My daughter hardly ever sees her cat's drinking because there's water in the wet food which is why you saw your cat drinking more when she was on mostly dry, it makes them thirsty. Did your vet say her pee was too concentrated? Could your girl be drinking at night?. The reason I ask is because when my boy was poorly I was concerned when I had to get a pee sample because it looked so concentrated. To my relief the vet said that looks brilliant nice and concentrated, I said I thought it looked too concentrated but she said it was fine we was worried about my cat's kidneys so it being concentrated ment the kidneys were doing there job. Just make sure your cat has water options available some cat's like drinking out of different things one of my daughter's cat's has his own cup left on the side in the kitchen because he preferred that to water bowls/fountain.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi.
Cat urine is supposed to be concentrated. I would feed only canned food if you are able. It is much better for her. Make sure that her water source is located away from her food. Cats prefer to have their water and food in different locations.

Provided your cat is healthy and doesn't have any health issues, you should be fine with her getting all the water she needs from her wet food. Of course, keep water always available, I would have the fountain going as well as another water source in a bowl.

Learn how to recognize the signs of dehydration in a cat. See the link below,

Table 5

Hydration

Hydration refers to the amount of water in the body, and maintaining normal hydration for our feline friends (and for ourselves!) is essential for a variety of vital bodily functions, including temperature regulation, maintenance of normal electrolyte concentrations, digestion of food...

www.vet.cornell.edu