Increased Thirst

[Othique]

Hi everyone,

I have an 8 yr old 13 lbs American Shorthair cat who has been drinking a lot of water.

I thought she might have diabetes but 2 blood tests came back completely normal.
None the less I have switched her food to as low a carb content as I can find.

This all happened right after she went through dental surgery.

Other than the increased thirst she's pretty normal and in fact has more energy. The only other notable change has been in neediness. She wakes me up in the early morning crying and clinging to me.


Other things to note:

• She is already a very clingy and needy cat, so its only a slight difference in her normal behaviour.

• She has always been a well-hydrated kitty and likes drinking water.

• After her surgery I moved the water bowl into the bedroom near her.

• No significant weight increased or decreases have been noted - although I am trying to get her to slim down a bit anyway.

• I have, nearly meticulously, web searched possible causes and nothing quite seems to fit.

Could the neediness just be from boredom - like she has a lot of energy now and I'm not keeping up?

Could the increase in drinking be because of boredom or just because of the new water location?

Am I over thinking this?

Thanks for any input.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If all of her blood work came back normal (no kidney function issues, for example), including a T-4 to check for hyperthyroidism (not all cats have to lose weight with this condition, especially early on), then I could only guess that her drinking more water might just be because the new location is a novelty to her.

The clinginess and waking you in the early morning might be associated to the food change, especially if you decreased the amount that she was used to eating before. She might actually be feeling a bit hungry from the change. Depending on what you are feeding her, she may actually be thirstier from the change too.

I am not sure I would expect any of her behavior changes to correlate to the dental surgery, but if it was very recent, maybe she is just still having a reaction to going through that 'trauma'.