Cat Does Not Drink

[4Maddie44]

I have had my  rescue cat, who is a year old, for six weeks.  I feed him wet food from pouches.  He does not drink water at all.  Because of that I give him very little dry food, as I know a cat must drink if given dried food.  A vet told me once this is important.  

I tried him with milk a couple of times, but he does not seem to like that either (mind it was fully skimmed!!).  

How important is it that a cat drinks?  Do you think he gets enough moisture from the gravy and jelly in the wet food?

[Risa615]

We have 3 cats and we have two running water for pets drinking fountains that they love.  I put in them water from the Britta which is filtered water and they drink it . We also do what is suggested above as well, tuna water and add water to food.  You can also buy kitty milk that is like evaporated milk that you add water too, but it is a little expensive.  
Risa

[4Maddie44]

Thank you all for your answers.  Yes I have found Smudge at the sink and the toilet!!  The water here does smell strongly of chlorine, so perhaps I should try bottled water.  He is very well in himself, so I should not worry unduly.

[LivingInHope]

I'm pretty new to cat ownership, but I think the vet might have said something like a cat can get 40 percent of their needed fluid from wet food.  So, that wouldn't be enough.   How frustrating for you!

We give our cat purified water fresh every day which I heard was important to do.  If the drinking water from the running water faucet idea doesn't work well for you and your cat for any reason, and if you find the running water kitty fountain too pricy, you might try something my cat seemed to like when I did it.  

I tried it one time because she was so interested when I used the kitchen faucet  for myself but didn't seem as interested in her water dish when I tried to point it out to her.  First, I ran some water into a clean cup while she watched.  Then, as she gazed on, I used the cup to pour a little water like a fountain in her dish, which already had some water in it.  She then decided to take a drink from her dish.  

Another thing-sometimes she gets tuna water leftover from a can of tuna bought for human consumption.  She loves the liquid saturated with the flavor of tuna that's been soaking in it and drinks it all!  I think maybe once she also had chicken water left over from a can of chicken chunks bought for human consumption and liked it!  She started licking activia yogurt lids and became a fan of yogurt (she isn't allowed much though).  She even seems to like plain yogurt.  But while a cat could get some liquid that way, I don't think a cat should have much of it at all because of sugar content.  I think I even once let the cat try a little Rice Dream milk and she seemed to like it too.  

[fanachan]

Its extremely important that a cat stay hydrated, however he does it. You don't mention whether or not he appears sickly. A way to tell if you cat is dehydrated is to pull gently upward on the skin on his back. If it goes back to the way it was, he's fine and hydrated. If the skin stays up or is slow to return to the way it was, he is getting dehydrated.  I agree adding water to his wet food and the kitty water faucet are great ideas, You might also try leaving a sink or tub faucet running at a trickle. My Casey likes to drink from the toilet like a dog! The wet paws give him away - that and seeing his tush in the air when I walk into the bathroom.

Good luck

[megsRN]

I agree, I can always tell when one of my kitty kids have been in the tub drinking outtta the faucet. There are automatic water bowl for cats that run off batteries/power that continually filter the chlorine taste out and it's kinda like a kitty drinking fountain! I get Catfancy magazine and also remember an article about how cats do not require much water to survive and in fact hardly prefer it. Hope this helps! If this persist and you don't notice a normal amount of urine in the box (if using the clumping litter you can tell where cat has urinated because it is generally a circle and falls apart fairly easy) then it never hurts to bring him in. Hope this helps.....

[LindaTX]

When I was growing up I fed my cats pet evaporated milk mixed half milk-half water.  I would usually warm the water first.  They loved it because it was a little sweet.  I didn't give them that much but I did provide it for them every day.  They never did get over weight but in those days I provided them canned food, not dry.  Also they were more outside than inside cats. I don't give mine the milk today, but I don't think it would be bad for them.  I guess for whatever reason some cats may be lactose-intollerant today.

[nancyjac]

I would add some water to his wet food.  Some cats prefer to drink only running water.  Try turning on a sink faucet and see if the cat will drink from the faucet.