In this article we are going to look at how to force a cat to drink water if they are refusing to drink it. Force may seem like a bit of a harsh word, but the reality is, if your cat is not drinking enough water, it can lead to serious health issues.
Water is one of six essential nutrients in which your cat needs to survive. With a cat’s body being made up of 80% water, it’s also probably the most important nutrient. Not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration which can then lead to kidney problems. Around 1 in 3 cat;s will experience this in their lifetimes.
A big contribution in the lack of water in a cat’s diet is that many are fed a dry-food diet. These kind diets only contain around 6-10% moisture. Going back many years in the early days as hunters, cat’s would get most of their moisture from catching mice and other rodents.
This is why it’s so crucial that your cat is consuming enough water. The problem is, what do you do if you cat refuses to drink water and how do you even know if they are dehydrated in the first place? All of the tips and tricks will be revealed in this post to ensure you have a healthy, well hydrated cat.
Let’s jump in and look at how to force a cat to drink water if they are refusing to drink.
Why Do Cats Not Drink Enough Water?
The reason why cat’s do not have a high thirst drive is due to their early predatory days. Cat’s didn’t require a lot of water to survive and had the ability to conserve water very well. As previously mentioned, cat’s got most of their water through catching prey. The trouble with modern day cat’s is, they are fed pretty much via their owners with dried food.
Food is their primary concern and they simply have no interest in drinking water, they do not think about it. Fortunately their are many things you can do to ensure your cat is fully hydrated.
How Much Water Should a Cat Drink?
For every 5 pounds of body weight, a cat should be consuming 3.5-4.5 ounces of water per day. As mentioned previously, a cat can get a lot of water from wet food. So the required daily water consumption does not have to be purely from drinking water. So it can come from a combination of the two.
Your average can of wet cat food is made up of around 70-80% water. This means that your cat can get half of their recommended daily water just from one can alone, as they will be consuming around 3.85-4.4 ounces of water.
This is great to know, because if your at work or have to leave the house for a number of hours, you do not actually know how much your cat has drank. Even when you are at home, you cannot constantly keep your eyes on everything your cat is doing, so it makes water consumption very hard to track.
If you kitty is not consuming enough water, they will become dehydrated which can lead to kidney disease and lower urinary tract disease. How do you know if you cat is dehydrated? Let’s take a look at this in the next section.
Signs of Dehydration in a Cat
It’s hard to track your cat’s water consumption, but luckily there are a number of signs you can look out for to see if your cat is dehydrated.
- Skin test: If you gently pinch and pull up on your cat’s skin on an area of their shoulders, when released, it should return back to normal pretty quickly. If the skin is loose and slower at retracting, your cat may be dehydrated. It’s the most perfect, accurate test, as it can also be effected by things such as the level of fat. But it’s a great text to do at home.
- Loss of appetite: We all know how much cat’s love their food. If more than 24 hours passes and your cat still hasn’t eaten anything, although dehydrated, there may also be other issues. This is the time to get professional help from your vet.
- Sunken Eyes: Cat’s usually have beautiful, full eyes. If you notice that your cat’s eyes have become sunken or look dull, this may be a sign of dehydration.
- Panting: It’s very rare to see a cat pant. If you notice they are panting, this may be because they are overheated and become dehydrated.
- Sticky gums: Cat’s gums are usually moist. If they suddenly become more tacky, this can be a sign of dehydration. Be careful when checking this though. no matter how much your cat likes you, if you have never done this before, they may bite you. It’s also a great way of checking the health of your cat’s teeth at the same time.
- Less urination: If you notice your cat is going to the bathroom less, this could be a sign that they are not getting enough water. Also keep into consideration that the reason may be that they are not able to pee. This can be a sign of a fatal urethral obstruction. It’s always best to seek professional help if uncertain.
- Lethargy: Be aware of any changes in your cat’s behavior. If they usually quite active or greet you when you get home and they have suddenly become more sleepy or less playful. This could be a sign they are not properly hydrated.
- Diarrhea or vomiting: This is not a direct sign of dehydration itself, be a cat who has diarrhea or is vomiting due to other reasons will quickly become dehydrated.
How to Get a Cat to Drink More Water
By now you should now have a lot more knowledge on what signs to check out for to see if your cat is dehydrated. In this section we will now look at how to force a cat to drink water if they are dehydrated but refuse to drink.
- Switching food: If you regularly feed your cat dry food, try switching to wet. As we mentioned earlier in this post, cat’s can get around half of there daily water allowance just from wet food alone. You can also add a little extra water into the wet food.
- Flowing water: Cat’s seem to have a thing for anything that moves. If you cat is refusing to drink from their bowl, try getting a cat water fountain. This will make drinking water more fun for them.
- Ice: Try putting a couple of ice cubes inside your cat’s water bowl. You’ll find that they will become fascinated with the movement of the ice in the bowl. As with cat water fountain, this also makes drinking water more fun.
- Adding flavor: A great tip is to add more flavor to the plain water. You can do this by either adding a few drops of juice from the tuna, or even the juice from your cat’s wet food. You can even double this up with the ice cube method above. Instead of just adding the flavor straight to the bowl, first of all create ice cubes from the juice and then add them to the bowl.
- Clean and fresh: Unpleasant odor could be the reason your cat is refusing to drink. A human wouldn’t eat from the same plate multiple times and never wash it, neither should your cat. Make sure to thoroughly clean the bowl on a daily basis.
- Location: Cat’s can be very picky creatures, and the location of the water bowl may be the issue. Keep the bowl away from their litter box and food tray and see if that helps. Also try multiple bowls (see below).
- Multiple bowls: Place multiple bowls all around your home. This not only increases the odds of drinking, but is also great if you have more than one cat.
- More frequent meals: Providing smaller but more frequent meals will make your cat more thirsty. In my experience I’ve noticed that straight after a meal, the cat will head of to the water bowl. So this will encourage them to drink more.
- Different types of bowls: There are many different water bowls you can get which come in all kinds of colors, materials, and sizes. Try out a few different ones and see which ones work best for your cat.
Cat Hydration Goodies
Now you know all of the tips and tricks to keep your cat hydrated, here are some cool fountains and water bowls which make make hydrating your cat much more easier.
#1 Catit Flower Fountain
Holds 3 litres of water and continuously purifies and softens hard tap water
View more info on the Catit Flower Fountain here
#2 Cat Mate Pet Fountain
Features Multi-Height drinking stations and water purification.
View more info on the Cat Mate Pet Fountain here
#3 PetSafe Drinkwell Cat and Dog Water Fountain
Features large water capacity and filtered water.
View more info on the PetSafe Water Fountain here
Conclusion
Hope you enjoyed this post on how to force a cat to drink water. It’s very important to ensure your cat stays hydrated to prevent any health issues. You should now have a great understanding on what signs to look out for, and what to actually do should your cat become dehydrated.
