Many pet parents must have faced this knotty problem that their cats do not like to drink water. Dehydration would occur to your cats if they do not drink enough water to satisfy the daily needs. And it might cause something even worse to their health.
The symptoms of dehydration include:
So below are the 3 things that we need to know about the problem and some tips of how to get our cats to drink more water.
When cats are slightly dehydrated, bad breath and constipation may occur. If you find that your cat's excrement is granular, you should pay attention to it. Its body is in a state of lack of water.
Cats with severe water shortage can easily induce urinary system diseases. Urinary system diseases generally include urethral crystals, urethral stones, urinary tract infections, bladder stones, and so on. Initially, frequent urination, messy urine everywhere, low urine output, blood in the urine, frequent licking of the urethral opening, etc. may occur. If the urethra is blocked and the urine remains in the bladder, it may cause an irreversible disease within 24 hours to 48 hours, and death if not catheterized in time. Apart from going to the vet for treatment of these diseases, you should also pay attention to diet and nursing. Once the amount of drinking water is not up to the standard, these symptoms will appear repeatedly.
Cats’ ancestors came from arid areas where is scarce water, this determines that most of their water replenishment comes from food. Therefore, they rarely drink fresh water, and their bodies have to make full use of the water in the food. They would not defecate without squeezing the last drop of water, so their feces are very dry. To reduce water loss, they would lick the hair to cool down. In this way, they slowly evolved a sense of thirst that was slower than that of humans.
The amount is related to their body weight. The recommended water consumption per kilogram is 50ml-60ml. For example, a 5kg cat drinks about 250ml-300ml of water per day. Generally speaking, the average adult cat produces 3-6 urine balls per day (the size of an adult's fist).
In terms of food, dry food can be replaced with canned food or raw meat and other foods with higher water content, to increase the cat's water intake from the aspect of eating. It is also very important to create a drinking environment that cats like! Haughty cats do not use stones to increase the water in the bottle like a little crow to drink water, so a good drinking fountain is particularly critical.
Cats use their whiskers to determine whether there are obstacles around them. If the cat’s beard will always touch the mouth of the container when drinking water, they will become reluctant to drink water.
When cats live in the wild, in addition to replenishing water with their prey, they will find drinking water sources. Most of the drinking water comes from creeks or small puddles. Combined with the cat's habits of living in the wild, they will prefer containers with a moderate height.
Cats are smart and vigilant by nature. They always try their best to observe the environment and put themselves in a favorable position. Therefore, the water bowls should satisfy the cat's nature and do not block the cat's vision.
The material of the water bowl are also needed to pay attention to, glass and ceramic bowls are healthier, and it is also convenient to clean.
In addition to the above four elements, there are several key points:
1. Cats love to drink fresh and clean water, and pet parents should clean the water bowl frequently to keep the drinking water fresh and clean.
2. If you want your fur kids to drink more water, you can place more water sources on the way it must pass. The cat will lick a few mouthfuls when it passes by.
3. Do not place water fountain near the cat's litter box, or they will feel that the water is smelly and refuse to drink.
With all the above factors, Cheerble has made a non-electric automatic water fountain - KittySpring, which meets kitties' choice of water fountain and liberates their meow-my and daddy.
