Cat doesn't appear to drink any water.

[Horsemad]

I've never seen her drink from her water dish. She has access to clean, fresh water all the time but I don't think she drinks much at all. Should I be concerned?
Apart from a bout of cystitis last winter, she's a healthy young cat. We changed from dry to wet food then on vet's advice.

She does eat the wet food, it's in a jelly so maybe she's getting moisture from that?

Cats do get most of their liquid from wet food, so that's fine. Does she go outside? Lots of cats seem to like drinking from puddles. I bet she does have the occasional slurp of water when you're not looking.

If you want to try to get more liquid into her to try to ward of another bout of cystitis you could try a bit of cat milk or maybe the cat gravy they sell in Pets at Home, or even some home made chicken broth for example (but without salt in it of course).

Thanks catneuterer, she does go outdoors for about 30mins a day (is gradually becoming a housecat I think!) and we always have a dish of water outside too so she maybe drinking some of that although haven't seen her. Will look out for the cat gravy you mention.

My cats drink from anywhere bar their water bowl, old rain water, from the kitchen tap, my glass

cats naturally drink very little. they get their water form the wet food they eat.
My cat does drink form the pond by preference rather than his water bowl

My last foster had kidney trouble and drank loads. She wouldn't drink from a water bowl that was near her food, though, so I put bowls down for her at various points around the flat (and I also let her drink from the tap). I think cats are generally a bit reluctant to drink water that's close to their food, maybe following some instinctive awareness that food could contaminate water.

I only saw ours start to drink from a water bowl when I got hard line on all loo seats being down all the time.

As above, they get much of their liquid intake from their wet food if that's what they're on. (Have a look at the ingredients list on the back of any pouch or can and see just how much of the food is water!)

They'll also nick water from all sort of places other than their bowl if they're so minded - and even if they don't, cats are given to quick sips of water which you might not notice. They don't much go in for the great big lolloping drinks that dogs have.

Loo seat never left up so I don't think she's drinking from there.

My previous cat had kidney trouble & drank loads, so maybe I'm noticing this one's lack of drinking because of that.

It's just that I've never seen her drink that puzzled me.

My cats seemed to prefer any receptacle full of old disgusting stagnant water outside rather than the lovely fresh water inside. I always assumed it because it didn't taste of whatever chemicals they put in mains water. The only time I noticed a cat drinking was when one of mine got diabetes.

The difference with your old cat may indeed be what's giving you cause for concern. Does she use a litter tray? Because if she's peeing adequately, that's the ultimate test.

We used to have a cat that would never touch his water bowl and would try and drink from your glass.

So my dad removed the bowl and gave him an old pint glass instead, and he would always drink from that. Now I don't like drinking from pint glasses as an adult, feel like I'm a cat!

Yes - there's something about pint glasses. I've seen that but I've no idea what the attraction is.

We also have to put a human glass down for the cats as they forever had their heads in our glasses of water!

Your cat may not need much water if they are on wet food, or they may be getting it elsewhere (all the places other people have suggested).

You can mix a bit of water into wet food to increase their water intake but it probably isn't necessary unless you have medical concerns.

One if my cats loathes tap water, so his water bowl is actually rain water collected from the garden, or as a special treat in the winter, a bowl of snow or ice!!

My cat would never drink from his bowl either but would take it from the tap.
So I got him a Cat Mate water fountain and he uses that quite happily. He seems to prefer that the water is moving slightly rather than just sitting in a bowl.

Yep cozie, she uses her tray, so like you say, that's a good sign she's ok.

INeed - does the water fountain need to be plugged into the mains?

I never saw my old cat drink water until the night I woke up to find him drinking out of my glass of water I always have next to the bed.

My cat is the same, he rarely drinks from his bowl but I do catch him drinking from glasses, puddles, the toilet if DH leaves the seat up. Yuck

I've also read somewhere before that cats don't like to eat and drink in the same area so I keep his water bowl in a different part of the kitchen.

Cats don't drink a huge amount and they do get moisture from food as well - if she goes outside she might well get water from puddles and by licking moisture off plants.

My landlady's cat won't drink from the bowl of clean water that is always down, but WILL drink from: the loo, people's water glasses and filthy stagnant puddles outside.

Some cats have a thing about not drinking still water - probably something to do with it being more likely to carry disease - so people sometimes use those water fountains. My friend's old cat used to be obsessed with batting her water dish around the floor with her paw to make the water move. Otherwise she wouldn't drink it.

Mine only seemed to use the water bowl when they had dry and wet food. Now we are on wet only neither show any interest in it whatsoever. Food looks sloppy enough!

They are desert creatures anyway, above all mere mortals in terms of thirst. So they tell me.

Horsemad yes it has to be plugged in. It has two levels and a small pump moves the water round in a constant cycle. It's like having a water feature in my kitchen!

Thanks INeed - will see if I can get one situated near enough to the power supply, might be tricky with our kitchen layout but will investigate.

Ours also has the Cate Mate fountain and she adores it. Got it because she never used to drink from her bowl and she took to it straight away. Every morning she also has a big slurp from a tumbler of water on DH's bedside table (which has been reserved for her own personal use since DH first caught her doing this).