Cat drinking a lot

[booboobutt]

My cat usually doesn't touch his water (I think he drinks from puddles etc outside) but recently he's drinking loads. Every day his water bowl is completely empty. He literally never touched it before! He's also been sleeping quite a lot but that's not necessarily unusual as he will go through lazy phases.

His behaviour is otherwise normal. Still waking me up at 3am when he gets stuck on top of the wardrobe. Still going outside, still eating.

Can this be a sign of anything? Should I take him to the vets or am I being overcautious?

Thank you.

What an absolutely gorgeous boy! He looks a little like a Snowshoe? He also looks like he's been drinking a litle too much brandy in that photo.

I hope he is OK and please do keep us updated OP.

Saw the vet today - £180!! Should have the blood results by mid week. Next challenge is to get a urine sample from him.

He has actually gained weight though so that's reassuring!

Blimey have you got insurance op? I was very grateful for boycats insurance. Did they do a quick blood sugar test?

No I don't think we do have insurance actually. Oh well, it had to be done.

They didn't mention a blood sugar test, they want to test his urine to see if there's sugar in it. The bloods were for kidney, liver, she felt his throat (I'm guessing for thyroid?), felt his bladder and checked his coat, eyes and teeth which are all fine... she said she'd test for "basically everything".

He's feeling sorry for himself now because he's not allowed outside until he does a wee in his special litter. I have a little pipette to collect it up

I was going to ask if you have pet insurance,i have all my cats [3] insured, and had a 4th insured luckily as she had heart failure and it would have cost me £30 a month for her meds, she actually had a coronary just before her insurance ran out, she was only insured for a year at a time, and was on the second year, so now all my others are insured for life,its only just under £5 a month, so well worth it,and the insurance were brilliant all through,
I am with Animal friends
I hope her bloods come back ok, its very worrying when they are ill, or even not themselves

Yeah insurance is def worth it, good they are checking him out. I've done that urine collection thing, was completely gross!!!

I always thought insurance was a bit of a scam but yeah I think after this we will get some for the other pets too.

He's very out of sorts tonight, poor thing. Floppy and quiet. Hopefully it's just the trauma of a trip to the vets and not him feeling poorly.

Have a feeling I'll wake up to him weeing on my bed in the night - his favourite form of punishment

Completely refusing to do a wee in his tray. He's walking around miaowing and looking out the windows so he obviously needs to go!

Animal friends have been good with my little chap too. They have covered about £2000 worth of treatment. I had to cover the last £1000 myself as we had hit the max limit, but he is worth it.

That's interesting, I've never heard anyone say anything good about Animal Friends. I'm glad they have paid out for your cats.

We had to get a urine sample from Harry a while back. Luckily it wasn't urgent as it took a few days (he was obviously going in the garden, we were letting him out during the day). The morning I found he'd used the tray I went running in to DH and announced 'he's been, he's had a wee!' DH then had the lovely job of collecting the sample!

Animal friends seemed to get a bad press at one time, but maybe they were just starting up then .i dont know, but have been brilliant with my claims up to now anyway, and very reasonable ,not much more to insure for life than on a yealy basis
There are different levels of cover of course, so tou will pay more for somethingd
I enquired also about cover for my little dog, and that is only £5 a month, some insurers are very expensive for dogs, more than cats
At the moment the dog is covered by PDSA for £7-50 a year, because i have pension credit,
PDSA are stopping this now, but are going to charge £4-50 a month but still worth it
My last vets bill was £66, but they only asked for £6, they ask for a 10th of cost, although i did pay more, because i still saved a lot of money

Oh wow, he is gorgeous! White socks, toe beans and everything! 😻

Have you managed to get a wee sample yet?

What a stunning boy! I don't think I've ever seen a cat like him. I hope he has been good and provided a sample.

Toe beans?!

Thank you for all your compliments - he is even more beautiful in the flesh. The vet thinks his dad was a pedigree, possibly a ragdoll. His mum was a sad looking little black shorthair. I wish we'd taken some of his siblings too.

We had to shut him in the kitchen this morning (I work mornings) with his tray, food and bed. Got home and he has done a wee in his tray!!! Such a clever boy! He's enjoying his freedom now out and about. Will drop the sample off after the school run.

Thanks for all the advice about insurance. I'm definitely going to get some after this, we've been very lucky up to now (and I have a savings account for these eventualities) but if he ever had a big accident we'd be hard pressed.

Here he is again.

Oh no! I missed a call from the vets after their closing time. When I called back 3 minutes later they had closed.

Half of me is thinking "if it was bad news it would mean a long conversation and they wouldn't want to do hat outside if opening hours"

The other half is thinking "it must be urgent!"

Will call as soon as they open tomorrow morning. I'm so annoyed with myself!

Good news! He has a bladder infection which we have antibiotics and special food for, he's been trying to flush it out by drinking more.

He also has crystals in his urine which might be because of the infection, or might be genetic. We will retest in a month and if he is clear of infection but still has the crystals then he will need to be on medicated food for life in order to prevent the crystals forming and causing blockages which can be fatal, but hopefully it's just due to the infection and we won't have to cross that bridge.

Thanks for all your advice and for giving me a kick up the bum to take him to the vets.

Yay glad he's on the mend!

Glad it's not diabetes, I would definitely get some insurance. Out of all the insurances I've had pet insurance is the one I'm most grateful for! You can get fair cover from about £8 a month.

I have life insurance from Animal friends at around £5 a month
Had to use it for one of my cats who had heart failure
I would have had to pay £30 a month otherwise, she sadly passed away after 13 months,
Another cat had Diabetes, but it wasnt discovered until very late, she was 17 though,it cost me initially £200, then £30 a month until she passed away, not long after
Animal friends paid out straight away,
Second cat wasnt insured, so cost me a fortune,
Well worth having insurance
So pleased your cat is or will be ok, poor thing