Allegedly healthy cat won't drink water- anyone had one do this?

[porridgeisbae]

My cat had a liver infection but that's supposedly cleared up now.

He won't drink his water! Ever since he came out of a night in hospital 2 weeks ago.

The vet claims it's my fault for syringing him fluids, but I was syringing him fluids because he wasn't drinking any water, not the other way round.

Vet says I have to leave him to drink by himself, or get back to her in a couple of days if he doesn't.

She made out Naughty and I were hypochondriacs basically.

He's still being a bit picky with his food but seems otherwise well in himself.

Anyone else experienced this?

@porridgeisbae how is Naughty?

Only one of mine drinks a noticeable amount of water. The others seem to get what they need from their wet food and maybe have a few sips in the evening if they can be bothered.

I really wouldn't worry.

When I was worried about one of mine not drinking I added some water to her wet food. That might help. Have you tried cat milk?

I always see my cats drink.

My kitten wasn’t drinking after being spayed and the vet suggested putting a tablespoon of water in with her raw food and mashing it up - that worked.

We also got her a fountain - a petlibro one. It was about £80(!) but after her initial terror of the weird trickling noise, she started drinking from it. We read that cats don’t like food and water being next to each other and it was when we moved the fountain away from her food she started drinking. Filters are about £4 and you’re supposed to replace the filter every 2 weeks.

Our one boy only drinks from the paddling pool (so circa one day a year)
the other boy has cups everywhere (he likes a deep wide mug) but currently he only drinks from the dog bowl very occasionally to wind the dog up
the other cat drinks gallons, I have to top her bowl up at least once every day.

Considering thirsty cat is the only one that’s an indoor cat, I can only assume the others drink outside.

Not sure if you said whether indoor or outdoor cat but mine definitely prefer puddles and buckets to the water bowls. The one who will only eat biscuits drinks like mad while the other drinks very little. I agree with the idea to add water to your cat's food, I used to do this for kittens in the summer. I don't think cats need a huge amount of water so doesn't need to be a soup

Apparently cats don't like to have their water bowls near their food. I have never seen my moggy drink either. He gets wet food though so I assume that is enough for him. He also goes out so possibly drinks from puddles. I think they do prefer non tap water.

I don't think cats generally drink water when you can see them, do they? Mine certainly don't.

My cat likes drinking water from a feeelthy bowl in the garden full of leaves.

This must taste nicer than the tap stuff. Put some bowls outside and in a few places in the house.

@LostCats Thanks for asking. He was completely hyper last night, like his old self. Had to be shut out of the bedroom at night like he used to be, for being annoying. So that was promising.

Still not seen him drink but am just going to keep an eye out and take him back to vets if he seems ill or anything.

@CurlewKate I usually see/hear them drink sometimes, but then they usually have dry food and he's having chicken etc now.

We have random bowls of water all around the house for this reason! I was amazed how much water our cat drinks now. I think it's the novelty.

@@porridgeisbae well that’s a positive sign. He’s probably getting all the liquid he needs from his wet food. You can always add a little bit of water to make it more moist.

Mine drinks from her water fountain but won't if she thinks we're looking. She also drinks from the bird bath outside. Apparently they won't drink in front of people.

Oh yeah and she will happily drink from any water glasses we leave on the table so most of us use water bottles here 🤣

Only one of mine drinks water on his own. We add a tablespoon or so to their wet food as they don't go outside.

Naughty is back on his dry food (I hope that's ok for him) and he's drunk loads. 😀

Mine have a fountain and use it lots.

My cat has a fountain, filter needs replacing every month and a general clean weekly. You can see how much they have drunk but if he's on wet food at least he's having some fluids. How's his urine?

Sorry just seen this 😂glad he's better.

I've seen my cat drink once in 6 years.

She eats wet food and uses her litter tray to do a good quantity of wees so I'm assuming all is OK.

She might drink from puddles when outside but I mostly think she doesn't really like drinking and the gravy and jelly from her wet food is enough.

Mine likes drinking from the large glass bowl (trifle dish from a charity shop) that the dog has.

If your cat is on a wet food diet they will be getting lots of water from that. That's why it's better for cats prone to uti etc.

Yey Naughty!!

He's so Naughty :)