How do I encourage my cat to drink in this heat

[DirtyDianaa]

My cat never seems to drink. He is out and about all day in the heat and seems fine but I feel thirsty on his behalf 😅I fill his water fresh and try to keep it cool, I turn on the tap to encourage him drinking from the tap in the kitchen sink. I have tried water fountains but he cannot be asked with them. Any ideas or do I need to chill and he probably drinks in secret?

Mine is the same. I’ve upped his wet food by an extra pouch and mixed a bit of water into it - sneaky!

I wouldn’t worry too much. I usually give extra wet food in hot weather since they can hydrate pretty well from that- they only need to drink lots if they’re on dry.

Mine will only drink if his water is a long way away from his food! We leave a bowl of water upstairs for him.

Does he eat wet food? If so, I think they can get “enough” liquid from that so if they choose not to drink as well then they should be OK. But, as you said, hopefully he’s also drinking a bit when you’re not looking!

We feed ours Scrumbles shredded chicken in broth, and add about a third of a tin of water as well

I make mine some chicken soup, I literally boil up a drumstick for a few hours and strain it, so I just have ckear unseasoned broth and she laps it up but she is very old and has kidney disease so needs a bit of indulgence

I’ve got one that eats wet and dry and one that only eats dry. Their water is in the kitchen but there’s also a bowl on the garden table and I top up the bird bath. Even when the doors wide open they still go out and drink the water in the garden rather than the water indoors!

Mine like plant water/Christmas tree water best.

Then dirty container of rainwater

Then the bowl I keep in the shower for doing curly-girl stuff

Oh, and boycat once lapped up all the juice from a tin of chick-peas.

The fountain/water bowls/tap - not even slightly interested.

Leave plenty of water out. He'll drink if he's thirsty.

Mine will drink if they think it's water that's not really for them! So nowhere near their food and maybe out of a jug or something rather than the cat bowl.

Mine will drink water from a glass whilst being shouted out, or from a shampoo bottle lid in the shower, or from a manky pond outside, but rarely from their water fountain. I have been known to make cat nip tea, which occasionally gets drunk. I've also filled a shampoo lid with manky pond water and left it on my bedside table and that got a bit of action.

I bought this from Pets at home. Our cat loves it.

https://www.petsathome.com/product/seriously-good-silky-chicken-bone-broth-wet-adult-cat-food-topper-4-pouch/7146643PSeriously Good Wet Adult Cat Food Topper Chicken Bone Broth | Pets

This is an important one I forgot - Girlcat will drink out of my water glass, making sure she gets plenty of hair in it.

I’ve been leaving water all around the garden for the wildlife but she will only drink from her fresh bowl once a day. It’s like she thinks that’s her water allowance.

Mix some water in with the wet food. My girl thinks it’s soup.

we also just bought a water fountain but never seen her use it. I refilled it and kept an eye on and the water level is definitely dropping so she must be drinking it.

Mine likes to drink out of a glass tumbler. Also, you could try one of those lickety tube things mixed with a little water. Oh and leave water somewhere they aren’t supposed to get on to, it’ll work!

Brilliant will try this

Like others , my furry boys will drink out of the manky bucket outside, my bedside water glass, the dogs bowl, anything but their own fresh, clean water!

Mine never really drinks, I give him tuna and chuck a bit of water in with it.

Our cats are desert creatures and they evolved to live in an arid environment. They are able to retain water and in the wild get all their moisture from eating prey. Wet cat food is over 80% water while a mouse is about 70% water, so cats should be ok if fed on the wet stuff. Cats are usually not that keen on drinking and I stopped leaving water out for mine as he never drank any of it. In hot weather I do occasionally give him some of that Felix cat soup that’s about 90% water, he likes it even though he hates regular Felix cat food.

I buy cat soup for treats on hot days - Sheba is their preference but they'll also have the Felix one - not a replacement for food but fluffycat throws up a lot and the soups are how I keep her hydrated in summer when she does.

Also try a cocktail glass - they are now both drinking water almost exclusively from that despite bowls and fountains elsewhere and I only put it out once as a joke when my mum was coming round 🤣

I mix water with the wet sachets, makes a sloppy soup, and they eat it all.

I will definitely buy a cocktail glass. I can see him liking that 😅

Thanks so much for the replies. You have calmed me down and will try the cat soup. I am used to all the tricks in the book placing human glasses around the house as my late old boy had kidney disease. My boy cat is only a year old. He is soooo busy being outside on his adventures I think he forgets to eat.

Cat tax