Bottoms Up! 9 Ways to Get Your Cat To Drink More Water

We all benefit from drinking more water and your cat is no exception.

Good urinary health is associated with drinking plenty of water for both humans and cats. Good hydration contributes to good digestive health, healthy skin and coat, and more.

Cats who don’t drink enough water are at risk of developing urinary tract issues like infections, urinary stones or, with some male cats…a blocked urethra.

The challenge is most cats don’t drink enough water because they’re just not that thirsty! Canned cat food is almost 80 percent water, so cats who eat it daily are getting the hydration they need from food.

  • Like a horse, you can lead a cat to water, but you cannot make him drink! You can make water more alluring to your favorite feline by trying the following strategies Ice it down! Place a couple of ice cubes into your cat’s food to add moisture. Some cats consider them a little treat! The ice ends up tasting like the food in the bowl, and while your cat licks the tasty cube, he’s getting extra water.
  • Add some ice cubes in your cat’s water to make it more interesting, too. Don’t be surprised if your cat starts to prefer icy cold water.
  • Make sure  there is fresh water in your cat’s favorite bowls throughout the house, or at least in the rooms where he spends most of his time.  Use several of your cat’s favorite containers.  The best bowls for cat food and water are made of nonporous materials that don’t trap bacteria. A cat’s whiskers are ultra-sensitive, so shallow, wide bowls make for kitty’s most comfortable mealtimes and encourage him to linger longer and drink more water. Check out the attractive assortment of modern bowls, feeding mats and fountains at MyThreeCats.com.
  • Change the water and wash the bowls and cups often.  You wouldn’t want to drink from a glass full of water that’s been sitting around for a few days; neither would your cat!
  • A little chicken broth or tuna juice might spice up kitty’s drinking experience. Add a bit to the water and see if she likes it.
  • Try a cat fountain! Fountains that provide clean, flowing water capture a cat’s interest. And, while it might take a couple of days for cats to get comfortable with a fountain, most like and even learn to prefer them. One of our favorite fountains is this ceramic option that can be enjoyed by multiple cats.
  • Including a high portion of high quality canned food in your cat’s daily diet is the easiest way to get more moisture into your cat’s diet. Better yet, most cats love it!
  • If an all-canned-food diet isn’t in your budget or your cat doesn’t take to it, try adding a bit of water or low-sodium chicken broth to his dry food for moisture content.
  • If you can, feed your cat more frequent, but smaller, meals. Eating usually encourages thirst so eating more often may get him to drink a little more, a lot more often.

Water intake is one of the most critical elements to good feline health, so make sure  your kitties always have plenty of tempting opportunities to  whet their whiskers!

Have you had success with other strategies to get your cat to drink more water? Share them with us in a comment below!

 

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Catastic Cat Cake

Years ago, my daughter, Nicole, devoted many hours towards creating the most beautiful and original birthday cake for me.  This cake is the stuff of cat lovers’ dreams.   Nicole created from scratch, a moist, mouth watering red velveteen cake.  She painstakingly decorated it with marzipan.  Enjoy the slideshow that takes you step-by-step through the process.   This cat cake truly was a labor of love.  Thank you for the memories, Nicole.  You are the best daughter a mother could hope for.

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Vet Trips Made Easier

Amy D. Shojai is a certified animal behavior consultant and the award-winning author of 23 pet care books, including “Complete Kitten Care” and “Pet Care in the New Century: Cutting-Edge Medicine for Dogs & Cats.” View more about Amy by clicking here:
https://www.thesprucepets.com/amy-shojai-cabc-551736
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Cats get the short end of the health care stick. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, cats visit the vet much less frequently than dogs. It’s not that felines are healthier (although cats do hide illness better) but many cats hate the vet so much their owners find it easier to just skip it. But even healthy cats need well exams once or twice a year.

Cats are adept at protecting themselves from stranger danger. What’s familiar is safe, while anything new or different raises kitty suspicions. A vet visit delivers a triple whammy by changing the cat’s routine, environment and exposure to strangers. Here are seven reasons cats hate the vet and how you can ease the angst.

Negative Crate Expectations. Cats learn very quickly to recognize cause and effect. The appearance of the cat carrier prompts kitty disappearing acts if used only for vet visits. Make the carrier part of the furniture and add a fuzzy bed or catnip toys inside to create a pleasant association.

Claustrophobic Car Rides. Though humans can look out windows and know what’s happening, the cat’s-eye view from the carrier offers movement without warning. Odd sounds and being in a strange environment raise cat blood pressure and might even prompt motion sickness. Covering the view with a towel over the carrier’s door helps some cats. But simply taking Kitty for many short rides around the neighborhood (and never going to the vet!) followed by treats or games can diminish nerves.

Scary Smells. Cats experience much of life through their noses. The array of unfamiliar smells found in a hospital — antiseptic, strangers, other animal’s fear — can ramp up the kitty fright factor. A pheromone product like Comfort Zone with Feliway that can be spritzed on a towel inside the carrier can help soothe environmental stress.

Strange Pets. Nothing turns felines into hiss-terical claw monsters like barking dogs or meowing cats. When confined inside a carrier, your frightened cat can’t flee, so the fight-or-flight instinct has no outlet. She may redirect her fear aggression on the nearest target — you or the vet staff. Ask to schedule your cat’s exam early in the morning or at slow times to avoid a busy waiting room. Some vet practices have separate waiting rooms and entrances for cats and dogs, so at least your cat never has to see or hear the mortal enemy.

Cold Exam Tables. Though cats may hate getting into their carriers, being dumped on a cold metal table elevates the “strangeness” of the experience significantly. After all, Kitty-Boy’s preferred lounging spots are the windowsill with a view, the soft top of the sofa, or a table underneath a warm lamp. Take along a towel or even the cat’s bed that smells like your cat to make the exam table more feline friendly. Some cat specialty practices have exam room windows with bird feeders outside or water fountains and fish tanks for kitty distraction.

Weird People Doing Weird Things. The vet and clinic staff love animals, but to your cat they’re from Mars. Maybe they wear uniforms and smell like dogs (spit!) and don’t ask permission to stroke his fur. A particular stressor is being handled by several people — the vet tech for getting a temperature or stool sample, for example, and later the veterinarian. Reducing the number of handlers may help. Scheduling enough time so the cat doesn’t feel rushed also can ease the tension.

Painful or Surprising Events. Needle sticks aren’t much fun. And a cold thermometer inserted into the nether regions is no way to make friends. It’s up to owners to offer treats or toys during and immediately after upsetting procedures to help change how cats feel about vet visits.

Cats remember discomfort, fear and bad experiences and expect them in the future. But they also remember good experiences and anticipate accordingly. Ask about taking your kitten for “fun visits” to meet and get used to the vet and staff, so he can simply play and be petted rather than examined and treated. Repeated happy visits take the scary out of the equation. Make vet visits more pleasant, and your cat will be happier — and healthier.

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No blarney! Find Patrick the Cat in our CatHaven Tree for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!

It’s easy to enter!
  1. Find Patrick the Cat in our CatHaven Tree, pictured below
  2. Click here to place an order with us, any order store wide (no minimum).
  3. When you receive your email order confirmation, click Reply, and tell us where Patrick is located on the CatHaven Tree.
  4. The winner will be randomly selected from the correct entries posted by March 31, 2019.
  5. We’ll notify the winner via email on April 1, 2019.
Now, have fun shopping with us, and may you have the luck of the Irish!
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I Want to Celebrate Cats!

I have loved cats since infancy.  Or so my Mom used to say.  My first cat was a jet black, sleek looking cat named Ebony.  There’s a faded picture of my Mom lowering Ebony into the cradle to take a better look at me.  I don’t know if Ebony was that impressed, but I’m sure that I was!

Since then, after years of living with Ebonys, Taffys, Lilys, Bogeys and Chesters, with countless moments of joy and of sadness (at their eventual loss), I am still crazy about cats.  I was crazy about cats long before the internet’s love affair with them.  In fact, I even opened a cat shop in 1998 and appointed a newly adopted tuxedo boy named Bogey as our official shop cat. (now, you can shop at my website, MyThreeCats.com)

My heart has expanded with each cat experience.  So much so, that I couldn’t help sharing the passion.  Today, I serve on the Board at FosterCat, Inc., a Pittsburgh based network of foster homes and volunteers who rescue and save cats’ lives every day.

Cats are so tuned into us that they know when we are energetic, happy, stressed, sick, exhausted or grieving.  How many of you have experienced the comforting feeling of a cat tending to you while you lay in bed, sick or hurting?  It’s pretty special, whether they decide to catnap beside you, or tap your face with their little paw to say, OK, I’m here.  (Of course, LOL, they also use techniques to wake you up.)

The daily care giving time I have invested in my cats has been rewarded many times over with their unconditional companionship and affection.  Only those who have owned cats (or should I say, have experienced being owned by them) will understand this.

Anatole France made this observation:  “Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remained unawakened.”  I wholeheartedly agree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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