We can all benefit from drinking more water and your cat is no exception.
A cat’s good urinary health is associated with drinking plenty of water. Making sure your cat gets enough fluids can help avoid urinary tract issues like infections, urinary stones or, with some male cats, a blocked urethra. In addition, good hydration contributes to good digestive health, healthy skin and coat and more.
The challenge is most cats don’t drink enough water. They’re just not that thirsty.
We all know you can’t make a cat do anything he doesn’t want to do, but here are some strategies to keep your favorite feline hydrated and healthy:
- Ice it down! Place a couple of ice cubes to your cat’s food to add some moisture. Some cats think it’s a little treat. The ice ends up tasting like the food and while your cat licks the yummy tasting cube, he’s getting some additional water.
- Speaking of ice cubes… throw some in your cat’s water to make it more interesting. Some cats prefer icy cold water, too.
- Make sure you have fresh water in bowls and cups on every floor in the house, or in the rooms where your cat hangs out the most. Take note of what kind of container your cat seems to prefer and use plenty of those.
- Change the water and wash out the bowls and cups often. Have you ever had a drink out of a glass of water that’s been sitting around for a few days? Yuck. It doesn’t taste good to your cat, either.
- A little flavor might spice up the drinking experience. Add a bit of chicken broth or tuna juice to the water and see if your cat likes it.
- Try a cat fountain! Fountains provide fresh, constantly moving water, which may capture your cat’s interest. And, while it might take a couple of days for cats to get comfortable with the fountains, most of them take to it and plenty of them prefer it. Visit MyThreeCats.com to choose from many different fountains for your cat!
- Feed your cat a mostly canned food diet. There’s a reason canned food is also called “wet” food; has more moisture in it! This is the easiest way to get more moisture in your cat’s diet and most cats love it.
- If an all-canned food isn’t in your budget or your cat doesn’t like it, try adding a bit of water or low sodium chicken broth to his dry food to see if he likes that. I’ll bet he does!
- If you can, feed your cat more frequent, but smaller, meals. Eating usually encourages thirst so this may get him to drink a little more and more often.
Water intake is one of the most important elements to good feline health. Make sure to keep an eye on your kitty to make sure he has plenty of opportunities to chug-a-lug!
Have you had success with other strategies to get your cat to drink more water? Share them with us in a comment below!
These are great tips for cat owners! Thanks for the help!
Great tips! I hadn’t even thought about this. When we don’t change the water in our cat’s dish as often as we do our dog’s, the cats drink the dog’s water! I don’t blame them.
Wow, I struggle with drinking water, but I never gave much thought to cats. I always assumed they’d drink as they need to. Makes sense, though!
My cats will only drink from the sink. Spoiled kitties!
Our cats always drink a lot of water. Dogs do too!
A Cat fountain sounds like a really nice fancy idea. The Ice trick is so clever .. great info
I always wonder how much water my cat is drinking. I newver know it its eveaporating or she is drinking it.
Our cats are so weird they drink out of the toilet. It’s why we make sure not to use chemicals when cleaning.
My cats are particular, and spoiled. They like their water ice-cold, and with ice cubes. Yep- spoiled!
Those are great tips. My mom used to put a water bowl in each room of the house and it worked well
I love this! We need one for out cats, especially now that summer is around the corner! Loved all the photos! Lucky felines!
This might help me when my daughter brings her cat over. I’ve never really lived with one before!
The ice cube trick sounds like a great idea. They may want to play with it too!
I know many people who add ice to their cat’s water bowls! Their cats all love it!
I never saw this blog before – howdy – really good tips because often times with cats it’s hard to tell what they drank and when/how often.
Good ideas. My beughbor will like some new thoughts on that.
We do not have cats, but we do the ice cube tricks for our dogs and it is a great way to keep them hydrated.
These are great tips. My cats love running water so we have a cat fountain for them. And our female cat loves to drink out of a running faucet!
I haven’t ever owned a cat but you never know when you might need this helpful information. Thank you! :)
Whoa! I never saw this blog before. I don’t drink H2O out of a dish or fountain. I’ve used my fountain about 5 times in 3 years. I get extra wet food in pumpkin soup which I drink.
No kitty for me! I am sure cat owner will love this informative list i heard kitties can be stubborn!
Even animals can be prone to dehydration. Specially in summer season. My experience, I made sure I store a bowl full of water on their cage. Keep them safe always.