Cats often rarely drink water, but in fact they really need water. A healthy cat needs about 50ml to 60ml of fresh water per 1kg body weight. So if the cat refuses to drink water or drinks very little water is not safe for health, what should you do?
Do cats need to drink a lot of water?
A healthy cat needs about 50ml to 60ml of fresh water per 1kg body weight. For example, if your cat weighs 4kg, it needs at least 200ml of water per day to maintain its body. This is 2/3 of a can of coca cola, 1 cup of baby-sized milk tea, and if you have a cat drinking bowl, it's about the size of a medium-sized bowl.
However, there are also external factors that affect the amount of daily water a cat will drink:
- Hot and cold weather.
- Food in the main meal of a dry or wet cat
- Current health status: for example, when a cat is vomiting a lot, has diarrhea, they will become dehydrated quickly and need to drink more water.
- Age: Cats need to drink more water as they get older
Cats refusing to drink water are very dangerous
Cats refusing to drink water are very dangerous. A healthy cat can only survive without water for up to 4 days, while a sick cat can only survive less than 2 days without water.
The cat's refusal to drink water may be due to severe blood loss, shock, or heat stroke. And cats that drink little or don't drink water for a long time will cause kidney disease, stomach pain and even dental problems. In the long run, it can cause bad effects on the body.
How to check if your cat is drinking enough water?
To know if your cat is dehydrated, you can check through the following ways:
Skin elasticity test: Please gently take 2 fingers to pull the skin on the back of the cat's nape, when you release your finger, if the skin is elastic, it will return to its original state immediately, the cat is not dehydrated.
Check the sand pot: Cats usually urinate 2 to 3 times a day, so check the litter box and notice the amount of dirty and lumpy areas due to urine, and also check that the size of the lump is normal.
Consider skin and furCats who drink enough water will have smooth skin, shiny fur without dry, easy-to-fall hairs.
Reasons why cats refuse to drink water
1. Due to hobby
Some people find that the cat refuses to drink the water in the bowl specifically for it and fear that the cat will not drink the water. But actually this can give the disease "choosy" in cats. They may prefer to drink tap water, water from the bathroom faucet, water from the sink, etc. while its bowl is still full.
This may be due to the size of the water bowl that the cat doesn't like, the bowl is too high or unstable, the bowl is too small to cause the cat to rub its whiskers against the side of the bowl, or the cat sees its shadow in the bowl and doesn't like to drink. If this is the case, you do not need to worry about your cat becoming dehydrated.
2. Cats want clean water
Most cats are very fastidious, so they have a hard time changing food or drinking dirty water. Food particles falling in the water bowl, feathers or insects falling into the water bowl are all reasons why cats stay away from that water source.
Cat refuses to drink water what to do?
1. Feed your cat pate or homemade food with lots of water instead of granules
When cats refuse to drink water, grain foods containing only about 10% of moisture will have a worse effect on the cat's body. So you can change their main meal with pate that contains up to 70% of water to help smooth the digestive system and rehydrate their metabolism. Or you can cook your own and add more water to the cat's meal, but this is not very convenient because the cat will prefer the pate.
2. Keep plenty of water around the house
If your cat doesn't like to drink from the bowl you prepared for him and you see him try to drink from the faucet, don't discourage him, but put more water bowls of different shapes, sizes and materials in different locations. cat intelligence to help find their interests. At this point you also need to pay attention to where the cat likes to drink the most, where it drinks more, and remove the water bowl in other places.
If your cat likes clean water, don't leave it open for your cat to drink because this is a waste. To save this amount of water, you can use a cat sprayer (fountains or automatic cat sprinklers). This method of combining toys and water bowls saves water, is fully automatic, and uses very little electricity.
3. Give your cat clean water to drink and change the water daily
Cats are very clean, so change the water every day to avoid stains that make your cat uncomfortable and refuse to drink water.
In addition, currently the amount of water used by many families often has a chlorine smell. This is also a reason for cats to suddenly refuse to drink water. If this is the case, you should take the water out to dry in the sun for about 2 hours to evaporate the chlorine, then bottle it and put it in the refrigerator for the cat to drink gradually. This will help improve the quality of the cat's drinking water.
4. Use Catnip for Cats
Catnip is enjoyed by most cats and is good for cats. If your cat likes mint, put a bowl of clean water in front of the cat and crush the catnip to taste and drop it in the water, the cat will rush to drink it right away.
5. Change the taste and nutrition of water
If the cat still refuses to drink a lot of water, you can change the cat's taste and nutrition with the cat's favorite broth such as chicken broth, fish broth, etc., then divide into a tray and put in the freezer. Every day after changing the water, you can put 1 ice cube in the cat's water.
Here is the answer to the question Cat refuses to drink milk what to do? that we want to share with you. Wish you have healthy and lovely cats. If you need to know more about other ways to take care of cats, contact http://vanchuyenchomeo.com/ for advice.
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