My kitten drinks hardly any water?

Question

He is an indoor cat and we play with him for hours at a time and he is running all around the house chasing a toy mouse thing on a string and i am worried he will get dehydrated. We have tried to syringe water down him which he takes but i don't want to do this and i don't want him to fear drinking water. Does anyone know what i can do to encourage him? I change his water bowl twice a day so he always has fresh water.

Answer 1

Cats often don't seem to drink a lot of water, but as long as you make sure he has fresh water available at all times he will get what he needs. If he eats canned cat food he gets some of his fluid from that, if not he'll catch up later at his water bowl.

He is unlikely to get dehydrated unless he has a health problem, but since he's running around the house like crazy he sounds quite healthy. Don't worry about it, just continue to make sure he has clean water and have fun with him.

Answer 2

I also have a kitten (male 7mnths old) and I thought the same thing I never really see him drink inless it is from the sink He loves the running water I mean LOVES he comes flying into the room if u even go by the sink so someone on here gave me the idea to get him the drinkwell cat water fountain HE LOVES IT it is just like the sink he loves the stream and it is filtered so it stays fresh and clean without leaving your sink running all the time for him You should try it It is the best way I have found to get him to drink more Good Luck

Answer 3

Cats are not normally big water drinkers and usually get their water from their food/prey. If you are feeding canned foods (as you should be) then your cat is getting more then enough water. If you are feeding dry food, then you will eventually see more water drinking. More on nutrtion

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?
http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms
The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process them. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in
Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food_vs_Canned_Food.__Which_is_reall

Answer 4

I have a cat that never seems to drink out her bowl, she prefers it straight from the tap when its running! We make sure we only give her moist tinned food rather than dry food then you know they are getting water within their food. But make sure you keep a bowl of fresh water available aswell because it may be drinking small amounts when you're not looking

Answer 5

Get a pet fountain, this really helped my cat drink way more water and they like to stick their paws in it and play with it. Its cute and the flowing water through the filter is better for your cat. They are not cheap but its a great investment in your cats health.

Answer 6

If you are moistening his dry food (which you should be if he is a small kitten), or if he eats wet food, he obviously is getting what he needs from his food. Just keep the fresh water available for him in the same place so he knows where it is, and he'll get it when he needs it, don't worry. Cats are very intelligent and self sufficient.

Answer 7

Don't give the cat milk, cats are lactose intolerant, and it will give him the runs. If he eats wet food, he is probably getting all the liquid he needs from that. Continue to leave a dish of clean water available to him.

Answer 8

It is something very few people know but a cat will nearly never drink water if it is placed next to his food.
The food goes in one corner and the water bowl opposit the room.

I was told that by a vet once.

Answer 9

sometimes when your not looking your cat will sip some water try leaving a nice bowl of water out for him, maybe turn on the sink put him near it alot of cats like to drink out of faucets.

Answer 10

NEVER EVER feed a kitten or cat milk!!!!
Or any dairy product.
They are not able to digest it.
This will make your little darlin sick.
Just make sure that he has clean water available to him at all times.
He sounds healthy and if his stool is not soft and he goes several times a day he should be fine.
He sounds really cute.