The main statement of this post will be difficult to accept. You won’t want to believe it. I tried to debunk it. But it’s true: our cat does not drink water.
I couldn’t believe it either. She doesn’t even touch the water dish. When Spice was still here, I mentioned to the vet that we never saw Miss Sugar drinking water. The vet said, “Oh she drinks, she just does it when you’re not looking”. That seemed plausible. But now that we no longer have Spice, who drank a LOT, it’s clear that she doesn’t.
I did an experiment. After filling up the water vessel that feeds the bowl, I marked it with tape. The level didn’t move. Ever. My brother suggested that the smell of the water might be putting her off so I replaced it with distilled water. Still nothing. This cat doesn’t drink water, so how is she still alive?
We scoured the house for water sources. We don’t have any taps that drip or other places where she can get H20. The toilet lids are closed. We suppose she could pad around in a wet shower or bathtub after they’re used. But she doesn’t show any interest in going into the bathrooms. She pees, and she gets some moisture from canned food, but is that enough?
Our vet insists that she is getting water, we just haven’t figured out where from. If anyone has experience with this, we’d love to know what you discovered. It’s truly puzzling. She is healthy, friendly and affectionate, so there’s no immediate reason for concern. It’s just darn weird, you know, like a cat.
I have had cats that wouldn’t drink water so I would boil chicken (on the bone, no salt in the water) and give them the resulting jelly. It was good for them and insured they were getting liquids. I’ve never had a picky dog but cats on the other hand…
I can’t speak to cats, but I’ve had two dogs who didn’t consume very much water including my new dog. In his case I’ve added some water to his food and since he’s a Lab, he’ll drink the water to get to the food. Don’t know if this would work with a cat.
Well I know one of our cats likes to lick the spout of the tap and he quite enjoys it. He can also turn on the tap, however, he doesn’t turn it off so when we go away we have a box we put over the tap. Maybe your cat actually turns the tap on and off again. Stranger things could happen.