My cat became blocked up with struvite crystals from years of eating dry food and had to have a few operations to unblock him, I found out this is because basically he wasn't getting enough moisture in his diet.
Although my cat and most cats have access to fresh water daily, they don't naturally drink it as in the wild they get most of their moisture from hunting their food. Even dehydrated cats may not drink water.
To get my cat to drink more I mixed a small amount of tuna water or chicken broth into his water bowl and he goes mad for it and drinks loads. Now I know this isn't ideal because it is only possible if you are eating chicken or fish etc and have some left over and also because they aren't ideal as they can have too much salt or other ingredients which cats shouldn't consume.
On that basis I want to create a safe water flavouring to encourage cats to drink more water. I wondered if anyone had any idea if there is currently anything like this on the market and if you think it is a good idea or not? If you would buy it? or any other feedback!
using the water from boiling white fish might be a safer option than tuna water as it is very bland - also you could try those little tins of shredded chicken for cats (such as Applaws or Encore) steeped in water, which again is very bland
the liquid could be turned into ice cubes for future use, to ensure a regular supply
I haven't had to resort to these measures myself, as my three drink readily from their fountain, which I always fill with Brita filtered water
Kay wrote:using the water from boiling white fish might be a safer option than tuna water as it is very bland - also you could try those little tins of shredded chicken for cats (such as Applaws or Encore) steeped in water, which again is very bland
the liquid could be turned into ice cubes for future use, to ensure a regular supply
I haven't had to resort to these measures myself, as my three drink readily from their fountain, which I always fill with Brita filtered water
Thanks for the reply, do you know if there is anything commercial off the shelf I can buy? I want to manufacture something people can pick up off the shelf and add to their cats water to encourage them to drink. I'm assuming to some degree that some cat owners feed dry food as its convenient and wont make the effort of freezing ice cubes (which is a good idea by the way!) and will want the convenience of just picking something off the shelf and adding to the cats water. Hopefully this can save a few cats out there from urinary problems and educate owners on the importance of making sure cats are drinking sufficiently alongside a dry food diet.
Just might be worth mentioning that our cat developed the same problem with crystals. It was at a time that he was shut indoors, as we were renting near a very busy road and didn't want to risk letting him out in case he got run over. His reason was lack of exercise, which is a common problem with the cause of crystals.
You could try a water fountain. They really do encourage most cats to drink more. There is something about flowing water that they like. I'm not aware of anything you can flavour water with.
Also cats prefer their water to be in a different place to their food. I remember reading once that the theory was that cats instinctively look for water that is away from any possible cause of contamination.
We have 3 of these on the go http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petmate-06039-C ... t+fountain" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; There are plenty of other fountains on the market but I find these ones really easy to clean & maintain.
emmab wrote:Just might be worth mentioning that our cat developed the same problem with crystals. It was at a time that he was shut indoors, as we were renting near a very busy road and didn't want to risk letting him out in case he got run over. His reason was lack of exercise, which is a common problem with the cause of crystals.
Oh wow never knew that, my cat only goes out for a few mins each day and doesn't get much exercise at all, I wonder if that contributed to it. Play with him for 5mins and he's tired and goes for a sit down bless him!
MarkB wrote:Hi John,
You could try a water fountain. They really do encourage most cats to drink more. There is something about flowing water that they like. I'm not aware of anything you can flavour water with.
Also cats prefer their water to be in a different place to their food. I remember reading once that the theory was that cats instinctively look for water that is away from any possible cause of contamination.
We have 3 of these on the go http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petmate-06039-C ... t+fountain" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; There are plenty of other fountains on the market but I find these ones really easy to clean & maintain.
Thanks for that, the fountain looks good, I like the way you can easily clean it and buying the replacement parts looks straight forward.
I have a cat that had blockages last year, and feed him mainly wet food with water added to it. A fountain is a great idea but it isn't feasible where I live (no sockets!) and with six cats here, adding water to his wet food was the best way of making sure he got extra water every day. You can also try cat milk, but it's quite fattening.
