Kitten Advice Needed!

[Seanette]

We discovered that both he and Harry have been drinking less because both of the kittens have been going into the bathroom at night, and licking our roommates legs after he showers. Harry even tries to get into the shower with people. Dobby'll even try and get into the shower with you. Little weirdos.

When I'm soaking in the bathtub, my cat Allie (aka The Princess) loves to hop up on the edge and drink from the tub. Her predecessor did the same thing.

Glad baby's doing better!

[Seshat]

ElderlyCat did that a lot. She also loved drinking from the floor of the shower after someone had showered, or drinking the water from the tub as it was escaping.

Her absolute favourite way to drink water, however, was a dripping or slowly-running tap. To the point that she'd ask someone to follow her to the bathroom and turn a tap on for her.

[Kittish]

As far as water goes, Mister Kitteh firmly believes that water in any open container is specifically for him. He also likes to sit on the side of the tub when someone takes a bath, though thankfully he hasn't quite dared to jump in yet.

Wet food and bits of raw chicken are occasional treats for our cats, Taste of the Wild dry food is what they eat most of the time. It has rice in it, but fairly far down on the ingrdients. No wheat or corn.

I have to question the no natural thirst drive. I've seen cats of all sorts, wild and domestic drink water regularly. Please, always have fresh water available for all of your pets.

[Latekin]

Worry not, water is always available. They've got their regular water bowl, and we're getting a water fountain thingy for them in a few weeks. (It's on order at the store, but there were a few kerfuffles in the ordering stage).

[Seshat]

ElderlyCat loved the water fountain, but neither of the others has any real interest in it. So it's been packed up and in storage since shortly after she died.

[BlaqueKatt]

I have to question the no natural thirst drive. I've seen cats of all sorts, wild and domestic drink water regularly. Please, always have fresh water available for all of your pets.

hence why I provided the link to the information -_-

That said, please do not make the mistake that so many people make when they state "but my cat drinks plenty of water!"

A cat's normal prey is ~70% water. Canned food is ~78% water. Dry food is ~5-10% water. Cats have a low thirst drive and they do not make up the deficit at the water bowl. They are designed to get water with their food.

[MoonCat]

A thought on the water thing: Some cats prefer their water to be warmer. My cat Maggie wants her water warmed, even in the summer. She will sit by the bowl and wait for someone to notice and warm it up.

It's true most healthy cats don't drink a lot. One of the ways you can tell a cat may have a problem developing is when you see them drinking a lot more than they usually do (for that particular cat). It is still possible for a cat become dehydrated; this is common with certain health problems, especially in elderly cats.

Not all cats will eat canned food. Maggie doesn't care for it; we offer it to her when we feed our other cat but she'll only have a few licks. She eats mostly dry food, so we make sure there's always fresh water for her.

[Tama]

Our Stinker refuses to eat any kind of wet food. So I'm not sure how to change that.

[TawnyMyst]

I have one cat that doesn't like wet food but if I pour a little juice from a tuna can over his dry food he loves it. He also loves a little beef or chicken broth warmed up and poured on his dry food, not too much so it's still mostly crunchy but as a treat every now and then he loves it.

[morgana]

Pookah turns up her nose at the juice from canned chicken, and she's not all that interested in ham. If I open a can of tuna, on the other hand, I'd better be wearing trousers. Because she will climb up my leg.

[Latekin]

Well, the news is good! Dobby's back to eating like tomorrow's never going to arrive. While he's still not that energetic, he's taken to sitting on a chair in front of the window and watching the street. He's smacking Harry when he gets annoying. Energy levels look like they're going up again.

Dobby juuust turned two months old. I'm glad he gets to be healthy for it.

[Seanette]

Allie completely turns up her royal nose at any form of human food, EVEN tuna.

[fireheart]

Allie completely turns up her royal nose at any form of human food, EVEN tuna.

My cats were the opposite. They'd have no issues eating "human" tuna (ie tuna from the can), but if you gave them "fish flavoured" cat food, they'd walk off and not eat it.

When Harrison (first furcat) did it, mum went out and bought him Fussy cat. (And yes, he ate it) We also learned the hard way not to give him roo meat. (he was anaemic)

[Latekin]

Harry's a little Hoover. I have to watch him near my plate. We had fish and rice for dinner last night, and within two seconds, there was a tiny paw on the edge of my plate, feeling around for a fishy bit.

[Kittish]

That's when the no bottle would come out. I don't mind our cats and dog vulturing at me hoping for a handout, but I draw the line at them trying to help themselves.