My kitten is 7 weeks now and I cant get her to drink water. She will lick it off my finger and seems to like it. Anyone have suggestions on how to get her to drink it?
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens
Kitten not drinking water
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try a wayer fountain for cats or try encourging her to drink from the faucet low dribble stream. Mine love the cold from the faucet water!
Posted 2 years ago by Momma to 2 MaineCoons #
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are you feeding wet or dry food?
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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hmmmmmmmmmmm soaking the dry over night is not a good thing. Will grow bacteria in it. Best to use canned or moist food. With the canned food she will get a large quota of her water needs there so it will seem like she is not drinking any water.
Posted 2 years ago by Momma to 2 MaineCoons #
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yes soaking dry food for anymore than half an hour is very dangorous because it grows bacteria fast! doesn't bacteria double every 20 minutes or so? so imagine how much there is in 12 hours!
also wet is MUCH healthier than dry. keep feeding wet :D
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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Try giving her warm water ! My boys will not drink cold water at all they like it warm. Give it a try ....
Posted 2 years ago by spanky_mouse #
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I keep the food in the fridge when I add water to it.
I fill the water cold but leave it out and she still wont drink it. I will try the fountain though. She will be old enough to get her shots this weekend and then hope to introduce her to my other cat who is 5 years old. Maybe they will both like the fountain. Thank you all for your help. -
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Yes but even kept in the fridge the bacteria population explodes.
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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Cats on wet food naturally drink less water, because they are already getting it. I would advise against switching to dry food. It is high in carbs and will dehyrade kitty. Not healthy. It is ok as a treat or as a small portion of their diet, but it isn't good as the only food source.
Posted 2 years ago by leighangela #
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Mags, welcome to TDK Chat :o) Is that the new kitten in your avator? So gorgeous!! If you start another thread under Intros you can tell us a bit more about your two cats. Hope you continue to post!
Posted 2 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #
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If you are feeding your kitten wet food, that is giving her a lot of her moisture requirement, so it could be she is just not thirsty. I agree with all the posters who say not to soak dry food, and keeping it in the fridge will not prevent against bacteria, plus a kitten will probably not like freezing cold food. It could be that she does take a tiny sip of water when you are not looking, but another way is to put a little water in with her wet food, as suggested. My kitten loves her syringe, as she was very sick once, and she associates the syringe with feeling well again, and being cared for. So I sometimes give her a half ml of water with the syringe because she loves it so much! She sits up on her post and nudges the syringe, waiting for me to squirt it into the back of her mouth! This might be a good way to give your kitten fluid, if you feel she might be dehydrated.
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Thought I would add my 2 cents. When I got bobby as a kitten, he wouldn't
drink water at all. He wouldn't put his head in his water dish. He would eat
cat food with no problem. I found this strange at 1st, then it dawned on me that someone probably forced his head into this water dish. He will only drink
water from the bathroom sink. He climbs up on the toilet seat(always down)
Then he climbs on the sink. We turn the water low, and he happily drinks with the
water trickling off his head.Sink an water fountain are 2 great way. Also, your kitty does get water from
his wet food.Posted 2 years ago by CuddlyKitty66 #
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I rather feed dry food. My other cat has been on dry diet all her 7 years. She only get wet food as a treat. Dry is so much easier, cheeper, and convenient. The kitten wet food says to feed it in 3-4 meals a day. Now wouldnt you have to keep it in the fridge between feedings??? Thats what I do with this food. Its only in there for 4-8 hours which is less then if it were the wet can food.
Ill be taking the little one to get her shots today and see if I can introduce her to her sister after that. Wish me luck ;) -
There are tons of reasons to not feed dry food. Diabetes, IBD, CRF, Obesity to name a few. Is it easier, cheaper, convienent for you but NOT for cats. Cats are carnivores they eat meat not dehyrated biscuits. They originated in the desert and ate whole prey which contained enough water for them. I have never seen a cat chasing a biscuit over the desert plains. Plain and simple: dry food = junk. catinfo.org http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood fnes.org and i could give you tons more links.
Wet food doesn't grow bacteria in a fridge. Dry does. Dry already has mold in it so get it wet and bacteria really starts going. It doesn't matter how you store it it will still grow bacteria.
I can't afford to feed dry food. I can't afford the health risks. I can't afford hurting my cats health. I can't afford feeding them species inappropriate food. I just can't afford the risks of feeding dry. Therefore: I can't afford to feed dry food.
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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Yes you should keep the wet food in the fridge. You just aren't supposed to moisten dry food. Dry food isn't packaged air-tight and sits on shelves, growing bacteria. Cats have short immune systems and can handle the bacteria (I feed mine raw food because the less processed, the better). However, most cases of bacteria, salmonella, etc you hear about are from contaminated dry food.
Many cats do fine on it. We are just saying, if you are worried about the cat getting enough water, either feed more wet food or get kitty a fountain. Feeding it dry food does nothing to hydrate her; it does the opposite.
If you continue to feed dry only, and either cat gets sick, make sure you give it more canned food then. It's just like when you are sick: You need your fluids and your water!
Instead of moistening the dry food, you should just mix some slowly into the wet!
Posted 2 years ago by leighangela #
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Dry isn't better for their teeth, but you can give it as a treat if you are concerned with it. The only ways to keep their teeth clean are:
1) Feed raw food (chewing on raw gizzards, meat, and bones naturally clean their teeth)
2) Brush their teeth
3) Take them to get professional cleanings.There is a good teeth cleaning training video at this site: http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet/cats
Posted 2 years ago by leighangela #
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Dry is good for the teeth but liek everyone has already said it is a filler type food which means more then jsut the needed is in it. It;s why I free feed dry all day and provide canned 2 times a day for mine.
Posted 2 years ago by Momma to 2 MaineCoons #
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Dry food doesn't clean a cats teeth. Cats teeth are made to tear meat. Watch a cat eat raw and you will see that their whole tooth is used in eating raw which helps greatly with getting rid of plaque. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNGV3uMltnc that video is of Mo, one of my cats enjoying a steak.
Leighangela: I am a raw feeder too! All 26 of the farm cats that i take care of are eating raw though typically only 20 of them show up per night. i LOVE watching them eat their food.
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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My vet advocates dry food. Just my two cents on that. However, when they're kittens. he advises the soft with a little dry kitten food mixed in.
When my Malley was tiny, and later, when he was so sick, he wouldn't drink. The vet gave me a dropper to feed him either soft food or water through. Try that if you can't get your kitten to drink. They become dehydrated so fast.
Also, try getting a can of tuna fish packed in water and feed the water from the fish to him.
Another alternative is to put some ice cubes in his water. While some cats like warm water, others prefer ice cold.
Good luck!
Posted 2 years ago by IronMaiden #
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Many vets advocate dry because that is what they learn in school. Their one class about feline nutrition is sponsered by Hills or another company like them.
My view is to feed them naturally. I know lots of people don't agree. I would say feed all wet or if you are able to feed raw. dry food is just not natural.
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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Vets, like doctors, know little or nothing about nutrition. They are drug-orientated, cure-the-symptoms merchants, and while this is very valuable when your kitty has been injured, or is going through a crisis of some sort, it is far from a long-term outlook. Dry food shatters on impact and only coats a cat's teeth with greasy powder. It is baked at super-high temperatures and is anything but a natural food, really the equivalent of what I think you call chips in the States (we call them crisps, and they are lethal). Also, my bigger cat swallows kibble whole when she gets any, which is rare. Now tell me that's good for their teeth!
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Furryfriends and Eleniki are right! I'm sorry but you can't listen to EVERYTHING your vet tells you. You have to do your research and do what you feel is right. They'll try to sell you dry food for a cat with crystals, which makes no sense at all. Then they get a kick back from Science Diet.
My cat recently was diagnosed with asthma and the vet put him on a steroid pill. I had to call back and ask about inhalers. She was ok with it, but she never would have mentioned it if I hadn't asked first. So now my kitty is on inhalers and doesn't have to have steroids coursing through his veins all the time (that's dangerous.)
But Eleniki, crisps are lethal!!?? Oh no, I love my chips!!!
Posted 2 years ago by leighangela #
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wow, now I know why bobby is big. Actually we don't feed it much dry food at all.
Both of bobby's parents were big cats. He gets plenty of exercise, them comes in
and drinks water from the bathroom sink. :)Posted 2 years ago by CuddlyKitty66 #
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My Morrigan is on soft food with some kitten chow mixed in, but I've noticed that the other cats don't really care for her food all that much when they can get to it. I try to give them variety, because they become very bored with their food easily. The Good Life food is their current favorite; they get many different varieties of flavors with that.
The Emergency vet who treated my Malley gave me Hills soft food for him. It had a nice, mild smell and actually didn't smell like soft food does at all; it had a more "human" quality to it.
Posted 2 years ago by IronMaiden #
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