Cat not drinking much water...help!

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Max99

Member Since 2017
Hi all,

I’ve just realised now that my cat hasn’t drank that much water today and is refusing to drink. I’ve given her an ice cube, which she usually loves, I’ve flavoured it was zylkiene, again which she usually loves... My vets is closed now, opens tomorrow morning. I’ve done the pinch test and I think it shows she’s dehydrated! I’ve syringed some water into her mouth now (a syringe without a needle!) but I just wondered if it was safe to give her some water like I do her insulin, just to get her through the night? Thanks all.

P.s. she is eating (it’s dried food (she’s allergic to the wet foods I’ve tried!) and I’ve been soaking the food in water as much as I can before it falls apart! Thanks.
 
I am no expert, but I would not think you should inject water like you do insulin, if I'm reading correctly. SubQ or subcutaneous fluid injection is a different process with the proper fluids. Until you get some additional responses by more experienced members, I only would advise to keep offering water, maybe some diluted water drained from tuna can? Maybe a different bowl, ceramic instead of plastic, etc. I have not done syringe feeding, so I can't advise on that, except to be careful to just get into the side of her mouth and not directly down her throat.
 
Idjit's mom said:
I am no expert, but I would not think you should inject water like you do insulin, if I'm reading correctly. SubQ or subcutaneous fluid injection is a different process with the proper fluids. Until you get some additional responses by more experienced members, I only would advise to keep offering water, maybe some diluted water drained from tuna can? Maybe a different bowl, ceramic instead of plastic, etc. I have not done syringe feeding, so I can't advise on that, except to be careful to just get into the side of her mouth and not directly down her throat.
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Ok thanks. Yeah, I give her medication orally in a syringe so I’m used to giving liquids and putting them down the side of her mouth. I’ve managed to encourage her to drink a little out of my hand. I haven’t tried offering water on a plate yet, I’ll try that now. Thanks again. :)
 
Your profile says you feed dry food. Have you recently switched to wet? Our Lewis gobbles down some dry, mostly wet and I have never ever seen him at the water bowls. He gets all his water from wet food.
 
You should definitely not inject regular water like you do insulin. That would be an infection risk and really have no real benefit. Ringers solution that is used for subq fluids is a sterile solution and has electrolytes to bring a dehydrated cat back to balance. If you think she is very dehydrated and generally acting sick, it may be worth a trip to the ER vet.
 
Hi

Is perfectly safe to give her water into her mouth in cases like this is usually recommended you give her more o less 2 ml every two hours to help her with dehydration till her vet can see her, just don't try to give too much at once because you could cause her to throw up.

You should NEVER inject water like you do insulin, you need a special solution for giving subcutaneous or through an IV, you need to see a vet before doing this.
 
Ok, thanks all. Noah&Me, I’ve tried her with wet food, but she has skin and food allergies, and she just constantly itched.
 
Just wanted to confirm she is diabetic, most of us have more cats that are not diabetic but we post there problems here too.
So she is allergic to wet food but not dry right? Do you know what in the wet she is allergic to?
How is her dental history? Have you tried putting out warm water?
 
Max99 said:
Ok, thanks all. Noah&Me, I’ve tried her with wet food, but she has skin and food allergies, and she just constantly itched.
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I don't know your circumstances or work schedule, but would a home prepared diet or a raw diet be a consideration? That might eliminate what ingredients caused the allergies.
 
Have you tried wet food that are a noval protien and limited ingredient such as lamb, duck, or rabbit? It may cause less allergic reaction.
 
Hi all, Noah&Me, yeah she has diabetes.

I rang the vets this morning and our usual vet rang me back this afternoon, said to just keep trying to get her to drink. I’ve just bought her some hypoallergenic wet food - turkey flavour - but (and now I remember this is what happened when I tried feeding her the GI food that the vet recommended once...luckily she doesn’t need it anymore) I put a bit of wet food out on a plate, she hopped out of her bed, and she’s only licked the gravy/sauce and not ate any of the meat! I’ll try adding some warm water to it later on. I remember trying everything with the GI, cutting the pieces in half, then mushing them up, adding a little bit of water to it...nothing would work to get her to eat the meat. It’s good that she’s licked the gravy as it means she’s had some liquid. . I wonder if somewhere sells just gravy/sauce in packets with no meat. .

She was so weird earlier on, she wouldn’t drink any water out of her ceramic bowl, I offered some water on a plate, didn’t work, on the kitchen floor (licked a tiny bit) and then I tried this small ceramic cup, which she gladly drank from! I then topped it up for her so she could reach the water easily only for her to be confused and start dipping her paw in! . She’s very weird. .
 
You are trying so hard. :bighug: At least maybe if she's dipping her paw in, she might lick it off and get some fluid, although probably not enough. I sure hope others will be able to come up with some additional ideas to help. I make chicken bone broth and share with Idjit. I cook the leftover unseasoned bones and chicken bits in my pressure cooker with cleaned egg shells for calcium, strain, let it cool, remove the top layer of fat and freeze some into cubes for the cat, the rest in bricks for soup, etc. Maybe get a chicken breast, boil it and offer the broth to your kitty? She also might like some of the chicken meat.
 
If she likes tuna you could make tuna water (flavor the water by leaving some tuna in it for a few hours and then just putting the water without the tuna in her plate) maybe that way she'll drink it
 
Thank you Idjit’s mom. :). I’ll try your suggestion of some chicken breast broth. I’ve tried her with some cooked chicken breast before as the vet recommended it when she went off her food completely once, but she only ate a few pieces before going off that. :/.

Veronica&Babu-chiri, she’s allergic to tuna. I only know that as she tried (and at first enjoyed) some cat tins of tuna with sardine and tuna with salmon, and then she became really itchy.

She’s a very complicated cat! :cat:
 
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