Silly Question - can cats have too much water?

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paige

paige

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Hello all,

This may sound stupid but since my Webber was dx with diabetes I started feeding canned food and always add quite a bit of water. All 4 cats are on the same diet and therefore all get their water from the canned food. I no longer see them drinking from the water bowls. Webber is now in remission (thanks to FDMB!) and I continue to add quite a bit of water to the canned food because 2 of my 4 cats suffer from constipation.

Can you give a cat too much water? Will it harm them to add water? I feed one 12oz can of Wellness twice a day. I end up adding almost 1/2 can of water to the food. They like it mushy ;-)

Thoughts?
 
Cats should get an average of about a half a cup of water per day. They will get this from their foods or a water bowl.
 
I know that people can get too much water, and I don't know about cats......

But what you are doing is not too much water.

But you might think about adding Miralax to the food of those prone to constipation.
 
Venita - I do use the Miralax too :mrgreen: Thanks, I don't think it's too much spread out between 4 of them. But I tend to get a little paranoid sometimes when I see a larger pee in the LB every once in a while. Knowing that I have tested all of their BG's and no one has FD (knock on wood) and they are not geting extra water from the bowls it must just be coming from the extra water I provide.
 
I would only worry if they are losing weight and don't need to. It is possible that by adding water that they would feel full before they had eaten enough calories. If they are maintaining their weights, I think you are fine.
 
I would imagine the chemistry issues are the same with people and cats.

the problem with too much water in humans is not so much the water, but the fact that it flushes out important minerals (like sodium) that your body can not live with out. With out the right balance of electrolytes your body can't function.

It is usually an excessive amount of water in a very short amount of time (think drinking contests) that are the problem, not a slow increase over time with proper nutrition

-says the woman who drinks so much water she has to take extra potassium or she gets heart palpitations


Connie
 
Thank you everyone for you input. I guess 10 ounces of water a day split between 4 cats isn't too much. Just call me Miss Paranoid. :mrgreen:
 
Hi Paige,

The only time I would be truly concerned about a cat drinking too much water, is if they have Congestive Heart Failure.

Also, you want to make sure that none of your cats has Chronic Renal Failure, as that could show up as more pee, which is usually what is called dilute urine. Then a cat needs more water, thus you see folks on here giving sub-q fluids to cats with CRF.

Take care!
Jean and Charcoal (GA)
 
Jean and Charcoal said:
The only time I would be truly concerned about a cat drinking too much water, is if they have Congestive Heart Failure.
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Just a note here, cats with CHF can tolerate plenty of water in their GI tract -- it's a different "system" and excess water is easily shed through the kidneys :-) Dehydrated cats in CHF can have a temporary feeding tube put in and be flushed with water enterally (through the GI tract).
 
Connie & Em (GA) said:
I would imagine the chemistry issues are the same with people and cats.

the problem with too much water in humans is not so much the water, but the fact that it flushes out important minerals (like sodium) that your body can not live with out. With out the right balance of electrolytes your body can't function.

It is usually an excessive amount of water in a very short amount of time (think drinking contests) that are the problem, not a slow increase over time with proper nutrition

-says the woman who drinks so much water she has to take extra potassium or she gets heart palpitations


Connie
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Yup, you're right about that for cats too if the are peeing a lot because of the extra water - flushes potassium out, and I think calcium too (not sure about that)
 
I've tested all 4 kitties glucose and all are normal. But something just doesn't feel right. I think my Shelby is peeing a little more than he used too. I was contributing it to the water increase in the food but I'm gonna have his kidneys checked anyway. Even though he is only 2 yrs old.
 
paige said:
I've tested all 4 kitties glucose and all are normal. But something just doesn't feel right. I think my Shelby is peeing a little more than he used too. I was contributing it to the water increase in the food but I'm gonna have his kidneys checked anyway. Even though he is only 2 yrs old.
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yes, by all means, do have him checked if you suspect something is wrong. You won't wonder anymore - you'll know.
I suspected it too and Sweety turned out to be Hyperthyroid.
 
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