Preventing dehydration in your cat…

As a pet owner, there are things I have to do, to look after the health and well being of the pets in my care. This is mostly day to day health, making sure they are eating a healthy diet, that they see the vet regularly, and that they are generally being looked after and don’t have any health issues and are happy. This isn’t usually too hard, for me, even though both my cats are pretty demanding little personalities. They eat well, they see a vet regularly, we have pet insurance to cover emergencies and although the younger cat gets himself into trouble, and has needed a few trips to the vet for eating things he shouldn’t and for wounds to be checked after he’s been in a fight, we seem to have kept most of our cat nine lives in tact, for now…

However, recently our older cat, Layla, whom most of you will know, had a bit of a stomach upset. We weren’t sure what caused it, but she wasn’t a well cat for a day or two, and there were frequent visits to her litter tray, and a few messes to clean up on the carpet. Our vet is always helpful, and gave me some advice on how to look after her, and what to look out for and when she would need to be seen by him, if she didn’t show signs of getting better. 

One thing he did say, and I also knew was that she needed to be kept hydrated and would need to be able to drink freely, with access to clean, fresh water whenever she needed it. 

You would think this would be easy, right? Pop a few bowls of water around the place where she can access them? 

Wrong. 

You see, Layla is picky. She won’t drink out of a bowl. She never has. She will sometimes drink out of a bowl, if it’s REALLY hot weather and she’s very thirsty, but she rarely will do this normally. 

So what and how does she drink?

She likes to either drink out of the sink, in the kitchen, or the bathroom, from a running tap, or she will find cups or glasses of water left lying around by humans and drink out of those. 

We have tried to get her to drink out of a bowl, but she won’t have any of it. She’s stubborn. 

I do my best to accommodate her fussiness and whenever she goes in the bathroom or the kitchen and to the sink, I will turn on the tap for her. When I am at home and able to do this, this works but long term, it’s not ideal of course and it means that when we are away, the person cat sitting her, has to remember to let her have access to water too. When she is ill, it means I have to really make sure she gets as much to drink as she needs to keep her from getting dehydrated. 

A simple solution is a water fountain especially designed for cats, to allow them to drink fresh water, when they need and want to.

It seems a bit weird to have to have something especially for cats to drink from, but when you have a picky cat, that wants their water fresh, cold and from the tap, and not from a bowl, you have to do what you have to do. 

It’s a clever idea really, and means your cat, and mine can have access to fresh water when they need it. Perfect for hot weather, if you are out for the day, or away on holiday and the pet sitter can’t be water waiter on call. You can find one that suits your budget and your cat’s needs and set it up, to work for them. 

I figure, we humans get to drink from a tap, when we want, and can access clean and fresh water as we need it, and I wouldn’t want to drink from a bowl of water that has been sitting around, so if my cat doesn’t want to, either, I can’t really make her. A water fountain she can use, easily, sounds like a brilliant idea to me. I am sure she would approve. It certainly would be useful for when she wasn’t well, that’s for sure!

Do you have a picky cat that won’t drink from a water bowl? What do you do, do make sure your pets have access to clean and fresh water? 

*this is a collaborative post*