Connect with a verified veterinarian in minutes. Licensed vets are available 24/7 to answer your questions. No need to worry about your furry family member.
Dehydration is a significant factor to observe for your pet cat, and this is especially essential if your cat is diagnosed with kidney disease. In that case, the focus of your attention should be on ensuring that your cat does not get dehydrated because if it does, there would be a real danger of kidney failure for your pet.
How Would You Know Whether Your Cat is Dehydrated Or Not?
As a layman, you should know that there are certain signs and symptoms of dehydration so that you know when her kidneys are at risk and when they are outside of the danger zone. The signs are:
- Sunken Eyes: Point towards a dehydrated body.
- Panting: This means she has done physical exertion and lost a lot of water from her body.
- Increased Heart Rate: Increase in the heart rate indicates that she is running low on water.
- Dryness in Mouth: The dryness in her mouth also reasonably means that she has not drunk water for a long time, so she needs to get some fresh water into her body right away.
- Dry/Sticky Gums: Your cat is likely dehydrated if the gyms are dry or sticky.
While the symptoms of kidney disease/failure may include:
- Weakness
- Weight loss
- Lack of appetite
- Depression
- Bad breath
- Diarrhea (may contain blood)
- Vomiting (may contain blood)
- Dehydration
- Excess thirst
It’s dryness that becomes a cause of developing urinary stones inside of her, which are a great deal of health risk, prevent the smooth flow of urine by blocking the urinary tract. This is why your cat must receive the adequate amount of water that she needs every day; to avoid urinary tract problems and for the smooth exit of urine from the body.
Dehydration may start with mild signs, but with the count of time, it turns to different skin and internal diseases, which may ultimately lead to her death.
Water Availability 24/7
First and foremost, you should always have a good amount of fresh water for the cat in her cup, so she always has the leisure of drinking water as and when she desires and that there is no shortage of it for her.
You could even provide two to three water sources for her at the places where she visits most. Then, like two to three water drinking cups, if one dries up, she can have access to another, and that is also placed at two different locations in the home so she can have a go at water immediately whenever she feels thirsty.
Cats like most the running water; you can obtain the best cat water fountain that provides filtered flowing water to cats. Cat fountains are also suitable for households with multiple cats.
Review symptoms, medications & behavior to keep your pets healthy with a Vet Online in just minutes.
Ask a Vet Live NowStart Feeding Moisture Rich Diet
A diet that has a high amount of moisture content can help prevent such a thing from happening. It can be a competent solution for the urinary tract remaining blocked or being blocked further. Start it right now with the consultation of the vet.
Dehydration is directly linked to the cat’s kidneys since it is the kidneys that process the urine and then make it exit from its body. In case of dehydration, the core function of the kidney remains disturbed. If your cat is already suffering from a kidney problem, then dehydration can be fatal for her.
It is important to take care of the kidneys of your cat so that they keep functioning normally and without any shortage of the required amount of water for the sake of your cat’s health.
On your part, you could give a diet to your cat which is high in moisture and rich in proteins, and as wet as can possibly be so that there is no shortage of water inside of her.
This can help alleviate dehydration problems in your cat, especially during the summer season, and keep her hydrated. The most important thing that you need to take care of a cat is its water intake day in and day out to access the right condition.
Keep Close Eye on Water Level
The health of your pet cat can seriously deteriorate if the right amount of water is not present inside of her and if her kidneys are unable to perform due to the optimum poor water level.
So, what should you do?
Focus on setting a timetable to replenish the water in the bowl or monitor the water intake of the cat so that she can assuredly get the water she needs.
Set the alarm on your smartphone and keep checking after certain intervals that your cat has taken water, and if the cat does not do it herself, you could force her to intake water all by herself to be double sure that the water enters her body.
This will help her flush out toxins from her body and keep her hydrated and conscious. It is possible
that if the cat does not get the amount of water that is sufficient enough for her, she may lose consciousness because of the intensity of heat impacting her.
Summer Season Chronicles
In summers, water is essential for your cat, either having a kidney problem or living a healthy and active life. In the United States, 70% of dehydration cases are reported in summers. When the mercury rises higher than normal, the water requirement of domestic pets also increases.
In this situation, it’s most important to pay attention to the water availability and water intake of cats; if cats with kidney disease do not get water for 24 hours, it can be a life-threatening situation for them.
You should give more attention to feeding water to your cat than feeding the diet because water comes even before the diet; even the healthy cat may not survive for long if she is short on water content for more than 72 hours.
The cat can go on for long without food. Still, she cannot possibly go on much longer without water because thirst is essential to her. There is no way to carry on with her life if there is insufficient water available as the dryness, dehydration, and fatigue would overtake.
You must therefore make sure that water shortage is not something that your cat has to face not in any season of the year and that she keeps getting the amount of water that is fit for her consumption every hour every day.
Final Words
Water acts as a medicine for cats with kidney disease; if they cannot intake water, you must hydrate a cat with a syringe. It’s an easy and most convenient way to feed water to a cat. There can be many other ideas that can encourage your cat to drink more, like:
- Moving from plastic bowl to ceramic bowl.
- Using fountain for flowing water.
- Adding water additives.
- Adding frozen treats in water.
You need to keep trying different ideas; there will be one that your cat likes and start intaking enough water. A cat needs 40 to 60ml water per 1kg body weight; for example, if your cat weighs 5kg, she needs 250ml water approximately. So, keep encoring until she starts drinking this amount of water.
Connect with a verified veterinarian in minutes. Licensed vets are available 24/7 to answer your questions. No need to worry about your furry family member.
Tom
Tom has always loved to write since he was little - he wanted to be either a writer or a veterinary doctor, but he ended up being a professional writer while most of his works are based on animals. He was born in San Francisco but later moved to Texas to continue his job as a writer. He graduated from the University of San Francisco where he studied biotechnology. He is happily married and a soon to be father!
Review symptoms, medications & behavior to keep your pets healthy with a Vet Online in just minutes.
Ask a Vet Live Now
