My cat wont drink water.... Ever

[Bob A Job]

Hi,

Ive had my one of my cats for ove 3 years now and she never, ever drinks water. Not bottled, Tap, running water, Not from plastic bowls, glass bowls or ceramic. Ive tried everything.

Her wee really smells of ammonia, Ive seen a vet and he said some cats dont drink, just keep her on food in gravy or jelly to keep her hydrated.

Does anyone have any tips or ideas to get her drinking or to stop the litter tray stinking?

Thanks in advance

[peanut]

try leaving one of your water taps running a little bit, some cats like to play with running water. this may entise her a little to try to catch the water in her mouth. you just need to let it drip at a rapid pace. If that works, then you could try going to the pet store and buying one of a variaty of water fountains for her. There are ones like mine where the water flows over a dome and the cat can lick the dome for water. there are others where it is an actual fountain kind of like a drinking fountain for humans..

    As far as the litter, about the only thing i can think of is an odor absorbant litter, possibly with baking soda or something like that.

[peanut]

I see you said she wont drink running water but you may have it running too fast.

[lindapinda]

I agree with peanut as regards the running water.One of my cats likes to only drink water from a tap,but it must not run too quickly!! He is very definete about that!There are some supposedly neutral smell sprays for the litter tray,but,to me within a short time,they actually turn your stomach more than the urine smell.An expensive alternative,is to change the litter more often,so that the litter itself can cope with the smell.

[Bob A Job]

Thanks guys but I live in the Canary Islands and Tap water is very salty, In the UK she would watch running tap water but never drink from it no matter how fast it was running

[Tim Baxter]

I agree with your cat, I never drink water, yech, fish p*ss in it.  Give me tea, coffee, tequila and orange juice any time.

[drgnrdr]

Just joined in. I would try to add a bit of low fat/ low sodium chicken broth to the water. Not allot just a bit to make it taste better,Also canned food has a higher water content. Just be sure to clean her teeth more often when using canned food, no need for her to get cavities and such. Some add water to dry food or the above mentioned chicken broth, when warmed slightly it intices them more. Hope you have something like this in the Islands....

[Kimmiebear]

Some cats are picky about their whiskers touching the bowl of water so try a wide bowl like a pie plate. You can try putting some tuna water (the stuff from the tin) in the water to make it smell good. If she still refuses to drink you can at least make her wet food into a slurry-like gravy so that she gets her recommended water.
Try looking up renal failure in cats for water suggestions (not that your cat has the symptoms, but usually there is good water consumption encouragement methods attached to those pages)

[Kimmiebear]

Let us know if anything suggested works so that we can try it with our stubborn pets at home.
Cheers
Kim

[Shire]

Is it possible that she could be getting water from an outside source?  We always have fresh water down for our cat, but it is rare to see him drink it, and we have seen him drinking from the stream at the edge of the garden. 

[Bob A Job]

Just as an update, we've tried all your suggestions and no joy. She still isnt drinking.

and shire, we live on an island with less than 15 days of rainfall a year and no surface water (rivers/streams).