I'm just curious how much water a cat should drink everyday. I just got a new kitty, and she seems quite thirsty (finishes two small bowls of water daily) I'm pretty sure it's because of the heat being on...everything in here is dry and it makes ME thirsty... oh and don't worry...we're taking her to the vet monday to get checked out... I just wanted to know so I don't stress myself out too badly. She looks really healthy.. shiny coat, and doesn't show the other signs of diabetes... but I just want some reassurance.

2 inches is enough to drown one in!

(joking!)

finishes two small bowls of water daily)

:surprised

When I was giving my two cats standing bowls of water, they NEVER drank that much together. I eventually bought them a pet drinking fountain. They drink as much fresh water as they want, and the water level in the basin rarely drops more than an inch or two per day.

Yeah, I'd seriously suspect diabetes, too. :worried:

Either that, or kidney disease, perhaps.

well, she's a maine coon...so she's a bit bigger than most kitties... and a friend of mine here had the same problem... turns out that use of the heater was causing her kitties to be very thirsty. So I'm hoping that's the case with her.

Never how much water I leave out for my cats, they always prefer the toilet. We just leave the lid up.:p

My Monchichi has always drank a ton of water, but he also won't eat wet food. Cats who eat dry food drink more water. Then I got both my cats a fountain, and switched Atticus to all dry food when we moved, and they're constantly drinking. They just really enjoy the fountain! Atticus starting sitting in the sink waiting for me to turn on the water when we moved here (he liked the sink at home too but my parents yelled at him), hence the fountain. It's good for healthy cats to drink a lot of water because it helps prevent kidney disease and urinary crystals.

well, I just talked to the breeder that I adopted her from, and she had me take a look in the litterbox and asked how much was there, and also told me to watch her next time she drinks.. some maine coons like to drink with their paws, and since the dish is small, it could easily be emptied. She encouraged me to talk about it to the vet on monday, and offered to pay for any treatment if there was something wrong.

...and offered to pay for any treatment if there was something wrong.

awesome...

well, I just talked to the breeder that I adopted her from

:stinkeye:

Might I suggest turning the heat down a bit and getting a humidifier?

Also, we use a pet fountain, too, and those things are GREAT.

:stinkeye:


She adopted a much older cat rather than a kitten, she discussed it in her other thread.

Yes, she is an adult kitty who came from a maine coon breeder. This woman breeds cats privately...she is not in the business to make money. Her cattery is licensed and gets inspected yearly. All of the kitties there have clean bills of health. She has several kitties that she has taken in who will most likely live the rest of their lives there because they aren't adoptable (ones who are notorious for peeing on furniture, etc) She also guarantees her cats and kittens against any heritable disease, and if a cat is diagnosed with such a disease, she agrees (I have it stated in a legal contract) that she will pay for any veterinary treatment. I made several visits to her cattery, sometimes staying there for hours on end talking about her history as a breeder and the cats she breeds.

I adopted an adult cat because this kitty had been recently spayed and the "queen of the house" cat had been bullying her, causing her to withdraw into herself. The breeder thought she would do best in a single cat household. I had contemplated getting a maine coon kitten (I love this breed of cat...very unique) but I couldn't allow myself to spend several hundred dollars for a kitten, so I inquired about her adult cats. When I met this kitty, it was love at first sight. I think she actually picked me. Anyway, the cost of adopting her was the same as if I were go to a shelter...just enough to cover the cost of spaying and vaccines. And it wasn't like she just "sold" the cat to me.. I had to fill out a questionnaire and answer so many questions...This woman wants to make sure that her babies go to excellent forever homes.

So no need to raise eyebrows.. This breeder happens to be a very good person, she just enjoys breeding maine coon cats as her hobby. And there is absolutely no animal cruelty going on at her cattery.. she has a 6000 sq ft house, and most of the upstairs and other various rooms in the house belong to the cats. There are plenty of litterboxes for all of the cats, and all of the ones I saw looked clean. When you walk into the house, you can't even tell that she has 25 cats by the smell... it doesn't smell like she has ANY. Her entire home is set up for the kitties (aside from the human living spaces) It's like kitty heaven in there :)

That's cool :) Just normally when I see the words "breeder" and "adopted" together...well, it bugs me, because in normal circumstances it's not really adoption. But it sounds like these were not normal circumstances.

I love maine coons too, they're so beautiful and friendly. I'd love to have one someday.

What's the purpose of "pet fountains"? Are they effective in making your cats drink more water?

What's the purpose of "pet fountains"? Are they effective in making your cats drink more water?

That's the general idea. I do know that when my cats only had a bowl of standing water, they drank very little of it, regardless of how often I changed the water and washed the bowl. Cats in general prefer running water, that's why they're known for jumping into the tub or onto the counter to drink from the faucet. Ever since I bought them a drinking fountain, I have peace of mind knowing that they have constantly running (or flowing) water that continuously circulates through a filter (which I change every 2 months), and I don't have to waste water by leaving the tap turned on. They get all the water they need from their drinking fountain. :yes:

That's cool :) Just normally when I see the words "breeder" and "adopted" together...well, it bugs me, because in normal circumstances it's not really adoption. But it sounds like these were not normal circumstances.

I love maine coons too, they're so beautiful and friendly. I'd love to have one someday.

Yeah, that word combination always bugs me too. Same with those who say they've "rescued" an animal from a pet "store". But that's getting off topic!

At any rate, I think it's great that you took one of her older hard-to-adopt cats angelene and hope all goes well. My cats don't drink much at all, but my dogs sure do--I have to flush the toilet several times a day just to refill it for them.

What Amy said, though I've never had a cat jump in a bathtub before. They do like running water, though, and I've had cats try to drink out of faucets, much like dogs do. In fact, my cats generally try to drink out of the spout portion of the fountain more than the base. That's where the "freshest" water is, and having it run over the tongue and so forth is probably as refreshing for them as it is for us.

One of my kittens is a bath/shower HOUND. I don't know why, since she doesn't really try to drink the water--but she always comes running when she hears the bath or shower running, and she sits on the edge of the tub the whole time.

One of my kittens is a bath/shower HOUND. I don't know why, since she doesn't really try to drink the water--but she always comes running when she hears the bath or shower running, and she sits on the edge of the tub the whole time.

my boyfriends cat is like this, he loves the toilet flush too (ewww!)
whenever we get ready to take a shower marvin freaks out, and spends most of the shower time sitting on the edge of the bath, peeking/falling in, finding out its wet and running out...over and over and over, lol.

That's cool :) Just normally when I see the words "breeder" and "adopted" together...well, it bugs me, because in normal circumstances it's not really adoption. But it sounds like these were not normal circumstances.

I love maine coons too, they're so beautiful and friendly. I'd love to have one someday.


Adopted is a good word to use no matter where a person gets a pet.. Unless they actually managed to give birth to a cat or dog.. :surprised

turns out that she has been playing in the water when I'm not looking. I went out and got a bigger water dish for her, and there's much less water missing from it. I guess that since the bowl was so small and she was putting her big paws in it, it was causing the water to splash out. PHEW!

crap. The past day and a half, the cat has been acting a little funny...she's been sleeping under the bed (instead of sleeping with me) and she's been sleeping all day and all night. When I was petting her and she was purring, it sounded kind of funny, so I grabbed my stethoscope (I'm a nursing student :D) and gave her lungs a listen, and it sounds like she's got a little upper respiratory thing going on.. that, and she's been coughing, sneezing, and swallowing alot. Thank goodness she has an appointment with the vet tomorrow. This is horrible...I've barely had this cat for very long and she's already going to rack up the vet bills. Argh.

crap. The past day and a half, the cat has been acting a little funny...she's been sleeping under the bed (instead of sleeping with me) and she's been sleeping all day and all night. When I was petting her and she was purring, it sounded kind of funny, so I grabbed my stethoscope (I'm a nursing student :D) and gave her lungs a listen, and it sounds like she's got a little upper respiratory thing going on.. that, and she's been coughing, sneezing, and swallowing alot. Thank goodness she has an appointment with the vet tomorrow. This is horrible...I've barely had this cat for very long and she's already going to rack up the vet bills. Argh.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, it probably won't be a big vet bill and a little upper respitory upset is pretty normal for many animals with the stress of moving.

I just talked to the breeder and she kept apologizing profusely and she's going to pay for the vet bill :D