I have an 8 week old male kitten who is frequently constipated. He is on soft food and a veterinary laxative but he will not drink water. The weekends that I have off are the only days that he takes water because I make him take it with a syringe. Before I give it to him this way I try to get him to lap it from the dish. His mom drinks it and so does one of his 2 sisters. I'm not sure what the other one does but her movements are regular. Sakura and mitaka are perfectly fine but poor little charles is really having a hard time. Please give me any suggestions to get him drinking water independently. Are there other fluids he might take?

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Originally Posted by airbats-goku

I have an 8 wk old male kitten who is frequently constipated. he is on soft food and a veterinary laxative but he will not drink water. The weekends that I have off are the only days that he takes water because I make him take it with a syringe. before i give it to him this way i try to get him to lap it from the dish. his mom drinks it and so does one of his 2 sisters. I'm not sure what the other one does but her movements are regular. Sakura and mitaka are perfectly fine but poor little charles is really having a hard time. please give me any suggestions to get him drinking water independently. Are there other fluids he might take?

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Did u give it kitten formula?

Oh you and u could try to dip its nose in the water?

I would water down his kitten food, add water to it. He may eat more often , but at least he will be getting some water. Wet food does not have the nutrition in it as dry does so you really need to encourage him to eat dry as well.

Actually, wet food (from what I understand) is actually healthier for cats. Cats are desert creatures, and are adapted to getting a lot of their water from food. They don't absorb it as well from water drunk by itself. And cats can get addicted to dry food if you let them. So, I'd keep up the wet food (good quality, of course, which is slightly more difficult right now with the pet food recall). Also, some cats like their water to be moving, so you might want to try a cat drinking fountain. That might get him to drink more.

Cat Food Thank you froggy, I had never questioned what my vet had told me about dry versus wet food. He told me if I wanted my cat to lose weight to feed him canned that it was not as nutrious. My cat has an ear infection and he is going to the vet tomorrow. I plan on questioning him on this, per your advice and some of the websites that I have looked since reading your post. Did your vet tell you this. I would like to have as much info as possible about this before our visit. Thank you.

I took my cat to the vet today seems as though he had an ear infection, that was related to a spat he got into with another cat. I need to watch him more carefully, he had a small puntcure that had become infected. The vet said it had happened a couple of days ago. Btw this was a new vet same clinic. I liked him very much. I asked him about the dry versus wet food and he said that the body digests the dry food better and it is better for their teeth and he recommends to feed cats dry. So who knows, vets opinions vary just like peoples, we can only do the best we know how. My cost was 41 dollars this included lancing the wound and for the medicines. Antibiotic (baytril) for 10 days and otomax ear ointment. Anyone in the Cincinnati area looking for a decent vet at great prices let me know I will give you the name and phone number.

There's a lot of debate about wet versus dry food. I split the difference, since my cats really seem to prefer the dry food, by feeding them dry at night and giving them a bit of wet in the morning. Helps get them inside from the yard, as well. :-) Unfortunately, mine only really like NutroMax's wet food, which is, of course, currently off the market. *sigh* Hopefully it will be back on soon, so they can go back to their normal routine.

Oh, and to all those people who claim that feeding dry is better for cats because it helps clean their teeth... cats do NOT chew their food. My cat Pyret has/had Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (http://www.dentalvet.com/vets/cats/LPGS.htm), which is treated by pulling all the teeth from the canines back. She still eats dry food, and her appetite even picked up after having the teeth pulled. Plus, as anyone who has had to deal with cat puke can tell, the kibble tends to stay pretty whole.

Not that I'm saying everyone should feed wet. But it is much harder, in my experience, to get cats that are used to dry food to eat wet than it is the other way around.

And, to get back to the original topic... I do strongly recommend the water fountains. That has gone a long way to increasing how much the cats drink. And I don't have to keep turning on the faucets, like I used to do for Rana-cat.

Hi guys. Thanks for the info and the help. An update on Charles, he is now drinking but still not as much as it should. My vet gave me a hairball removal/laxative goo for him to eat to soften his stools. The active ingredients are white petroleum jelly and mineral oil. The tube of stuff is $10 and he goes through it in a week. I went to Wal-mart and bought a bottle of nujol mineral oil for $5. I give him 1cc per day and 2 if I notice he's starting to become constipated. I squirt it slowly into his mouth with a syringe. Tomorrow I will start mixing it in with his food.

Oh yeah as to wet vs dry. Mine have 1/2 can wet in am and bedtime and dry food at liberty. Only Purina Products in my home. Advanced Nutrition cat chow for adults and kitten chow kibble for kittens and they are all on Friskies wet food. Shredded or chunked for adults and pate for kittens.

Im gald to see your cat is doing better.

Thanks bushg

Wet food is about 80 percent water,so your cat is getting much of his water from his food.Wet food is fine,but the cat will need his teeth cleaned more often because tarter will build up faster.There is a food by science diet called-TD small bites.Use these as treats for your cat.It will keep tarter build up down,and it comes in about a 3 lbs. bag that will last forever.Cats really love it.;)

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Originally Posted by froggy7

And, to get back to the original topic... I do strongly recommend the water fountains. That has gone a long way to increasing how much the cats drink. And I don't have to keep turning on the faucets, like I used to do for Rana-cat.

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I had a cat that would dart into the bathroom every time we flushed the toilet and would drink from it. He just liked the running water. But he wouldn't drink from his dish. I got him a little car fountain that kept the water running down a little slide. It kept the water cool also. After getting this, he drank water all the time from his new fountain.

Give it a try!

Hi I am new to this forum, but I am having a similar problem with the water intake. One bit of advice about mineral oil, I don't use it on my own skin because it robs it of minerals, odd isn't it but true, I used a few drops of vegetable oil to relieve constipation in my kitty. What dd you find out about the water intake? I think my 4 week old is too young for dry food, but I don't know.

You just dragged up a 2 year old thread, and also posted on your own thread. I answered on the other thread. It would be nice if we could keep the discussion in one place.

Dear Morgaine, I have never used one of these forums so I do apologize, perhaps you could offer a little assistance since there are no instructions on how to do this, I also didn't see a year of the old posts or an answer that helped. So very sorry that I am new to this and don't have a clue how to do it properly, perhaps I will find a friendlier site.

Hi leshud,
Here is a link the FAQ section of the site, it has the rules and what not :)

Ask Me Help Desk - FAQ

Please stay on this site, the more the merrier and the more knowledagble people we get the better ;)

First off separate the water bowl from the food bowl. Cats are not huge water drinkers in the first place because they generally in the wild get enough water from their food, domesticated cats still share this quality. The tend to not drink where there "kill" is. As for moist vs dry. Parina breaks it down the following way.

The difference in moisture content among the various types of cat food impacts the nutrient density of the products or the amount of nutrients per ounce or pound of food. As the water content of the diet increases, the amount of protein, fat and other essential nutrients decreases. That means the cat must consume a larger portion of the high moisture products to receive the nutrition they need.

This difference in moisture and energy content also prohibits a direct comparison of the nutrient content of one product type to another. For example, you cannot compare the 12% protein content of a canned cat food to the 21% protein level of a dry cat food and conclude the dry food will supply more protein. You can, however, make a fair comparison of the 21% protein content of one dry cat food to the 30% protein content of another dry cat food and conclude that the cat will receive more protein by eating the higher protein product. The higher protein product, however, is not necessarily superior; that depends on the life stage and lifestyle of the cat to whom the product is fed.