Why Do Cats With Kidney Disease Drink So Much Water

Eating dry food over the course of a cat s lifetime may indeed be one of the causative factors in the development of chronic kidney disease in so many cats.

Why do cats with kidney disease drink so much water. Cats with chronic kidney disease lose their ability to conserve water and filter toxins from the blood. Cats prefer fresh running water so it s important to clean and fill multiple water bowls on a daily basis. Canned food has much more and every cat with kidney disease needs to consume more water. Even when they do the first signals of kidney disease in cats are easy to miss including subtle weight loss urinating peeing more often and drinking more water.

Frequent urination particularly outside the litter box coupled with drinking a lot of water to make up for the kidney s failure to retain water is two big symptoms for feline kidney disease. Other medical issues such as diabetes inflammatory bowel disease and kidney disease can cause cats to not use the litter box due to the urgency of needing to go more often and not being able to get to their box as well as the pain associated with going the bathroom with some issues like constipation and ibd. A kidney support diet contains less protein sodium and phosphorus and increased omega 3 fatty acids. Therefore if you notice your cat is peeing on the floor soaking the litter box or if your cat is always thirsty it s time to visit your veterinarian.

Let a tap dribble or purchase a circulating water system to entice harder to please cats to drink. A cat with healthy kidneys can concentrate and eliminate the filtered waste products with a normal amount of water intake in the early stages of kidney disease the kidneys can no longer concentrate the waste products as efficiently so they need to excrete them in a lower concentration with higher volume more urine which is dilute. Chronic kidney disease is frequently diagnosed in aging cats. Cats with kidney disease need to drink because the kidneys aren t working well your cat will need to drink more water.

In fact do not feed your cat dry food period. While these two symptoms are possible factors there are many more symptoms before concluding that your cat may be experiencing kidney failure 4. Because cats don t typically drink a lot of water they re at higher risk for urinary tract stones dehydration and kidney issues. An average cat weighing 4 kilos 8 8 lbs should take approximately 180 ml day if they are overweight and also urinate a lot it means that something is happening and we should go to the vet the exception is when the weather is generally hot when the animal must compensate body.

Commercial diets for cats with ckd are developed support kidney function while maintaining body condition. Dry food has very little moisture in it. Your veterinarian will help you choose an appropriate formulation. In general a cat drinking more water than usual is not normal and is usually a symptom that something is wrong.

Make liquids more tempting by using a pet fountain feeding canned food. Changes in appetite and water intake.