As a concerned cat parent, have you ever thought that how many days your loving cat can survive without water? Most answers would be ‘No’. Because you feed your pet every day. Therefore, no need to worry about such things.
But what will happen your cat when it missed the home or trapped in a place where food and water will no longer with it. It’s a point to think as your first priority is your cat.
Food and water are the basic needs of every living being. According to the experiments, scientists have found that a healthy cat can survive for seven days without water. But it will be able to survive only three days without having both foods and water. But a sick cat will not live that much longer.
How much water does a cat need?
The cat drinks water when it is thirsty. The bigger the cat means it will drink more water daily. Generally canned foods contain 80% of water whereas dry foods contain only 7%-12%.
If you feed your cat with dry foods, you have to concern about cat’s water requirement daily. On average, a cat needs 2-4 ounces of water daily. When your cat does not drink enough water it will have to suffer from dehydration. Since cats regularly urinate quite a bit, it is essential to keep them hydrated.
What does water do for the cats?
Drinking sufficient amount of water daily will help to keep your cat hydrated. This will improve its’ metabolism and blood circulation. Hence it will be healthy and active.
Further there are several benefits of drinking sufficient amount of water such as improving digestion process, removing toxins from the cat’s body etc. Actually these benefits are very common to all living beings including flora and fauna.
But these benefits can be gained only by drinking pure water. Unless many diseases can be caused by using unpurified water. Make sure to feed cats with purified water.
How long can a cat go without water?
As long as the water is available at home your cat will be able to survive, even if you forgot to feed it.
However, without water cat will most likely die within a week due to its body dehydration. So, if you are leaving your cat at home, it is better to ensure an ample supply of both food and water. It would be helpful for cat’s survival until you arrive home next day.
How does your cat dehydrate?
The main sign of dehydration is skin tenting. You can test it with a simple action. First, pinch the skin above the cat’s shoulder and then release the skin. If you observed the skin of the cat acts like a rubber band then it is in the normal status. Unless the cat does not consume a sufficient amount of water. There can be some other signs like,
- Cat does not eat enough food (did they get tired of eating same, find it here).
- Cat is lethargic, tired.
- Cat’s gums are dry.
- Cat’s skin is not like an elastic.
- Loss of appetite.
In such a case, contact your Veterinarian immediately unless your cat will have to face severe stages of dehydration. If the cat is dehydrated severely, Veterinarian will give fluids under the skin of the cat.
What can you do to avoid cat dehydration?
- You can make the cat happy by giving them an attractive bowl to drink water. They may prefer bowls with different colours and shapes. The bowls can be made of glass, stainless steel, ceramic or plastic.
- You can place several water bowls in both inside and outside of the house. So, cat does not need to make an effort to find water to drink.
- Make sure to clean the bowl daily. Further, you should change the water in the bowl daily. Keep water bowl away from the litter box.
- Cat’s tongue is very sensitive to temperature as well as the taste of the water. You can try filtered, distilled, refrigerated water. Milk is a good treat for cats as long as they are not intolerant of lactose. But they do not need milk. However, water is the best thing for cats’ health.
- As an experiment, you can observe your cats’ favourite habits related to water and encourage them.
- Moreover, you can make your cat play with ice cubes. It will be interesting thing for your cat and it will get chance to consume more water.
There are more alternatives that you can try.
- Designing a fountain to get the hang of it inside the house will help to keep your cat hydrated.
- Switching to wet food-diets (Kidney diets), which contains more prosperous and protein. Mostly canned foods contain more moisture. It will provide sufficient amount of water. If your cat refuses wet foods, water can be added to dry foods.
- Adding flavours to wet foods or water or both. Cats may prefer different flavours according to their food and water habits. This will help to raise cat’s appetite as well.
- You can try safe liquids like fruit products with your loved cats. If they do like fruit products, you can add them to the daily diet plan of the cat.
Final Thought
Having a lovely pet at home necessitates Helping the cat to drink more water daily has many benefits. It helps to reduce occurring dangerous health issues of a dehydrated cat and keep your loving cat active all the time.
References
- Dehydration in Cats, WebMD Veterinary Reference from the ASPCA
- My cat was without food and water for at least 3 days, Just Answer Cat Veterinary
- Why Your Cat Can’t Go Without Food, PetMD: VET AUTHORED – VET APPROVED
- My Cat Won’t Drink: How Much Water Cats Need & Dehydration Prevention, Preventive Vet: Dr. Jason Nicholas
Written by Pramu Tennakoon
Reviewed by Editor