On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:31:03 GMT, rpl
wrote:

Ablang wrote:
snip
So, does anyone have any questions or comments about my technique?
What is your trick(s) for making yours drink water?


At the risk of demonstrating my ignorance, why do you need to make cats
drink water? Don't they do it on their own ?

pat

I just had to change my cat's diet due to too much dry food. If they
don't get enough water, they can have digestion problems like my cat
did. He was throwing up his food hours after eating it and my vet
suggested that this was due to not enough liquid for his food to pass
through. I was totally unaware of this being the cause, since he's
not only got access to the toilet inside, but a water bowl outside
which he constantly drinks from while he's watching the apartment
complex. (we're on the 2nd floor, and he never strays from the
balcony). If a cat is a big eater, consuming a lot of dry food, then
drinking water can cause the food to expand in the stomach. We had a
dog die from this when I was a kid.
My cat eats all canned food now and is doing well. I'm gradually
adding a little dry now because I still think he needs it. I like the
suggestion of mixing dry food with water, but wonder about the clean
up. Since cats don't always consume the food all at once, doesn't the
food get kind of soggy? When I was mixing canned with dry (before the
all canned diet), the gravy from the canned food made the dry get
pasty and sticky. My cat rarely ate it all and cleaning his bowl
became a daily chore.
pepsi