Being capricious animals, the average cats may do all kinds of crazy things out of the blue just for kicks. As a result, the felines give pet owners lots of troubles from time to time. That being said, many first-time cat parents could not help but worry when their kitten won't drink water. Without proper intervention from people, the pets would inevitably become dehydrated which leads to multiple health issues down the line. Unfortunately, getting the kitten to drink sufficient amounts of water daily is a tricky task
Don't know what makes your furball avoid drinking water? In that case, you have come to the right place. Down below, you shall find everything that pet owners should keep in mind about the situation from causes to solutions.
The Root Of The Problem
Generally speaking, if your kitten won't drink water, it's of utmost importance to take a deep breath first. Afterward, you need to thoroughly consider all the factors that may be responsible for the behavior of your fluffy friend.
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Disease
Many things could make cats stop drinking water out of the blue but it's strongly recommended that you assume disease is the culprit first. Parasites, organ failures, toothaches and so on would alter the drinking behavior of the felines. In most of the cases, if you care about your kitten, a trip to the vet is the ideal approach. Considering the fact that kittens have a fragile constitution compared to their adult counterparts, cat parents need to take every sign of potential illness seriously. The rule of thumb here is "better safe than sorry".
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Anxiety
While the average kittens tend to be curious about the surrounding, they get stressed easily once stranded in strange environments. Overall, as the felines get more and more anxious, they shall deviate from usual behavior. In certain cases, it's possible for the pets to stop drinking and eating altogether. Fortunately, you would be able to address the mental strain of your kitten by locking it in a small room with waters, foods and litters. When the pet finally manages to get its bearing, it's going to eat and drink like usual without fail.
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Separation
Your kitten learns essential skills (eating, drinking, grooming and so on) from its mom which means early separation could lead to odd tendencies in cats. To put it plainly, if your kitten happens to be separated from its mom at young ages, it may not recognize water as a necessity. Normally, cats naturally move from milk to waters and solid foods at 4 week-of-age. In the case of orphaned kittens, the weaning should be conducted slightly earlier (around 3 week-of-age) to make sure that the felines grow accustomed to changes in daily diet.
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Bowl
One thing that pet owners must always remember about cats is that they have classes. So if the felines find the drinking bowl to be inappropriate, they would walk away. Because of that, drop by the bowl of your kitten in order to see if there is something wrong there. Generally speaking, cats don't like to drink from deep bowls since it's hard to keep their whiskers from getting wet in the process. Additionally, as the pets have high sanitary requirements, they instinctively refrain from drinking dirty water for most of the time.
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Laziness
Cats have a weaker sense of dehydration than humans which makes them fairly lazy when it comes to drinking waters. Essentially, the felines fail to realize that their body needs water so they don't bother visiting the drinking bowl. Furthermore, if you currently feed your kitten with wet foods every day, its water requirement should be fulfilled largely by the moisture in the foods. If your kitten won't drink water because of that, you have nothing to worry about. Still, you should keep a close eye on the pet.
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Getting The Feline To Drink More Water: Recommendations From Experts
- Invest In A Cat Fountain: Some cats prefer to drink from moving waters which is why they neglect the still waters in the drinking bowl. You would be able to use that to your advantage by getting a cat fountain from the local pet store. In the case your kitten won't drink water in the bowl, odds are it's would fall in love with waters from the fountain.
- Set Up Multiple Drinking Bowls: Cats like to wander so by arranging a number of bowls across the house, your kitten could drink water easily. Of course, you have to position the drinking bowls at spots that the feline tends to visit while strolling around.
- Add Flavors To The Waters: While a lot of cats have no issue drinking normal waters, others need certain incentives. Hence, you should consider adding chicken broth into the water in order to persuade your cat to drink more frequently.
Kittens And Waters: Important Rules
- Avoid Forcing Kittens To Interact With Waters Against Their Will: Sure cats need to drink water every day but it's obvious that they don't like water on them. Hence, refrain from pushing your furball toward the bowl to get it to drink water. In most cases, doing that only heightens the fear of the pet to water as well as you. Once the owner-pet relationship is strained, it's difficult for people to properly adjust the behavior of the felines.
- Different Cats Have Different Preferences: Lots of cats like cold water so you should give your fluffy friend some ice cubes to gauge its reaction. If the pet shows interests, proceed to give it a few cubes now and then to familiarize it with water.
- Early Introduction Is The Key: Usually, kittens would be calmer around waters if people introduce them to the liquids early. Within months of the birth of your furball, it's a good idea to let the pet get to know waters in a controlled situation. In most of the cases, the ideal time to introduce the average kittens to waters is after a play session.
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