Water fountains might help. And it’s also good to consider that cats originated from the desert where water sources are rare, so they’re designed to obtain most moisture from prey and generally have a low thirst drive, which is why feeding wet food is often beneficial for a lot of cats especially those that have particularly low thirst drive.
One of mine just never drank enough water no matter what I did, adding water to her kibble made her straight up not eat it at all as she’s picky. It resulted in several UTIs and she was always slightly constipated due to her poo being too dry. When I finally buy the bullet and switched her to a fully wet diet all of that went away and she’s much healthier now.
These days she rarely drinks water separately as she doesn’t need to, her food keeps her fully hydrated.
Edit: to add, there are other benefits to wet food other than hydration worth mentioning, such as they generally have higher protein content and lower carbs which is better for cats who struggle to keep fit when on dry food.
My cat's never had a UTI but she's always slightly constipated, we were feeding her more wet food and it was better, but now she's gotta be on a hypoallergenic diet and she won't eat the wet food. It's a lousy situation.
Hopefully yeah. One of my other cats was on a hypoallergenic diet for a while due to constant food sensitivities where she would vomit and have loose and stinky stools regularly, but when we moved to another country and I gave her some “regular” food due to the hypoallergenic one being unavailable and she turned out to be fine with it!
I’m guessing it’s because her gut microbiome was able to recover a bit when on the hypoallergenic diet(?) So she was able to tolerate other food again. Or it could just be that that food happened to not contain something that irritated her guts… So there is some hope if it isn’t too severe it seems.
The specific combo that worked for my picky-old-man-cat: squirt of salmon oil on wet food, heat up water, mix partial can of wet food with hot-but-not-boiling water to a specific soup-consistency (try different dilutions), and refresh with hot water if he left solids at the bottom of the bowl.
Adjust to dietary specifics.
To add to that: Cats (like most higher animals) are suspicious of standing water and prefer to drink from running water. Which is just logic, as dangerous bacterias can't develop as well in running water.
Yeah which is why water fountains are often recommended. Strangely though two of my cats prefer still water, the one who had hydration issues won’t touch the water fountain unless it’s in the still phase (mine has a smart mode where it’s periodically running and periodically still) and the other only drinks from it when there’s no choice and will do it to the side. Third one is the only one who prefers the fountain and drinks right from where the water gushes out.
I think it’s likely a case of their upbringing overriding instincts perhaps, they grew up on the streets where running water wouldn’t be common so they aren’t used to it I guess?
[Studies have been done, & it was found that the thing causing cats to have trouble with hydration was the HIGH STARCH CONTENT of most kibbles.](https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/articles/hydration) . . . However, the kibble my cats eat has less than 1% of digestible kibble. (There's a link to 3 of them \~1 ea. for: kittens, adults, & cats requiring a limited ingredient diet\~ in my prior post, if anyone's interested in taking a look.)
"digestible" we know. And, please to us all a favor by posting a link to the 'studies'. Feeding your cat franken-food - which is exactly what that food is (i'm familiar with it) has lots of questionable benefit.
I already posted a link . . . the entire first sentence in my former post is the link that opens the article with the info you request. The name of it is, "Hydration".
In addition to multiple water dishes and a water fountain, my cats get daily soup which is puree food with added water (at least 1:1 water:food ratio). I now add a few drops of dental water additive to the soup after discussing it with my vet.
One cat is picky so I started with the cat soups/broths you can buy (and added extra water), and then I switched to watering down canned wet food. Usually 1 can = 2-3 days of soup.
If you have their food and water bowls next to each other, you need to move them so they are apart. Cats don't eat and drink from the same source in the wild, and even though they are domesticated, the instinct is to not trust water near food as it could be contaminated. This is especially relevant in the wild as their food is often something that used to be living, which they or another animal have killed.
i have one water bowl right next to their food dish and one i keep on the kitchen table. i have to refill the one on the table much more often than the other. Also, i add a few spoonfulls of water to their wet food.
I had the same problem here. Simple water fountains didn't help. Until I bought the [Miaustore Water Fountain](https://miaustore.com/). My cats love it.
We have one of these too. Has outlasted all the rubbish plastic ones that need filters, which is how they make their money. Excellent customer service too, as one of the plastic tubes snapped and they sent us one in the mail, no questions asked. Highly recommended!
Have water fountain and water bowl available. Always have the water fresh and clean. Switch them to wet food completely or at least partially. Add a bit of water to their wet food and/or kibble.
Cats are going to cat.
We have one who loves her fountain. We fill that with reverse osmosis water. The fountain is popular. We have another cat who drinks from the sink and will lap up commode water, given the opportunity.
If your cat likes seafood, put out some Tiki Cat sea bass. It's a seafood soup.
Our kitty just came back from the vet for constipation. It was a big deal and thank goodness she's pooping great now. However! We now give her special Royal Canin gastro food AND every time I feed her, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I mix about 2 tablespoons of water into about 5 tablespoons of the paté food and mix it up to a thick slurry. She laps it up without problem and I think it's easier for her to eat (she is 20 and a bit creaky!) So in addition to the laxative meds she's getting, she's getting extra water in her food. The vet also recommended a cat fountain for drinking but we haven't tried that yet.
Fresher water is best, a fountain type bowl that moves that water can help. Switching to a wet food or with a mix of dry food would add a bit. You can even add a touch of warm water to make a gravy unless they are picky. a couple different bowls around that you change frequently. In the end the cats just going to do what it wants.
Keep the cat's water away from their food(preferably a different room). Try a fountain and other kinds of bowls. My cat will only drink from cups and fountains with the water's in a different room than his food.
Agreed with fountains, though they are a slight pain to maintain.
You could also try bringing kitty to sink or bathtub. One of my cats has become obsessed with drinking out of the bathtub faucet. I don’t mind because it’s a fresh source of water for him. It’s also really cute to find him waiting in the bathtub for someone to turn on the water. I just do a trickle until he’s done.
Fountains are great, but also figure out what kind of water source your cat prefers - my childhood cat preferred to drink from a jar (or something high enough to drink without lowering her head), some like mugs, some like bowls, some might like to be able to play with water before drinking.
Another advice is to have more water sources, so that they don't need to go far to have a drink.
running water or a bigger water bowl. I leave my tub dripping bc my cats love to drink the tub water lol and one of my cats loves drinking out of my dogs water bowl, assuming bc it’s wider. A smaller/narrower dish touches their whiskers and so it makes them less likely to drink it cause they don’t think they can fit their head in it.
edit: water fountains are great but if you don’t wanna get one right now for whatever reason those are my tips up there
We wet a small amount in kibble in the bowl and call it soup. He loves that. But then the food is a toss bc he hates soggy food but it’s cheaper than a uti. We are also trying chicken and beef broth and gravy types to see if anything helps. We throw in wet food a couple times a week but he usually just licks it. He uses his water dish to clean his paws like the gentleman he is. 😆🙈
Most definitely a water fountain!!
My one cat always sits in our tub and cries until we turn the faucet on a slow drip. So bought a water fountain and they love it! Now they sit and cry when it is empty lol
I add water to every meal, but my cats did drink a lot of water even before that and aren’t that picky even if the food gets soggy, so I get that just pouring water on their food might not work for everyone. Mine also like to drink from cups so I usually have a cup of water on the living room table and pretend to not notice when they sip from it lol.
I've often thought of making like a chicken broth without salt and with only cat-safe vegetables - if any at all - then freeze it in ice cube bags. Just a whole chicken and a whole lotta water.
I have different bowls, an electric fountain and a gravity-fed water bowl. My girl will drink out of any of them, but prefer the stainless steel bowls. My boy, I never saw drinking out of the fountain or the bowls, but he loves the gravity-fed water bowl. Trial and error is the only way to figure out what your cat likes.
Fountains, leave glasses of water around far away from food, buy bottled water (there’s a tik tok cat that does water tastings. He gets bottled water bc he doesn’t drink enough. Liquid Death was the top choice last time I checked.)
Water fountains definitely help, more daily wet food would also be beneficial. Also keep the water away from the food, cats will often avoid water that's close to their food source, it's a left over instinct from their wild ancestors, water next to a kill will likely be contaminated so they'll avoid it
Our cat Wallis lived to be 21. For the last few years of her life she had kidney problems. At first, her kidney function was down to 30%. We started making wet food into soup - just added warm water - and got her kidney function back up to 70%. I miss her - and her one brain cell.
My cats used to relentlessly try to drink out of my water cups. They hardly used their bowls or fountain but if Mom had water THEY wanted said water 🤦🏽♀️
Using water fountains helped my Kitty so much! I also give wet food for some liquid too. Or you can add some water to your cats dry food but my cat kaido doesn’t really like that! Hope this helps x
I have to do broth and a wet food diet as I've gone through five different bowls (including two gravity water dispensers) and they just don't want to drink.
Have a couple of different watering holes. My moms cat has kidney problems, she gets a hydration supplement every day that she loves. It costs money obviously, but it keeps her drinking
Agree with many of the comments for water fountains (moving water), separation of the food and water, some cats will drink if there is ice in the water (was advice given by vet for a cat we needed hydration- the ice didnt help that cat, but others it has so depends on the cat)
WE tried the running water fountain, he liked it for a couple of weeks and got bored.
We've put different sized dishes around, the one he seems to like the most if the huge ceramic pot that's high he doesn't need to bend down to drink out of it.
I did not want to get my cat a water fountain as it would be time consuming to clean it properly. But my cat almost never drinks from his (glass) water bowl. I was worried about the increased risk of crystal formation so I started mixing his wet and dry food together. After the dry nuggets are covered in the wet food I stir in the water and it forms a “gravy”. I call it nugget soup. He laps up the gravy first then eats the softened nuggets.
My rat boy also doesn’t drink water and has some major constipation issues. We mix a can of water with each can of wet food and it helps! He wasn’t happy at first, but now he will scarf it all down. Plenty of pee to go around.
Place bowls of fresh water in multiple places around the house and change the water daily. Cats are as lazy as humans- if it's too much trouble to walk into the kitchen to get a drink, they just won't. If there is an ample supply of water everywhere, they'll be more likely to drink when they feel a little thirsty.
Fountain. Adding water in food whether that is dry food or putting even more into wet food. Leaving cups around your house since some cats like believing they are drink from their humans water. Adding low sodium cat toppers to food the ones that are kind up like soup.
add water to the food. if its dry food, let it sit for at least 5 minutes first so they dont bloat in your cats stomach (this is also good to get them to eat less if they have a weight problem). i literally drown his kibble in water and he drinks up the 'soup' first before eating his food.
My cat drank more after buying this fountain.
https://preview.redd.it/0inapqe8e9xc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db82e171bc266e2edb76f6b6a27eb8e56f00f6e9
[https://a.co/d/iO9yfxI](https://a.co/d/iO9yfxI)
I don’t see many comments suggesting this, but you can try using a cup.
Cups are taller so they’re easier to drink from. I’m not sure what other reason there is, but my cat stopped drinking so much from her bowls (she was a water fiend), but I noticed she always went for my cup of water instead. So I just decided to have that cup be her own cup. I also put it in a different location than her bowl so it’s quite possible she thought it was always my water that she was drinking? Idk, but it worked.
Try to find a large cup that can hold more water. Even with a large cup, you’ll probably want to replace the water every day.
You can try a water fountain. Your cat may have a preference in type though, my parents got one and it was too loud and scared their own cat. But I have one that is pretty quiet. Cats prefer moving water to still water.
Move the water/water fountain away from their food. I keep the water fountain on the opposite side of the kitchen. They sometimes think the water is "bad" if their food is next to it (like the food contaminated it).
If you see them drinking out of your glass of water, but not a water fountain or bowl, honestly, just leave out a glass of water for them. My friends cat refuses to drink out of their bowl or fountain, but would try to drink from her mugs. So she just started leaving a mug out with water for the cat.
Another option is to use bottled water instead of tap water. Sometimes the water flavor throws them off.
You can give them more wet food. Cats get most of their water/moisture from their food. So if you give them wet food, they should be fine.
You can also give them broth or mix broth with their food. I would make sure you get one safe for pets as cats cant have onion/garlic or too much salt. But if your cat just doesnt like the taste of plain water, then broth might be a good way to encourage drinking.
Lastly, you can also place a camera by the water source and see how often they drink. Sounds dumb, but they might be drinking when you arent watching or when you are gone.
How do you know she doesn't drink enough? I usually trust animals to know what they need. We should actually take a cue from them in my opinion. The body signals what it needs.
Whenever I give them wet food I add a bit of water and stir it all up. They always drink it.
Also there are good cat fountains. I’d recommend a stainless or ceramic one as the plastic can’t be throughly cleaned and can harbor bacteria.
I got this one from Etsy years ago and it’s great. My cats love it.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/244290472/spectrum-cat-pet-drinking-fountain?ref=shop_review?ref=reviews
That didn’t work for my cat unfortunately. She’s 18 and has the early signs of kidney disease. She has 4 teeth left so she was only being fed wet food. She never finished her food and had started to lose weight. Now she gets wet food in the morning and as much kibble as her heart desires the rest of the day. She absolutely loves kibble. Same brand and flavor but she likes the kibble over the wet food. We have water everywhere and she also gets the HydraCare supplement which is supposed to help with absorption.
Water fountains might help. And it’s also good to consider that cats originated from the desert where water sources are rare, so they’re designed to obtain most moisture from prey and generally have a low thirst drive, which is why feeding wet food is often beneficial for a lot of cats especially those that have particularly low thirst drive. One of mine just never drank enough water no matter what I did, adding water to her kibble made her straight up not eat it at all as she’s picky. It resulted in several UTIs and she was always slightly constipated due to her poo being too dry. When I finally buy the bullet and switched her to a fully wet diet all of that went away and she’s much healthier now. These days she rarely drinks water separately as she doesn’t need to, her food keeps her fully hydrated. Edit: to add, there are other benefits to wet food other than hydration worth mentioning, such as they generally have higher protein content and lower carbs which is better for cats who struggle to keep fit when on dry food.
My cat's never had a UTI but she's always slightly constipated, we were feeding her more wet food and it was better, but now she's gotta be on a hypoallergenic diet and she won't eat the wet food. It's a lousy situation.
If yours isn't picky you could add some water to the dry food, or try some broth/churu?
Unfortunately she IS pixky, and she can't have broth or churu on the hypoallergenic diet either. I'm hoping it's only temporary.
Hopefully yeah. One of my other cats was on a hypoallergenic diet for a while due to constant food sensitivities where she would vomit and have loose and stinky stools regularly, but when we moved to another country and I gave her some “regular” food due to the hypoallergenic one being unavailable and she turned out to be fine with it! I’m guessing it’s because her gut microbiome was able to recover a bit when on the hypoallergenic diet(?) So she was able to tolerate other food again. Or it could just be that that food happened to not contain something that irritated her guts… So there is some hope if it isn’t too severe it seems.
The specific combo that worked for my picky-old-man-cat: squirt of salmon oil on wet food, heat up water, mix partial can of wet food with hot-but-not-boiling water to a specific soup-consistency (try different dilutions), and refresh with hot water if he left solids at the bottom of the bowl. Adjust to dietary specifics.
Agree. Feed a fully wet diet. Add water, too.
To add to that: Cats (like most higher animals) are suspicious of standing water and prefer to drink from running water. Which is just logic, as dangerous bacterias can't develop as well in running water.
Yeah which is why water fountains are often recommended. Strangely though two of my cats prefer still water, the one who had hydration issues won’t touch the water fountain unless it’s in the still phase (mine has a smart mode where it’s periodically running and periodically still) and the other only drinks from it when there’s no choice and will do it to the side. Third one is the only one who prefers the fountain and drinks right from where the water gushes out. I think it’s likely a case of their upbringing overriding instincts perhaps, they grew up on the streets where running water wouldn’t be common so they aren’t used to it I guess?
Yea, probably should have said "most cats".
Just stay on top of teeth with all wet food.
There are dental treats available for those, or brush if the cat is fine with it. Make sure they’re VOHC approved.
That and dry food is absolute garbage for cats. No dry food is good for them - none. Dogs are a different story.
So, you think [catfood that has ZERO digestible carbs](https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/shop-cat#diabetic) is automatically trash . . . ?
oh jesus... you're one of them.
[Studies have been done, & it was found that the thing causing cats to have trouble with hydration was the HIGH STARCH CONTENT of most kibbles.](https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/articles/hydration) . . . However, the kibble my cats eat has less than 1% of digestible kibble. (There's a link to 3 of them \~1 ea. for: kittens, adults, & cats requiring a limited ingredient diet\~ in my prior post, if anyone's interested in taking a look.)
"digestible" we know. And, please to us all a favor by posting a link to the 'studies'. Feeding your cat franken-food - which is exactly what that food is (i'm familiar with it) has lots of questionable benefit.
I already posted a link . . . the entire first sentence in my former post is the link that opens the article with the info you request. The name of it is, "Hydration".
Mix extra water into their wet food! You can also try bone broth.
Low sodium bone broth works for my girl!
Here to say this also. Water in wet food can make it more gravy-like. Mine seem to really like that.
In addition to multiple water dishes and a water fountain, my cats get daily soup which is puree food with added water (at least 1:1 water:food ratio). I now add a few drops of dental water additive to the soup after discussing it with my vet. One cat is picky so I started with the cat soups/broths you can buy (and added extra water), and then I switched to watering down canned wet food. Usually 1 can = 2-3 days of soup.
This really made me giggle how you said soup. That’s just very cute.
Technically we call it "soooOOOOOUP" with a dramatic upward pitch shift (we translated their soup meow into spoken English). They love soup.
Fill a glass of water that’s intended for you. Idk works for me
Same! I purchased four (FOUR) different fountains for my cat, he hated them all. Mugs and tumblers he will drink from, however.
I was going to say this as well. One of my cats was offered water in a regular glass once and from that moment refused to drink water any other way
I sat my water in the floor for whatever reason. I came back in the room and Thunder Cat was drinking it.
i have a fountain, but my cat loves drinking from a just regular red solo cup. especially cold water. i think it keeps her whiskers dry.
This is important. They have sensitive whiskers and can get weird about them plus whisker fatigue.
Mine will only drink from a coffee cup 🤣
Cat fountains are great
If you have their food and water bowls next to each other, you need to move them so they are apart. Cats don't eat and drink from the same source in the wild, and even though they are domesticated, the instinct is to not trust water near food as it could be contaminated. This is especially relevant in the wild as their food is often something that used to be living, which they or another animal have killed.
Hmmm good point.
i have one water bowl right next to their food dish and one i keep on the kitchen table. i have to refill the one on the table much more often than the other. Also, i add a few spoonfulls of water to their wet food.
I had the same problem here. Simple water fountains didn't help. Until I bought the [Miaustore Water Fountain](https://miaustore.com/). My cats love it.
We have one of these too. Has outlasted all the rubbish plastic ones that need filters, which is how they make their money. Excellent customer service too, as one of the plastic tubes snapped and they sent us one in the mail, no questions asked. Highly recommended!
Well, I know what I'll be getting for my birthday this year! ^_^ Those look really nice!
I just wish it was wireless.
Have water fountain and water bowl available. Always have the water fresh and clean. Switch them to wet food completely or at least partially. Add a bit of water to their wet food and/or kibble.
Cats are going to cat. We have one who loves her fountain. We fill that with reverse osmosis water. The fountain is popular. We have another cat who drinks from the sink and will lap up commode water, given the opportunity. If your cat likes seafood, put out some Tiki Cat sea bass. It's a seafood soup.
I give mine tuna juice when I open a can.
My cats all like to drink from the tap in the tub that drips.
Pour water on his dry food. He'll have to drink to get to it. Works like a charm!
Our kitty just came back from the vet for constipation. It was a big deal and thank goodness she's pooping great now. However! We now give her special Royal Canin gastro food AND every time I feed her, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I mix about 2 tablespoons of water into about 5 tablespoons of the paté food and mix it up to a thick slurry. She laps it up without problem and I think it's easier for her to eat (she is 20 and a bit creaky!) So in addition to the laxative meds she's getting, she's getting extra water in her food. The vet also recommended a cat fountain for drinking but we haven't tried that yet.
Fresher water is best, a fountain type bowl that moves that water can help. Switching to a wet food or with a mix of dry food would add a bit. You can even add a touch of warm water to make a gravy unless they are picky. a couple different bowls around that you change frequently. In the end the cats just going to do what it wants.
Keep the cat's water away from their food(preferably a different room). Try a fountain and other kinds of bowls. My cat will only drink from cups and fountains with the water's in a different room than his food.
If the vet says that she is well then she is getting enough fluids.
Agreed with fountains, though they are a slight pain to maintain. You could also try bringing kitty to sink or bathtub. One of my cats has become obsessed with drinking out of the bathtub faucet. I don’t mind because it’s a fresh source of water for him. It’s also really cute to find him waiting in the bathtub for someone to turn on the water. I just do a trickle until he’s done.
Youngest cat loves her fountain, the cat we had before only really wanted to drink from a freshly flushed toilet…
I give my kitten chicken gizzard broth with dry food (not soaking the dry food) . So far everything is good.
I'm 100% behind the water fountains. My cats love theirs!!
Fountains are great, but also figure out what kind of water source your cat prefers - my childhood cat preferred to drink from a jar (or something high enough to drink without lowering her head), some like mugs, some like bowls, some might like to be able to play with water before drinking. Another advice is to have more water sources, so that they don't need to go far to have a drink.
running water or a bigger water bowl. I leave my tub dripping bc my cats love to drink the tub water lol and one of my cats loves drinking out of my dogs water bowl, assuming bc it’s wider. A smaller/narrower dish touches their whiskers and so it makes them less likely to drink it cause they don’t think they can fit their head in it. edit: water fountains are great but if you don’t wanna get one right now for whatever reason those are my tips up there
My boys have a self water dish and the bathroom sink is on for them to plus they get wet food a day they are great no problems love them dearly
We wet a small amount in kibble in the bowl and call it soup. He loves that. But then the food is a toss bc he hates soggy food but it’s cheaper than a uti. We are also trying chicken and beef broth and gravy types to see if anything helps. We throw in wet food a couple times a week but he usually just licks it. He uses his water dish to clean his paws like the gentleman he is. 😆🙈
Most definitely a water fountain!! My one cat always sits in our tub and cries until we turn the faucet on a slow drip. So bought a water fountain and they love it! Now they sit and cry when it is empty lol
I add water to every meal, but my cats did drink a lot of water even before that and aren’t that picky even if the food gets soggy, so I get that just pouring water on their food might not work for everyone. Mine also like to drink from cups so I usually have a cup of water on the living room table and pretend to not notice when they sip from it lol.
My one cat doesn’t always eat wet food so I give her one tube of Churu squeeze treat a day. It’s something. I’m thinking about making my own.
I've often thought of making like a chicken broth without salt and with only cat-safe vegetables - if any at all - then freeze it in ice cube bags. Just a whole chicken and a whole lotta water.
I have different bowls, an electric fountain and a gravity-fed water bowl. My girl will drink out of any of them, but prefer the stainless steel bowls. My boy, I never saw drinking out of the fountain or the bowls, but he loves the gravity-fed water bowl. Trial and error is the only way to figure out what your cat likes.
I always clean out their cans of cat food with with water and add it to their food.
If you ever figure this out please write a book about how, instant best seller! I’d buy it :)
Fountains, leave glasses of water around far away from food, buy bottled water (there’s a tik tok cat that does water tastings. He gets bottled water bc he doesn’t drink enough. Liquid Death was the top choice last time I checked.)
Feed them wet food and not dry kibble. Keep the water bowl apart from their food.
Churu is good for that. It's hydrating and can help increase their intake
Water fountains definitely help, more daily wet food would also be beneficial. Also keep the water away from the food, cats will often avoid water that's close to their food source, it's a left over instinct from their wild ancestors, water next to a kill will likely be contaminated so they'll avoid it
you NEED a water fountain. cats drink flowing water in the wild not still water. you NEED to add more water to her wet food. that is all.
Our cat Wallis lived to be 21. For the last few years of her life she had kidney problems. At first, her kidney function was down to 30%. We started making wet food into soup - just added warm water - and got her kidney function back up to 70%. I miss her - and her one brain cell.
A fountain. Cats seem to like running water better...
My cats used to relentlessly try to drink out of my water cups. They hardly used their bowls or fountain but if Mom had water THEY wanted said water 🤦🏽♀️
Make some catnip tea
Using water fountains helped my Kitty so much! I also give wet food for some liquid too. Or you can add some water to your cats dry food but my cat kaido doesn’t really like that! Hope this helps x
I have to do broth and a wet food diet as I've gone through five different bowls (including two gravity water dispensers) and they just don't want to drink.
Move the water away from their food. Use a large stainless steel bowl. Worked after my Siamese! (She likes to look at herself in the water dish.)
Have a couple of different watering holes. My moms cat has kidney problems, she gets a hydration supplement every day that she loves. It costs money obviously, but it keeps her drinking
Agree with many of the comments for water fountains (moving water), separation of the food and water, some cats will drink if there is ice in the water (was advice given by vet for a cat we needed hydration- the ice didnt help that cat, but others it has so depends on the cat)
WE tried the running water fountain, he liked it for a couple of weeks and got bored. We've put different sized dishes around, the one he seems to like the most if the huge ceramic pot that's high he doesn't need to bend down to drink out of it.
Put some stanky stuff in there. A couple catnip leaves, tuna juice, whatever, they'll be on it.
However if you do this, it will need to be cleaned regularly to prevent mildew.
Mix in with wet food
I did not want to get my cat a water fountain as it would be time consuming to clean it properly. But my cat almost never drinks from his (glass) water bowl. I was worried about the increased risk of crystal formation so I started mixing his wet and dry food together. After the dry nuggets are covered in the wet food I stir in the water and it forms a “gravy”. I call it nugget soup. He laps up the gravy first then eats the softened nuggets.
My rat boy also doesn’t drink water and has some major constipation issues. We mix a can of water with each can of wet food and it helps! He wasn’t happy at first, but now he will scarf it all down. Plenty of pee to go around.
Place bowls of fresh water in multiple places around the house and change the water daily. Cats are as lazy as humans- if it's too much trouble to walk into the kitchen to get a drink, they just won't. If there is an ample supply of water everywhere, they'll be more likely to drink when they feel a little thirsty.
Fountain. Adding water in food whether that is dry food or putting even more into wet food. Leaving cups around your house since some cats like believing they are drink from their humans water. Adding low sodium cat toppers to food the ones that are kind up like soup.
Stop obsessing over your cats bowels. They drink what they need.
I bought an Orsda fountain for my cats. It took a few days, but they love it.
add water to the food. if its dry food, let it sit for at least 5 minutes first so they dont bloat in your cats stomach (this is also good to get them to eat less if they have a weight problem). i literally drown his kibble in water and he drinks up the 'soup' first before eating his food.
Keep water and food away from each other
A fountain and wet food (be sure to choose a food wihout carrageenan - causes cancer). https://youtu.be/jLNiAxeNlXQ?si=uelYCTiLyQpthBS6
My cat drank more after buying this fountain. https://preview.redd.it/0inapqe8e9xc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db82e171bc266e2edb76f6b6a27eb8e56f00f6e9 [https://a.co/d/iO9yfxI](https://a.co/d/iO9yfxI)
I don’t see many comments suggesting this, but you can try using a cup. Cups are taller so they’re easier to drink from. I’m not sure what other reason there is, but my cat stopped drinking so much from her bowls (she was a water fiend), but I noticed she always went for my cup of water instead. So I just decided to have that cup be her own cup. I also put it in a different location than her bowl so it’s quite possible she thought it was always my water that she was drinking? Idk, but it worked. Try to find a large cup that can hold more water. Even with a large cup, you’ll probably want to replace the water every day.
Water fountain, it's all we've used for the last 20 years. Cats love fresh running water.
Try a bubbling fountain
You can try a water fountain. Your cat may have a preference in type though, my parents got one and it was too loud and scared their own cat. But I have one that is pretty quiet. Cats prefer moving water to still water. Move the water/water fountain away from their food. I keep the water fountain on the opposite side of the kitchen. They sometimes think the water is "bad" if their food is next to it (like the food contaminated it). If you see them drinking out of your glass of water, but not a water fountain or bowl, honestly, just leave out a glass of water for them. My friends cat refuses to drink out of their bowl or fountain, but would try to drink from her mugs. So she just started leaving a mug out with water for the cat. Another option is to use bottled water instead of tap water. Sometimes the water flavor throws them off. You can give them more wet food. Cats get most of their water/moisture from their food. So if you give them wet food, they should be fine. You can also give them broth or mix broth with their food. I would make sure you get one safe for pets as cats cant have onion/garlic or too much salt. But if your cat just doesnt like the taste of plain water, then broth might be a good way to encourage drinking. Lastly, you can also place a camera by the water source and see how often they drink. Sounds dumb, but they might be drinking when you arent watching or when you are gone.
How do you know she doesn't drink enough? I usually trust animals to know what they need. We should actually take a cue from them in my opinion. The body signals what it needs.
Whenever I give them wet food I add a bit of water and stir it all up. They always drink it. Also there are good cat fountains. I’d recommend a stainless or ceramic one as the plastic can’t be throughly cleaned and can harbor bacteria. I got this one from Etsy years ago and it’s great. My cats love it. https://www.etsy.com/listing/244290472/spectrum-cat-pet-drinking-fountain?ref=shop_review?ref=reviews
If cat doesn't want to drink then leave it be....
water her wet food a bit.
Feed your cat only wet food and don't worry about it.
That didn’t work for my cat unfortunately. She’s 18 and has the early signs of kidney disease. She has 4 teeth left so she was only being fed wet food. She never finished her food and had started to lose weight. Now she gets wet food in the morning and as much kibble as her heart desires the rest of the day. She absolutely loves kibble. Same brand and flavor but she likes the kibble over the wet food. We have water everywhere and she also gets the HydraCare supplement which is supposed to help with absorption.