Little kittens are practically no different from children. For a breastfed baby, water is not needed for the first few months. Kittens growing around their cat mom also have plenty of milk and do not need water.
If the pet is no longer near mom, the owners need to monitor its regimen. For this reason, many breeders wonder: what if the kitten does not drink water? The following material will be devoted to these and other questions.
A kitten does not drink water: what to do, how much water does he need per day?
Kittens, like most other animals, cannot exist without moisture. This is due to the fact that water is involved in almost all metabolic processes, it helps to eliminate toxins, waste slag, it is the basic component of every cell in the body.
So, if your pet eats dry food, at the same time, does not eat wet food and ordinary food, a lack of fluid in the diet can have a detrimental effect on his health and life.
Why is urolithiasis observed in almost all dry-eating animals?
This is primarily due to the quality of poor-quality feed, but there is another reason:
• urine with a lack of moisture cannot simply appear;
• as a result, it becomes a kind of concentrate, acquires saturation;
• in this case, we know that in all saturated solutions salt precipitates;
• It is the appearance of this salt that provokes the development of the disease, because it settles on the kidneys, bladder, and ureters.
Supervisory breeders must have noticed yellow crusts at the bottom of the cat tray, which are sometimes very difficult to remove. These spots are urinary salts. Now it’s easy to understand that they are all present on your pet’s urinary organs.
In order to avoid this pet that eats dry food, it is necessary to provide a stable supply of water. Veterinarians recommend using a ratio of dry feed to water in a ratio of 1 to 3. The broth should not be taken as pure moisture, because this is primarily food, although this is a good universal option.
A kitten does not drink water: reasons, water quality
As for questions regarding water quality, here you need to approach them very scrupulously. Water quality can be determined not only by its purity and freshness, but also by the presence in it of various useful trace elements.
Boiled and distilled water can be described as "dead" water. There are no useful substances in it, and during prolonged storage it can carry a certain danger at all, because various bacteria and viruses can get in it. So, in some cases, the pet may flatly refuse to use such water, since its owners are used to drinking exclusively it.
Fresh water from the water supply can also not be called a suitable option, because, in addition to useful trace elements, it also contains heavy salts, metals and many other harmful substances.
Often the best option is bottled water intended for drinking, of course of good quality. Do not ignore also filtered or decanted water.
The kitten does not drink water: reasons
Next, let's move on to the main reasons why a pet refuses to drink water.
Not accustomed to water
This option is quite simple to determine. So, when a cat uses wet industrial food, he will use very little. It also happens that some pets prefer to drink exclusively from large containers while completely ignoring the small ones.
But most often it happens that a pet is simply not accustomed to drinking water. To do this, put some beautiful clean bowls near its habitat to attract the attention of a pet.
Dirty container
Sometimes this is what becomes the main reason. Cats are very clean animals, and for them a poorly washed container can be a reason for refusing to drink.
Inappropriate place
On an instinctive level, cats have a habit of not drinking near food. Therefore, it is recommended not to put a drinking bowl next to the feed.
Third-party odors
Bad smells, puddles, dirt - all these factors are unlikely to contribute to the awakening of animal appetite. The presence of unpleasant "aromas" next to a drinking bowl can easily discourage a pet from touching a bowl.
Also, the persistent smell of plastic or detergents can distract the animal from normal fluid intake. The best option would be to use ceramic or metal utensils.
What to do: the kitten does not drink water
So, in order to accustom your pet to water, you can use the following recommendations:
• if the pet flatly refuses to drink water, and you don’t know how to make it, you can try to pour it through a syringe without playing, putting a cannula on the root of the tongue and tilting your head up so that the cat does not choke;
• Perhaps the water has long stood in a bowl and began to choke, which will definitely ward off any desire to drink it from the animal. Therefore, the water in the bowl should always be fresh and should be changed at least 2 times a day;
• some cats love to drink water only from tall glasses, or, conversely, from large vessels;
• some pets can generally drink mostly running water, lacquering droplets of tap water, as in this video:
If breeders come across just such a specimen, it would be best for him to purchase a special fountain in the pet store, he will probably like the pet;
• You can try to attract the attention of an animal by playing the “modulation” by playing with it. This will leave him with good associations with water, and he will try it soon.
• cheat by freezing chicken stock: the smell of meat will certainly interest the cat and he will most likely cry it out.
In conclusion, I would like to reassure the owners about this situation. Do not panic ahead of time, maybe your pet will replenish his water supplies in another place, whether it is a toilet or a flower pot. So we recommend just watching it.
