Long Haired Domestic Cat

Question
We were lucky to adopt our beautiful 4 yrs old LHD cat. The only problem is that she refuses to drink from her water dish. She has a habit of jumping into the bathtub and getting a drink. We want to train her to drink from the dish as we are sometimes not at home for the whole day and are worried that she will remain thirsty. Please advise. Thank you!

Answer
Hi Fatima,

Don't worry, this is very common with cats - in fact, the more unusual ones are the ones who actually DO drink from a dish!  Gross though it sounds, cats would much rather drink water from a puddle or stagnant water from a sink than clean water from a bowl - bear in mind that there are no water bowls in the wild!  Other cats much prefer moving water.

Cats don't actually need a lot of water in order to be healthy - if she has wet food in her diet, she will obtain a lot of her water from there and wet foods are specially formulated to contain a high moisture content.  If she goes outside, she may be drinking from puddles without you realising, which won't harm her at all.

If she is indoors and eating a dry diet, there is a case for upping her water intake, and I would suggest you do this by buying a water fountain.  These are readily available from pet shops and have moving water that attracts cats who like drinking from taps.  You can leave this on all day and be sure that she has a water source.

If she was dehydrated, she would be quite poorly and you would know about it.  One way of testing a cat's hydration level is by pinching the scruff of the neck and seeing if it pings back into place straight away - if it remains pinched after you've let go, this indicated dehydration.  If you do suspect dehydration, see a vet - but quite honestly, I don't think you need to worry.  I have one cat who I have never, ever seen drink water and she's fighting fit!

Take care
Annie