Cats are individualists. Anyone of us who lives with one or more furry friends will be able to confirm this. They are also very different from each other in their drinking behaviour. Some are good drinkers, but unfortunately many are not.
Some prefer stale water to fresh water, while others prefer running water or dripping from the tap. They're even willing to drink water from a puddle or even the toilet. What many velvet paws don't like to drink is water that is right next to the litter tray. Unless there's no other option. In the wild, cats – both large and small – certainly don't do their business next to the water or food source.
Not surprisingly, quite a few of our favourite pets prefer rainwater – which is a special treat for them, and cats also love it when they can choose between several drinking options. This gives them a reason to check their territory.
Most of these preferences and characteristics can be traced back to the ancestors of today's cats – the African wildcat.
Unfortunately, most cats don't drink enough. Unlike humans and dogs, they don't have a strong sense of thirst. In their African homeland, wild cats largely rehydrated themselves through the blood of their prey. Evolution has passed this behaviour on to modern cats.
However, a constant lack of water can lead to urinary tract and kidney diseases such as urinary gravel, kidney stones, or chronic kidney failure (CKD). It is therefore very important to encourage your cat to drink water, especially in summer.
The fluid requirement for an adult cat is approximately 50 to 70 ml per kilogramme of body weight. With an average weight of 4.5 kg, a cat would therefore need to drink around 270 ml of water per day. This is of course influenced by various factors such as activity level.
If you offer wet food, don't worry. This way, your cat will at least meet most of her fluid needs through her food – the blood of her prey will still be missing, of course. Wet food contains an average liquid content of 50%, meaning your cat won't need to drink much more. It's a different story with dry food, where the liquid content is only 10%. Therefore, cats fed dry food need to consume significantly more additional fluids.
