# help new kitten not drinking anything



## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

In the 5 days since I got her, no one has seen her drink, saw vet yesterday (4th day since i got her) for something else who said she doesn't appear to be dehydrated, from the pinching skin on back test. 

but i've just not seen her drink anything either from a bowl of water or water fountain i already have for my other cat. (they were mostly kept in separate rooms, so that's how i know she hasn't drank from fountain. unless she drank last night when i was in bed)

the new kitten has weed, and pooed. and even managed to have diarrhea. so i stopped the wetfood and left a bowl of dry food out.

I've made sure she knows there's water in the bowl by splashing it onto her paws and i've physically pushed her head into the water fountain so her chin touches the water. 

I've now measured out 200g exactly of water and will weigh the water bowl every few hours to see if it has gone down, to try and monitor her drinking.

frankly, i'm amazed she's not dead yet and i'm really really worried.


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## Soozi (Jun 28, 2013)

It really is a misconception that wet food causes the runs it is quite the opposite it is more likely dry food that will cause this so it might be best to remove the dry completely if not for good! unless they are good drinkers dry food is the worst thing your kitten can eat! Good luck! X


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## Aubrie30 (Aug 10, 2014)

If she's wee'ing and poo'ing normally then I wouldn't worry too much. It's rare to see cats drink, they have a very low thirst drive.

Please, please do not take away the wet food and just leave dry. Cats are supposed to get most of their fluid intake from food so a dry only diet will make things much worse if she's not drinking much and can lead to very serious health problems. Give her wet food again and she will get water from that.

New kittens are such a huge source of worry aren't they?! They certainly like to keep us on our toes!


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## Dobby65 (Aug 7, 2014)

You could get some specially formulated kitten milk and give it to your kitten. When we got our kitten in the July heat wave I was paranoid about dehydration. I got the Toplife powdered milk - it is fantastic and is a proper food as opposed to a treat (the Toplife ready made milk you can buy in the supermarkets is just that - a treat). You can then gradually water it down - I still have some left and my little girl goes mad when she sees me taking it out of the cupboard!!


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## JaimeandBree (Jan 28, 2014)

I don't think I ever saw Bree drink the first 6 months! She does drink more now since I got a fountain in the summer. Most cats do have a very low thirst drive as they are supposed to get their moisture intake from their food, so if your kitten is happy to eat wet food I'd stick with that and ditch the dry.

If she has the runs it may be because you've switched brands or just that her tummy needs to get used to it if she didn't eat it before - so maybe just feed small amounts of wet until her tummy settles


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

The best way to administer extra fluids is to add a healthy splash of boiled water to your cats wet food. Give it a good stir to make a gravy and your cat / kitten will slurp it up. 

Of my 5 cats, I have only one who is a good drinker. I never see the other 4 drinking but their piddles & poos are decent sizes and quality so I am not concerned.

HTH.


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## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

MoggyBaby said:


> The best way to administer extra fluids is to add a healthy splash of boiled water to your cats wet food. Give it a good stir to make a gravy and your cat / kitten will slurp it up.
> 
> Of my 5 cats, I have only one who is a good drinker. I never see the other 4 drinking but their piddles & poos are decent sizes and quality so I am not concerned.
> 
> HTH.


Maybe I'm just used to my current cat, who has pretty much been on dry only since she was a kitten, first Royal Canin, then Orijen. I see her drinking from the fountain several times a day. She used to like wetfood as treats (I got her Bozita) but now doesn't eat as much and just eats more dry.

and thanks for your advice about the boiled water thing.

my new kitten might have gotten diarrhea because she either stole food from my current cat's bowl (to be fair, my current cat steals the kitten's kitten food) or it might have been because she fished out a cake wrapper from my rubbish bin last night and ate half of that (pastry paper, not plastic).

New kitten is on Royal Canin dry and Felix as good as it looks Kitten.


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## Buttons1 (Sep 2, 2013)

My two are on raw food and some wet. I add a splash of water to their food. I never see them drinking. I'm guessing they don't need to as they get all their fluids from their food.

I would definitely get rid of (or cut down) the dry food and increase their wet food. It is MUCH better for them.


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## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

Buttons1 said:


> My two are on raw food and some wet. I add a splash of water to their food. I never see them drinking. I'm guessing they don't need to as they get all their fluids from their food.
> 
> I would definitely get rid of (or cut down) the dry food and increase their wet food. It is MUCH better for them.


Well I suppose I could do this for the kitten. But I just bought 6 months of dry Royal Canin Food before i took her home to last until she switches to adult food  i bought it on a 3 for 2 discount and opened one bag. *sigh* will have to see how that works.

The thing is with dry food, you can just leave it out. wet you have to do it at certain times. I find when the kitten is hungry and there's no wet, she'll eat dry, even nick my cat's dry food.

I don't think I have to make my current 16 month old cat to switch to wet if i see her drinking all the time right? She seems to like her Orijen food and it's supposedly one of the best (and expensive) dry food out there.


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## Aubrie30 (Aug 10, 2014)

An all dry food diet can be very bad for cats, it can cause all sorts of problems and make them very ill. Cats are carnivorous, they are supposed to eat meat, not creal and grains.

There is lots of helpful information on this site.

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health

A mixed diet of wet and dry is better than an all dry diet, although an all wet diet is ideal. You've got a good chance of being able to eliminate dry from the kittens diet because she's so young. If the older cat can't/won't give it up you could feed them in separate rooms.

Zooplus is a fantastic website from which you can buy good quality tinned food that has a high meat content and is grain and carb free. There are many different brands and flavours and they are very affordable and certainly better for your pets than the brands available in the supermarket, which tend to have very little meat in them and lots of fillers that cats don't need.


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## JaimeandBree (Jan 28, 2014)

fluffykittie said:


> I don't think I have to make my current 16 month old cat to switch to wet if i see her drinking all the time right? She seems to like her Orijen food and it's supposedly one of the best (and expensive) dry food out there.


I think most on here would say if she'll eat wet then give her wet, as even if she is a good drinker she is unlikely to take in enough to compensate for the lack of moisture in dry food. My girl gets a mix of both as she just won't eat enough wet to cut out the dry.

This has proven a very controversial topic here recently though so that's all you're getting from me!


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## Buttons1 (Sep 2, 2013)

fluffykittie said:


> Well I suppose I could do this for the kitten. But I just bought 6 months of dry Royal Canin Food before i took her home to last until she switches to adult food  i bought it on a 3 for 2 discount and opened one bag. *sigh* will have to see how that works.
> 
> The thing is with dry food, you can just leave it out. wet you have to do it at certain times. I find when the kitten is hungry and there's no wet, she'll eat dry, even nick my cat's dry food.
> 
> I don't think I have to make my current 16 month old cat to switch to wet if i see her drinking all the time right? She seems to like her Orijen food and it's supposedly one of the best (and expensive) dry food out there.


If you bought it from Pets at Home they are very good at exchanging food without a receipt. I bought 3 massive bags of Hills dry food before I found out how bad dry food is (and that the Hills was making Dylan very poorly because of the grains). I took the two unopened bags back and stocked up on cat litter in exchange. They didn't question it even though I didn't have a receipt.

Cats need food that is 80% moisture so they would need to drink a huge amount to compensate for the lack of moisture in the dry, more than they could possibly drink in a day.

Orijen is one of the better dry foods (although quite a high fish content), it's a least grain free, but you should definitely consider adding some wet food to their diet. You can use an automatic feeder if you aren't around in the day. They come with freezer packs so the food stays fresh. Once you get in to a routine it isn't as difficult as you think.


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## KittyBimble (Jun 11, 2014)

I never see Sookie drink either. The only thing I see her drinking is kitten milk once a week. Im not too worried as she eats mainly wet food and urinates a lot so she must be intaking adequate water.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

fluffykittie said:


> and even managed to have diarrhea. so i stopped the wetfood and left a bowl of dry food out


With respect, that is absolutely the worst possible response to diarrhoea. Please don't do that. Just as with a human you need to feed more fluid, not less, in response to diarrhoea. If you don't find the cause of the diarrhoea soon you need to get that kitten to a vet.


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## tmerc22 (Jul 21, 2014)

Sorry your kitten is ill :-( how is she today? The other posters are right, wet food provides much needed moisture so definitely get the wet food back down. I find the Animoda carny hi life and pouches in gravy loosen Dexter's poo a bit so maybe avoid those. Smilla is good off Zooplus but obviously you need a solution now.
If you can get to sainsburys the delicious collection chicken pouch I find very gentle on the tummy, it's high meat content, no grain and simple ingredients, could you try that? If his tummy isn't better I would get him down the vet as dehydration can make them ill quickly. Try trying to get your kitten drinking from a tap if you haven't got a fountain, Dexter prefers the tap. Give us an update soon? T x


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

Yeah, this. ^

Something like the Sainsburys delicious chicken in jelly or Thrive complete kitten would be a good food to feed for now. The lack of sugar is a good thing and the ingredients are less likely to include allergens than with some more highly processed foods.

Btw, when was she wormed and with what?


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## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

tmerc22 said:


> Sorry your kitten is ill :-( how is she today? The other posters are right, wet food provides much needed moisture so definitely get the wet food back down. I find the Animoda carny hi life and pouches in gravy loosen Dexter's poo a bit so maybe avoid those. Smilla is good off Zooplus but obviously you need a solution now.
> If you can get to sainsburys the delicious collection chicken pouch I find very gentle on the tummy, it's high meat content, no grain and simple ingredients, could you try that? If his tummy isn't better I would get him down the vet as dehydration can make them ill quickly. Try trying to get your kitten drinking from a tap if you haven't got a fountain, Dexter prefers the tap. Give us an update soon? T x





Satori said:


> Yeah, this. ^
> 
> Something like the Sainsburys delicious chicken in jelly or Thrive complete kitten would be a good food to feed for now. The lack of sugar is a good thing and the ingredients are less likely to include allergens than with some more highly processed foods.
> 
> Btw, when was she wormed and with what?


will try the tap idea when i wash the pile of dishes piled up in the sink rrr: though i tried the adding some boiled water to wet food trick mentioned above, which worked.

the reason why i thought initially giving her dryfood might have been an idea was to force her to drink water. unless you're telling me that a dehydrated cat still will not drink.

i'll try the sainsburys idea once the current pouches of felix are used up. i will be trying to return the 2 bags of unopened royal canin, but if possible i'd still like to use up the 1 bag i did open in the next 6 months that the kitten is still a kitten.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

fluffykittie said:


> the reason why i thought initially giving her dryfood might have been an idea was to force her to drink water. unless you're telling me that a dehydrated cat still will not drink.


Cats on dry do drink more water generally but nowhere near enough to compensate for the water in wet food. Feeding dry to a kitten with diarrhoea is dangerous.


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## The Wild Bunch (Jul 16, 2014)

fluffykittie said:


> the reason why i thought initially giving her dryfood might have been an idea was to force her to drink water. unless you're telling me that a dehydrated cat still will not drink.


cats don't have a natural thirst drive so even if she is dehydrated, it is unlikely that she will go running to the water fountain to have a good drink. Try her on some of the sainsury's delicious as that is pretty plain and should hopefully settle her diarrhoea. You could poach some chicken and give her the broth to drink as this is bound to be more appetising than just water. I would knock the dry on the head for the time being as giving her lots of different foods won't help with settling a gripey tummy. Good luck and let us know how your girl gets on..... Does she have a name by the way???


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## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

daisysmama said:


> cats don't have a natural thirst drive so even if she is dehydrated, it is unlikely that she will go running to the water fountain to have a good drink. Try her on some of the sainsury's delicious as that is pretty plain and should hopefully settle her diarrhoea. You could poach some chicken and give her the broth to drink as this is bound to be more appetising than just water. I would knock the dry on the head for the time being as giving her lots of different foods won't help with settling a gripey tummy. *Good luck and let us know how your girl gets on..... Does she have a name by the way???*


Cat is Evangeline (Eva), kitten is Liliane (Lily). Blue bi-clour and blue mitted, both Ragdolls.

Kitten, or Lily is still having a runny tummy but she's weeing and i put extra water into her food, so probably not dehydrated. Will go to Sainsburys when finishing work today.

To be honest, the cat and kitten isn't really getting on that well 5 day into it, but that's probably topic for another thread. kitten is far more withdrawn that I'd expected (though that might be just a personality trait). Cat comes to me less for attention (which is sort of what I hoped might happen), but spends a lot of time watching / stalking the kitten, occasionally chasing / swatting (but not like this...). Kitten is dead cute with me, and does the kitten things cat has long stopped doing.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Not wanting to add to your problems but just thought I should mention that once you've opened a bag of dry food it should be used up within about a month at most. After that time it would not be hygienic to feed to your kitten as the food could have grown mould on it (which you would not necessarily be able to see with the naked eye). 

This is why it is a false economy to buy the large bags of dry food. Several different makes may not agree with your kitten (some makes of dry food can cause diarrhoea). So if you buy only a small bag to try and it upsets their tummy you have less dry food to throw away.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

fluffykittie said:


> Cat is Evangeline (Eva), kitten is Liliane (Lily). Blue bi-clour and blue mitted, both Ragdolls.
> 
> Kitten, or Lily is still having a runny tummy but she's weeing and i put extra water into her food, so probably not dehydrated. Will go to Sainsburys when finishing work today.
> 
> To be honest, the cat and kitten isn't really getting on that well 5 day into it, but that's probably topic for another thread. kitten is far more withdrawn that I'd expected (though that might be just a personality trait). Cat comes to me less for attention (which is sort of what I hoped might happen), but spends a lot of time watching / stalking the kitten, occasionally chasing / swatting (but not like this...). Kitten is dead cute with me, and does the kitten things cat has long stopped doing.


I think you have to try to ascertain the cause of the diarrhea. She's been with you 5 days now so I wouldn't put it down to stress caused by the move. It could be reaction to a food ingredient and you might get lucky by changing the diet but it could just as easily be a result of infection or parasites. Honestly, I would be all over this.


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## fluffykittie (Jul 26, 2014)

chillminx said:


> Not wanting to add to your problems but just thought I should mention that once you've opened a bag of dry food it should be used up within about a month at most. After that time it would not be hygienic to feed to your kitten as the food could have grown mould on it (which you would not necessarily be able to see with the naked eye).
> 
> This is why it is a false economy to buy the large bags of dry food. Several different makes may not agree with your kitten (some makes of dry food can cause diarrhoea). So if you buy only a small bag to try and it upsets their tummy you have less dry food to throw away.


unfortunately that did add to my problems. um, it'll grow mouldy even in air sealed bags?

for eg, i buy massive 6kg bags of kibble for my current cat, and when i get it split the 6kg bag into smaller sealable freezer bags



Satori said:


> I think you have to try to ascertain the cause of the diarrhea. She's been with you 5 days now so I wouldn't put it down to stress caused by the move. It could be reaction to a food ingredient and you might get lucky by changing the diet but it could just as easily be a result of infection or parasites. Honestly, I would be all over this.


good news, she no longer seems to have diarrhea, i did not have to hose her down for "cling ons".


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## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

I never see Oleg drinking from a tray either. He s fed mostly wet food and gets a snack of dry now and again.
If he gets thirsty he dashes to the sink and sips from it. Both myself and my flatmate know he likes drinking from the tap (kitchen, bathroom) and let the water flow an extra minute for him to drink if he needs.
He's 1 year old and a confident kitty who is old enough to jump into the sink and demand stuff.I heard some cats drink water that has been boiled (and cooled obviously), could you try that?

I also try and give him extra moisture in other ways : splah of water on food, I give him juices from packets of meat of from cooking meat, a bit of milk/cream (tiny bit). All in all it probably helps.

Dry food consume by date - I heard a few weeks, up to 2 months. I wonder if one can freeze it to store longer...
Oleg just gets snacks so I now get a couple of 400gr sachets every 3 months or so. When he first arrived I d ordered a massive bag thinking it would last forever and it did but then I read they should be used within a few weeks...he didn t get sick or die but I stick to small bags now.

Good to hear lily is on the mend and good luck.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

fluffykittie said:


> u
> 
> 
> > nfortunately that did add to my problems. um, it'll grow mouldy even in air sealed bags?
> ...


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