 Cats drink different amounts of water depending on their diet. Cats fed wet food will get a large proportion of the water they need from their food, just like their wildcat ancestors, whereas cats fed mainly on a dried diet will drink more water. If you are worried that your cat isn't drinking enough. Every cat is different, and each one will drink different amounts depending on its lifestyle, health, and environmental factors. For example, a cat that lives inside a cool house may not drink quite as much as a very active cat who spends a lot of time outside. Your vet will be able to tell you roughly how much water your cat needs to be based on their diet, lifestyle, and physical health. Bear in mind that a lot of your cat's water intake might come from their food. Wet cat food already contains some water, so a cat who has a wet food diet won't need to drink as much as a cat who only eats dry food. Dry food contains very little water, so they need to make up for it by drinking enough. Your cat should instinctively know that they need more water and should drink enough to make up for it. After all, they feel thirst just like we do. There are plenty of other factors that will affect how much your cat drinks. Like us, they'll drink more if it's hot, or if they've been physically very active, so take these things into account. Signs and causes of increased drinking. It can be difficult to keep an eye on your cat's water intake. After all, we can't watch them every minute of the day, and if you have more than one cat it's almost impossible to tell who is eating and drinking what. Other than trying to measure how much liquid your cat drinks, look out for other signs that your cat is drinking a lot more than usual. The three main ones are. Making more trips to the water bowl the usual. Needing their water bowl refilled more often. Drinking from unusual places, such as taps or ponds, if they haven't before. Many cats do this anyway, so if it's normal behavior for your cat, don't worry. If you notice that your cat is drinking more than usual, this may indicate that something is amiss. Increased water intake is known as polydipsia. The most common causes of increased thirst and drinking are. Kidney, renal, dysfunction. Liver, hepatic, disease. Diabetes mellitus, sugar diabetes. Hyperthyroidism, overactive thyroid. Urinary tract disease. Compensatory increased water intake e.g., losses after vomiting or diarrhea. If you are worried about how much your cat is drinking, it can be useful to monitor their water intake for 24 hours. You can measure their water intake over a 24 hour period by filling the cat's water bowls to the brim, measuring the amount of water left over at the end of the 24 hour period. And take this away from the volume of water in the full water dish s, this may be more difficult to do if you have more than one cat in the household. Polydipsia is defined as a cat drinking more than 100 milliliters per kilogram of their body weight per day, but any cat that is drinking more than usual should be seen by a vet, as this may indicate that something is amiss. Of course, let the vet know the amount your cat is drinking if you have measured it. As there are many reasons why your cat has an increased thirst your vet will usually take a blood and urine sample to work out the underlying cause. Once the cause of polydipsia is determined, then suitable treatment can begin. Hello. This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out, BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife, to get 20% off. Diabetes Melitus. Diabetes Melitus in cats is more similar to type 2 diabetes in people. Several factors that predispose people to get type 2 diabetes also seem to be important in cats. These factors include obesity, physical inactivity, concurrent diseases, and even genetics. Most cats that develop diabetes Melitus are older than 5 years of age, males are more likely to become diabetic than females, and most are overweight. Signs of diabetes in cats other than increased drinking and urination include increased appetite, weight loss, an abnormal hair coat, or hind limb weakness. Diabetes can be diagnosed by compatible clinical signs and simple blood and urine tests. Treatment involves daily injections of insulin under the skin and routine monitoring by a veterinarian. Chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease is a common ailment of older cats but cats of any age can be affected. It occurs when something is wrong with either the structure or the function of one or both kidneys. The functions of the kidneys include eliminating waste products, balancing electrolytes, producing certain hormones and vitamins, and maintaining the body's water balance. When the kidneys start to malfunction, urine becomes more dilute and cats start to urinate more. This then causes them to drink more to maintain their hydration. Changes can be found on simple urine and blood tests to indicate kidney disease. Kidney disease is a progressive process and management is based on trying to slow the progression and on treating any symptoms. Symptoms aside from increased thirst and urination can include decreased appetite, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Treatment involves changes to a kidney-friendly diet, anti-nausea medications and antacids, and specific treatments for concurrent problems like high blood pressure or anemia. Hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid glands produce excessive active thyroid hormones. Most cats develop hyperthyroidism due to a process called benign hyperplasia, excessive cell growth, in both thyroid glands which are located in the neck next to the trachea or windpipe. Typically, middle-aged to older cats are affected with the average cat being 12 or 13 years old when signs start. Thyroid hormones are important for many basic metabolic functions in the body. They are important for the regulation of heat and the metabolism of nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Excess thyroid hormones increase metabolism and can lead to weight loss. They can also increase heart rate and blood pressure and can make the heart work faster causing damage to the heart muscle. Signs usually include increased appetite, weight loss, hyperactivity or restlessness, cold seeking behaviors, and vomiting or diarrhea. Hyperthyroidism can be diagnosed with simple blood tests. Hyodine involves oral medications or radioactive iodine treatment at a specialty hospital. Find out why my cat is so thirsty? Laboratory testing that will help determine the underlying cause of your cats includes a complete blood count, or CBC, a biochemical screen, a urine analysis, and a urine culture. The CBC will look for signs of infection or inflammation in the blood, the biochemical screen will evaluate many different values that are specific to different organs and their functions such as the liver, the kidneys, and the gastrointestinal tract, and it will also look at electrolytes like sodium and potassium. What should I do if my cat is drinking a lot? If your cat is drinking excessively, and they don't have any other unusual symptoms, try thinking about the cause. Is your house very warm? Are they only eating dry food? Has their drinking increased because it's summer? If you can clearly put your cat's excessive drinking down to an environmental factor, it's enough to keep an eye on their general health and behavior. As long as your cat is healthy and happy, and they're getting plenty of fresh waters when they want it, they should be fine. You might want to make a note of it and ask your vet at their next check up, just to put your mind at rest. If your cat does appear to be unwell, book them in to see the vet as soon as possible. Remember to tell them that your cat has been drinking a lot, and note any other unusual symptoms. They will be able to diagnose your cat and find a possible treatment. If your cat is drinking a lot from unusual sources, such as dripping taps, make sure there's nothing wrong with the water you give them to drink. Many cats will shy away from a water bowl that isn't squeaky clean, and like us, they much prefer fresh water. If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.