**2nd Update** Excessive water drinking in cats?

[chrissyk]

**2nd Update on second page**

Our cat has suddenly started drinking what I would term an excessively large quantity of water every day. He has a vet appointment tonight, but I am really stressing right now. Has anyone else had a cat suddenly develop this symptom? Our cat is almost 10, and he has a very long history of urinary blockages (which we have managed very well). I'm panicking that there is something wrong with his kidneys, as our old vet did say that this could happen in the future because of his history of blockages. I am praying that this is nothing, but my gut is telling me otherwise Thanks for any info. He is our baby, and I don't know what we'd do without him.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Is he also peeing a lot? I'm thinking maybe diabetes. Please let us know what the vet says.

 

[Aurora63]

I don't have an answer, but hoping your baby is okay.

My cat also drinks lots of water, but aside from being overweight, she is healthy. I am curious to what someone else might know.

 

[phorsenuf]

My sweet baby Milo started drinking alot too. We took him to the vet and found out he was in kidney failure due to his cancer. We didn't know he had cancer, he was only 4 or so.

I still miss him dearly. I hope you get good news with your fur-baby!

 

[chrissyk]

Is he also peeing a lot? I'm thinking maybe diabetes. Please let us know what the vet says.

He isn't peeing any more frequently, but he is peeing more volume when he does go. At first I was pleased, because if he pees a lot that means he's not in danger of blocking up anytime soon. However, I put 2 and 2 together today and realized that he is drinking way more than usual as well. I mentioned it to DH, and he agreed that he'd been seeing a lot larger clumps in the litterbox all of a sudden too. I'm very worried. I'd be fine with diabetes, because we can control that with medication. I'm much more worried that he has kidney damage from all of the blockages

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I'm much more worried that he has kidney damage from all of the blockages

I can imagine how worried you must be. My Kitty just turned 14 and I am always checking his water intake and output. Hang in there and I will be hoping for good news.

 

[Rajah]

No advice, but sending kitty-PD!

 

[chrissyk]

I can imagine how worried you must be. My Kitty just turned 14 and I am always checking his water intake and output. Hang in there and I will be hoping for good news.

Thanks I'll update when we get back from the vet tonight. They said that they should be able to look at his bloodwork tonight. I hope so. I'm always monitoring our cat's litterbox usage because of his past problems. However, usually I'm pleased when he does pee a lot. I guess that that's why it took me so long to realize that something was going on I'm worried out of my mind. He's only 10 which still seems young to me, although I know that he's considered "older". I really don't know how we'd handle losing him. He is the first pet that I ever had in my life, and I love him to pieces.

 

[chrissyk]

My sweet baby Milo started drinking alot too. We took him to the vet and found out he was in kidney failure due to his cancer. We didn't know he had cancer, he was only 4 or so.

I still miss him dearly. I hope you get good news with your fur-baby!

That is what I am so worried about. We've known that kidney failure was a possibility for years, due to his history of urinary blockages I just hope that this is nothing and he's just more thirsty than usual or something.

 

[sweet angel]

When my cat had kidney failure he pretty much stopped eating and drinking. I knew something was wrong when he hid under my desk and pee'd right there and then just sat there. He was also only about 4. Very very sad.

I hope you get better news!

 

[ReggieB]

My cat has always been a really good water drinker. I know that it's a worry with cats if they don't drink enough, then when they suddenly start to drink loads. Has there been a change in diet? A new kibble, or something? A new food recipe might make him extra thirsty. I know the dry food can be quite thirst inducing for cats. I am hoping your trip to the vets is not a stressful one.

 

[Dizz(n)ey]

Make sure you get a CBC done and find out what his CREATININE level is

Just went through this with my dog 1 month ago and he passed away quickly from Renal Failure (kidney failure)

He was completely "healthy" then all of a sudden BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Good luck

 

[bballmom56]

Sounds like our cat who turned out to be diabetic. If it is that, it should be fairly easy to control. Once we got the right dosage of insulin, the exessive drinking and peeing stopped. Has he lost weight? That was another sign for our cat. Sending you best wishes that it's easily fixable!

 

[Kermit]

Our dog started drinking way more water than normal but not pottying more than normal a while ago. At first I was really worried, but then I realized it was because we had started shutting the toilet lids because Jacob had started pulling up on things. Apparently the dog drank way more toilet water than I realized.

I hope your kitty is fine and that it has a simple explanation.

 

[chrissyk]

We're back from the vet. He has a severe UTI His creatnine (sp?) level was somewhat elevated, but no more so than it has been in the past. Our vet said that he has not 1 but 2 kinds of crystals in his urine at this point, which he has never seen before in the same cat Tomorrow we are bringing him in for a bladder ultrasound and a second sterile urine sample. They need to figure out which antibiotic to use on him.

The ultrasound is to detect bladder stones. If he has them (which I'm sure he does), our vet said that they can do surgery to remove them. At nearly 10 years-old, I'm not sure that my cat would survive major surgery If he does have the bladder stones, we're going to switch over to a holistic vet in the area to see if our cat can be managed holistically and made comfortable. Our old vet was a holistic vet, and she managed his condition well for years. I'm not sure how long he's had a UTI for, but luckily the rest of his bloodwork didn't show any spread of the infection. I am so worried about what to do next. I honestly don't believe in all the interventions of allopathic medicine, but I want what is best for my pet. Above all else, I want him to be comfortable and have a good quality-of-life. I don't want to put him through surgery that would mess him up even more

 

[Miss Jasmine]

We're back from the vet. He has a severe UTI His creatnine (sp?) level was somewhat elevated, but no more so than it has been in the past. Our vet said that he has not 1 but 2 kinds of crystals in his urine at this point, which he has never seen before in the same cat Tomorrow we are bringing him in for a bladder ultrasound and a second sterile urine sample. They need to figure out which antibiotic to use on him.

The ultrasound is to detect bladder stones. If he has them (which I'm sure he does), our vet said that they can do surgery to remove them. At nearly 10 years-old, I'm not sure that my cat would survive major surgery If he does have the bladder stones, we're going to switch over to a holistic vet in the area to see if our cat can be managed holistically and made comfortable. Our old vet was a holistic vet, and she managed his condition well for years. I'm not sure how long he's had a UTI for, but luckily the rest of his bloodwork didn't show any spread of the infection. I am so worried about what to do next. I honestly don't believe in all the interventions of allopathic medicine, but I want what is best for my pet. Above all else, I want him to be comfortable and have a good quality-of-life. I don't want to put him through surgery that would mess him up even more

Awhh Chrissy. Waiting is the worst part. I am sure your kitty is more resiliant that you think. If the holistic thing worked before I bet it will work again. I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[chrissyk]

Awhh Chrissy. Waiting is the worst part. I am sure your kitty is more resiliant that you think. If the holistic thing worked before I bet it will work again. I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks DH and I talked about it, and we both just want our cat to be comfortable and to have a good quality of life for as long as he's with us. We want him to be able to snooze on his ottoman, eat his treats, and just generally be comfortable and happy. The most important thing to both of us is that our cat is not in any pain.

I don't think that either of us is kidding ourselves that he'll live to see his 20's or anything, though. Neither of us thinks that it's a good idea for our cat to have major surgery on a major organ at this age. He's never been a really healthy animal, and we've had to be vigilant about his health to get him to this age. I hope that the holistic vet here will take him on now. He wouldn't before, because our cat wasn't sick enough I thought that we were going along maintaining his urinary condition so well...now I wonder if we went too far to the holistic side and didn't have enough allopathic tests run to make sure that he wasn't developing UTI's. I hate, hate, hate the thought that he will be on antibiotics too I wonder what other part of his system that will throw out of whack My poor kitty

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

to you and your kitty. Good luck tomorrow, please keep us updated!

 

[chrissyk]

We're back from the vet again this morning. The ultrasound showed no bladder stones (YAY!), but he did have a bladder full of blood Apparently this isn't unusual in a cat with a UTI, but our vet was alarmed because the infection has gotten a lot worse in 12 hours. They sent the urine/blood out for culture, and they started him on an antibiotic this morning. They may change the antibiotic in 48 hours if the culture shows that he should be on a different one.

We are all fairly well convinced that our cat introduced the bacteria for the UTI when he was licking himself excessively a couple of weeks ago. He does that when he feels a blockage coming on Maybe we've just been lucky in the past bacteria-wise, as this is his first UTI. Our vet feels like the UTI will be a 1-time thing and not a chronic thing, so that's good at least. He did tell us that our cat's condition can be managed but not cured. We knew that after 7 years of "managing" his blockages. We just want our pet to have a good quality-of-life for as long as he's with us. It kills me that he's in pain right now and there is nothing I can do but wait for the antibiotics to kick in