Mr Cat's first drink from our new faucet

When we first got our flufster we gave him a standard water dish by his food and would drink it.  But eventually he stopped wanting to drink from it and started to drink water from food in the sink.  I still gave him a water bowl and changed his water every day.

Our cat loves the new faucet

When I changed out our bathroom faucet to a higher arc faucet, he stopped drinking from the dishes in the sink and instead started to jump on our bathroom sink and patiently wait for us to notice and turn on the faucet (just like the pic of him below).  If I walk by the bathroom and see this I instantly fill the sink with water.  Last year we were remodeling our attic and a worker on the project had to use our bathroom only to see Mr Cat staring at him sitting on the sink.  It was pretty funny I think it spooked him.  In stead of using the bathroom  he called for me basically saying what is up with your cat.  I said, "Oh he just wants water."  He laughed and said, "What? I have to see this." 

Mr Cat's I want water signal to me ( note our old faucet and how low an arc it is)

Since we had about a year of never seeing him drink from the bowl and apparently we had inadvertently trained him to tell us when he wants water I gave up on the chore of changing water everyday. Instead we make sure he gets lots of water in his food, and make sure we fill up the sink over night with water and anytime we leave the house.

Why Hydration in Cats Is So Important 
Cats can easily have urinary tract problems.  Urinary tract issues often stem from dehydration-even if you’re giving your cat plenty of water. In the wild, cats stay hydrated through the food they eat instead of what they drink. Cats are used to ‘eating’ their water-but most wet foods don’t have nearly enough hydration to keep them satisfied.

I believe in feeding cats as close to a natural hunting diet as possible. The closest to a hunting diet would be a raw diet.  Unfortunately we tried that with Mr Cat but he wasn't that into it.  Next to a raw diet the closet natural diet option is a grain free wet food with high protein and hydration.  Read our article Why Should You Feed You Cat a Grain Free Diet?  if you want to learn more about grain free pet food. 


Tips And Tricks to Keep Your Cat Hydrated 

Add Water to Wet Food
I started adding water to our cats wet food when after a blood test for our cat showed possible kidney problems and needed extra testing, turns out he was fine his urine was just concentrated.  But....that meant he probably wasn't getting enough water.  So I thought why not try adding water to his wet food?  I did and he loves it, and I love knowing he is at least getting a baseline of water everyday.

Weruva B.F.F. OMG! in chicken turkey and salmon dinner

Buy Food That Has a High Hydration Content 
Weruva  has a new line of cat food B.F.F. OMG! (that stands for Best Feline Friend, Oh My Gravy) I love Weruva products because they are considered ‘people food for pets.’   The entire line is gluten, grain, and carrageenan-free grain free and has over 85% hydration, which satisfies your cat's hydration needs.  This is great if you have a picky eater (each flavor has some tuna which I can't imagine any cat resisting) and or don't want to bother mixing water into wet food.  Extra bonus the pouches are BPA free, which is hard to avoid when giving your cat wet food (since most are canned and most cans have BPA in the lining).  Weruva was nice enough to send Mr Cat samples of there new line and he loved it.  He licked every last drop (pictured below).  

Mr Cat eat every last drop of his cat food B.F.F. OMG! chicken turkey and salmon dinner

What We Feed Mr Cat   

Day:  Lately he has been enjoying EVO chicken and turkeyeveryday, with
B.F.F. OMG!  as an occasional treat so he doesn't get to bored, and to make sure we gets a variety of nutrition.  It's a good idea to change proteins your pet has once in a while. 

Over Night and when we are gone: dry food Pure vita chicken and green peas

Treats: Blue Wilderness Chicken and trout cat treats

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