Cats are never a fan of drinking water or being near water. They tend to have difficulty with keeping themselves hydrated and British Shorthair is not that different. British Shorthair shows subtle changes when they are dehydrated and these symptoms sometimes go unnoticed. You need to know how much water should British Shorthair Needs to drink per day to keep themselves hydrated and healthy?
British Shorthair will need 60 ml of water per kg of their weight in a day. Meaning that if your shorthair is 6 kg in weight, then she will need 360 ml of water per day. This number may vary depending on the consumption of dry or wet food.
Some factors will give you hints when your British Shorthair is dehydrated. You need to monitor closely and read this article to know what the factors are and what you need to do.
Let’s get started to learn more about why British Shorthair needs water and how much, when, what can you do to make it happen?
Cats, although require water like human beings in their body, barely prefer drinking water. British Shorthair shows similar behavior when it comes to drinking water.
Although movies have been showing, cats drink water from the bowl, it is a common misconception as they hate to drink still water.
British Shorthair, too, needs water that is running and moving. And the amount of water they need to consume depends on their weight.
They need to drink 60 ml of water per kg and drinking more will never do any wrong. Let us suppose, your British Shorthair weighs 4 kg, you have to make them drink more than 240 ml of water.
However, the consumption of water also depends on the fact of what type of food you are feeding your shorthair. It is essential to properly feed your British Shorthair.
Wet food contains nearly 80% water; however, dry food remains at the low range of 10%. That’s why most of the experts ask you to feed wet food to your water-hating cats.
You don’t have to forcibly make them drink water more often if they are eating food that already contains water.
It is very important to balance the electrolytes as well as specific minerals along with the fluids within the body. Hydration helps to attain and maintain this balance being a physiological state of balance.
Water serves various purposes within the body, affecting the process of digestion to circulation. It also affects organ function as well as nutrient transportation.
One of the major problems among cats, Urine stones, are less likely to occur if your shorthair is drinking sufficient water. Hydration also helps to flush out all the toxins present in the kidney along with the urine.
So, water is vital and very important for the cat’s body to function smoothly and stay healthy and active.
You can’t follow your shorthair all day to know how much or when will they drink water. What you can do is make sure you provide them wet food and a water bowl in an appropriate place.
You have to keep a constant level of water in the bowl each day early in the morning to know how much the cat drank at the end of the day.
If you see the level slightly high than the day before that clearly implies your shorthair is drinking less water. Their thirst or say water requirement might be fulfilled with wet food that contains 80% of water.
Besides, if they drink too much water and always thirsty then there are some other risk factors which you should know.
There are various reasons your shorthair doesn’t prefer to drink water and dehydrate itself. It is quite common and something you have to be serious and attentive about.
Among the various reason cats make themselves go through this torture of dehydration, a few of them are listed below:
As we know, felines are supposedly desert dwellers meaning they have the capacity to drink less water and have very low thirst drive.
These cats can handle themselves for a long period without drinking water or even asking for it. This is because of their genes as these cats are evolved from desert dwellers to domestic cats.
British Shorthair, like any other cats, has a problem to visualize the edge of the water in the bowl. Meaning that they have near-sightedness and have issues when it comes to knowing where to start to drink water from.
The most common issue is these cats don’t like to drink still water. They prefer freshwater that is running or moving.
These cats prefer the chase and the struggle rather than the simple way of sipping the water from the bowl.
You may have seen in pictures or movies that cats are sipping or drinking water from the bowl with no issues whatsoever.
But that might be the illusion as cats will only be able to drink 3/100 of a teaspoon per lap from the bowl due to the shape of their tongue.
The curve their tongue goes to is generally J-shaped while they lap water from the container or bowl in front of them.
They only bite off a column of water making it quite inefficient and problematic to drink water and stay hydrated.
When your British Shorthair isn’t getting or drinking sufficient water, it starts showing various signs and symptoms.
You, sometimes, will not be able to notice because the changes are very subtle and simple. So, it is very necessary to monitor them closely and don’t let them dehydrate.
If your British Shorthair is getting less water in their body, their body starts getting less circulation or digestion. Their brain can barely make them active with no energy left.
This will directly attack their mental health, leaving them stressed and depressed. They will stop greeting you when you come home or have a drastic change in simple behavior.
Your shorthairs’ gums are more likely to be moist and not tacky when they are well hydrated or in simple words, getting enough water.
Dehydration shows itself with the gums getting sticky and dry when you watch them closely.
When the water content in the body starts getting lesser and lesser, the basic organ systems within the body like the digestive or circulation will be affected.
This will make them very passive and energy-less while the symptoms are clearly seen when they act lazy or sleep more.
These cats will not even play the games or participate in random activities with you due to dehydration.
British Shorthairs have the most beautiful colored outgoing eyes but dehydration can sunken the eye making them dull and lifeless sometimes.
Most of the time, these cats pant when the heat is a little over the top for them. But if that isn’t the case with your shorthair, go straight to the question of how to hydrate your shorthair or ways to make your shorthair drink water more.
Less water intake will always result in less urination and you will be able to notice this thing after a while not at first.
One of the reasons for your shorthair to avoid its food is due to the dehydration in its body. But it can be something more serious, try making them drink water first.
If this solution doesn’t work, rush your British Shorthair to the vet and get them checked up thoroughly.
You need to know what pace does the heart of your shorthair beat at. This will make it easier for you to know when their heart rate is elevated.
And when you do notice Elevated heart rate, rush to make your shorthair drink more water and keep it hydrated.
Skin tenting is one of the common and very simple ways to detect if your shorthair is hydrated or not. It can be tough to notice in a furry cat first, but you’ll eventually know something is wrong.
To do this skin tent test with your British Shorthair, you have to tent a skin around the shoulder of this cat. If the skin goes back to the normal position quickly after release, then they are hydrated.
Dehydrated cats’ skin tends to take more time to go back to the normal position at a very slow pace.
You need to make your shorthair drink more water if you want them to stay healthy and disease-free. As already mentioned, cats have a deep dislike for the water and will not drink it unless you train them to.
You need to find a definite flavor that your shorthair prefers. It can be something related to the food they like or smell that comforts them.
Purchase and add that flavor to the water to lure your shorthair into the drinking water you provided.
Sometimes, few ice cubes can do the trick when other tricks fail. These British Shorthairs are curious as well as intelligent ones and can fall for the trick with the bowl of water with floating ice.
This is the best solution for the problem related to dehydration. British Shorthairs love their food and will devour anything you provide them.
That’s why it is best to do for wet or canned food that contains 80% of the water your shorthair needs. It is a pretty easy and simple solution without breaking a sweat.
Cats are weird yet fascinating, you can’t disagree on that. They will barely take a few laps from the bowl of water sitting still in the corner.
But these cats will jump with joy when they see the water fountain providing them running water. They will get curious and try to make a game out of it while drinking water. Hence, the problem solved.
Although British Shorthairs are indoor cats that prefer sitting and playing around the house. But they will prefer a glance around a surrounding once in a while.
So, here is what you can do, you can place the water bowls in the area with the view and somewhere they won’t be disturbed.
Sometimes, moving the water bowl will do the trick with these shy yet intelligent and curious cats.
You always need to remember the cats’ deep-rooted dislike or hatred for the smell of plastic. They will not drink water from the bowl that has the pungent or even the subtle smell of plastic.
That’s why you need to switch to stainless steel bowls or glass bowls for keeping the water for the cats.
Tap water has the high-chance of being chlorinated and smelly to the cat. They prefer filtered water along with no smell.
You also have to change the water once or twice a day to provide fresh and clean water. British Shorthairs prefer cleanliness and the water bowl sitting at one place can attract dust, dirt, hair, etc.
This will make them less-attracted to the water bowl and will not drink from it. So, try to keep it clean and fresh for your British Shorthairs to stay hydrated.
The first and foremost solution to dehydration is British Shorthair needs to drink enough water and they will do just fine.
Sometimes, the case goes beyond the place you can help them with oral water consumption, that’s when you need to pay your vet a visit.
They can administer fluids, balanced electrolyte solution into the body of your shorthair subcutaneously or intravenously depending on the fact how dehydrated your British Shorthair is.
Here are some of the most asked questions interrelated to cat and water.
Well, they hate to drink water, it is a nightmare to make them drink enough water and they will themselves stop drinking water once they are full.
So, you can’t really make your shorthair drink more water even if you give them water too much than is suggested.
When your shorthair is in pain due to kidney disease, diabetes, broken or infected tooth, and charge in the whiskers, they may cry while drinking water in the sense of discharging the static.
In conclusion, you are the one who will be held responsible if your shorthair develops any disease due to dehydration. it is necessary your British Shorthair gets enough water or should be fed wet food rather than dry ones. Water is a vital need for cats and will help you solve many problems related to cats. Remember to take the above-mentioned clever steps to make your British Shorthair drink more water.