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Hydration Hacks: Get Your Kidney Disease Cat to Drink More

Pet Care Tips 4 min read
An image of a cat drinking water for a hydration hacks for pets blog.

Every pet parent who supports a kidney disease cat should know how important hydration is. When this disease is present, the kidneys lose the ability to conserve body water by concentrating urine. Because of this, urine is more frequent and abundant, and water intake increases to keep the body hydrated.

Hydration becomes a key point in the management of kidney disease

Given this inability to conserve body water, hydration becomes a key point in the management of kidney disease, not only to maintain all the vital functions, but also to support kidney function.

Why Your Kidney Disease Cat Needs More Water

Healthy kidneys perform many functions, including filtering the blood, making urine, and helping regulate blood pressure. When they lose their ability to perform these functions, dehydration and other symptoms will present. Some of these symptoms, like vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite, are usually seen in mild to advanced cases and contribute further to dehydration.

Moreover, kidney function can be affected by dehydration, leading to more kidney damage as it deprives the kidneys of optimal blood circulation and necessary amounts of oxygen, nutrients, and other important components. Like a vicious circle, dehydration leads to more kidney damage, perpetuating the condition. Given this, hydration is crucial to support the kidneys and overall health for pets going through kidney disease and should be a priority in their care routine.

Creative Hydration Hacks

Fortunately, there are several ways to encourage your little one to stay hydrated, and here we want to share some useful tips for you to try at home.

Water Bowl Quantity

Having enough water bowls around the house is a simple way to encourage water consumption. The standard recommendation says that the number of bowls should be at least the same as the number of cats, plus 1 more. However, for kitties going through health challenges like kidney disease, you can use as many bowls as you consider necessary.

Pet Fountains

Cats love fresh, clean water. Using pet fountains helps keep water fresh as it’s constantly flowing and oxygenating, and avoids bacterial accumulation. It’s even better if you use a fountain and place some water bowls around the house.

Adding Water to Food

Wet food can have even more water! This is a great option to encourage water intake as this type of food is usually very tasty and attractive, and is high in water content, therefore, putting more on it won’t make a big difference for your little one in terms of taste and texture.

Tuna Water Ice Cubes

Summer is the season of the year when we should be even more careful with hydration. A fun, tasty idea is to make ice cubes with tuna water, you can choose the shape and size. This does not only promote hydration but also well-being as it works as an environmental enrichment option.

Heating Food

Slightly warming up wet food helps enhance aroma, and similarly to us, cats can feel attracted by a warm, fragrant meal. As mentioned above, you can first add water and then warm it. Please make sure it’s not too hot.

Bone Broth

Another healthy, nutritive, and tasty option to help your little one stay hydrated is to offer them bone broth. Besides helping with hydration, bone broth can also provide valuable nutritional support and has a delicious taste that most kitties like, making it not only healthy but also enjoyable. It can be given warm or frozen as ice cubes, similarly to tuna water ice cubes.

Please keep in mind that it’s not a complete meal on its own, and it’s always good to discuss with your vet if your little one can benefit from it, as some pets can have nutritional restrictions depending on their health condition.

As we know how valuable bone broth can be, we have developed our own recipes at our boutique in Vancouver, Canada. For example, our Beef Bone Broth, which contains real bones slowly cooked for 18 hours, provides valuable nutritional support and can encourage your little one to stay hydrated.

Consistency and Vet Guidance for Kidney Disease Cats

As you can see, there are several ways to encourage your little one to stay hydrated, you just need to find the option that works better and makes them feel more comfortable.

It’s recommended to always monitor your kidney disease cat and its water intake, so that you can notice early if there are changes. Please remember that if your little one continues to have trouble staying hydrated, it’s important to let your trusted vet know as soon as possible to help prevent any potential complications.

Dr. Carla Moran, DVM

Dr. Carla Moran, DVM

Dr. Carla Moran graduated from the University of Chile in Veterinary Medicine and later obtained a Diploma in Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases from the same university. She has had the opportunity to learn from diverse areas of the veterinary profession through her professional training, like small animal medicine, wildlife conservation, and public health. Dr. Moran loves being able to support animals and their guardians through natural medicine, and she strongly believes that nature can provide us with what every being needs to be happy and healthy, mentally, and physically.

Published: May 28, 2025

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