My cat just drank one bowl full of water in an hour, is this normal?

Question

Everyday my cat eats sweets with us at tea time and she likes it very much. So I decided to give her more sweets today.

After that she has drunk one bowl full of water in an hour. Is this normal?

It contains water equivalent to that of 1 standard size tea cup, not the big coffee mugs. About 4 ounces or 120 ml.

We have a number of posts about cats and sweets while pure sugar is safe, cats can not taste it, and some ingredients can be toxic. You may want to consider changing to a cat specific treat. — James Jenkins, Dec 28 '18 at 13:22
@JamesJenkins It's local sweets prepared from milk and pure sugar processed from sugar cane. So is it toxic too? Other than the fact that it has high carbohydrate and cats should not be given high carbohydrate? — Sonevol, Dec 28 '18 at 13:53
Our pets should have pet treats-not human. I just spent 700.00 on pancreatitis due to sweets! — Peggy Stevens, Jan 13 '19 at 03:36

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 03 '19 at 17:30

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One instance of a cat drinking 4oz of water in a sitting is not really alarming, but if you are noticing a pattern of your cat drinking more water than usual, repeatedly emptying the bowl in one sitting, or other unusual patterns of excessive water drinking, that is a reason to take your cat to the vet. It can indicate diabetes or kidney disease, or a number of other conditions, most of which are well treatable if caught early, and much less so if ignored until they are showing more severe symptoms.

It's possible that the extra sweets made her extra thirsty, but I am inclined to think that the drinking after eating a sweet is likely a coincidence.

answered Jan 03 '19 at 17:30

Meg

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But I think drinking lots of water prevents kidney disease and regarding diabetes can a cat less than 2years develop it. Yes she drinks excess of water many a times and goes to litterbox the whole day. – Sonevol Jan 03 '19 at 18:04
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Drinking lots of water is good for a cat's kidneys, but drinking excessively can also be a symptom. I'm not really sure how to quantify 'excessive' drinking compared to just being very well hydrated, to be honest.
Young cats can be diabetic, but it is much, much less likely. I am not a vet and can't give medical advice, so I will just say if you think she is drinking water to excess/abnormally then get her checked out, if you feel that her drinking is normal amounts, then likely nothing to be worried about.
– Meg Jan 03 '19 at 19:17
Is it possible that she she drinks excessive water because because she is fed only dry cat food? – Sonevol Jan 04 '19 at 03:15
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Cats that eat dry food definitely do drink more water compared to cats on a wet or raw food diet. – Meg Jan 04 '19 at 13:36

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 18 '21 at 01:49

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Never ever give sweets to cats; first of all, because it might kill your cat; and second, cats cannot taste sweetness.

The reason why your cat drinks lots of water is to try to flush out the poison from its system.

Cats cannot digest carbohydrates (sugar-starch found in plant matter) in an effective way.

edited Jun 18 '21 at 01:49

lila

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answered Dec 28 '18 at 13:08

trond hansen

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 05 '19 at 16:52

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She my be dehydrated from the sweets and dry cat food so switching to wet food and giving her cat treats may be better for her health.

answered Jan 05 '19 at 16:52

user13978

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My cat just drank one bowl full of water in an hour, is this normal?

3 Answers3