Why Do Cats With Kidney Disease Drink So Much Water
On average cats and dogs alike drink between 10 30 ml per pound per day.
Why do cats with kidney disease drink so much water. Chronic kidney disease ckd is very common in older pets and affects approximately 3 in 10 geriatric cats 1 normally healthy and happy kidneys do a miraculous job of. This amount can be impacted by the amount of moisture in the food and water loss associated with. Knowledge is power and by the end of this article you should know everything you need to know about kidney disease in cats. When a cat spends hours with her head over her water bowl the most common culprit is kidney disease.
Balancing body water salts and acids. An average cat weighing 4 kilos 8 8 lbs should take approximately 180 ml day if they are overweight and also urinate a lot it means that something is happening and we should go to the vet the exception is when the weather is generally hot when the animal must compensate body. Yet we all know that it s important to be educated on serious conditions such as kidney disease in cats. Untreated kidney disease can lead to a series of health problems.
Make liquids more tempting by using a pet fountain feeding canned food. Cats kidneys can begin to fail with age. Stages symptoms causes coping unique healing option. With so much to do it s perhaps not surprising that as cats get older it s quite common for their kidneys to wear out after working so hard.
They help manage blood pressure make hormones stimulate the bone marrow to make more red blood cells and remove waste from the blood. No cat parent wants to think about the terrible diseases that can happen to their beloved felines. And it s worth noting that some cats are diagnosed only in the disease s final stages. A cat with healthy kidneys can concentrate and eliminate the filtered waste products with a normal amount of water intake in the early stages of kidney disease the kidneys can no longer concentrate the waste products as efficiently so they need to excrete them in a lower concentration with higher volume more urine which is dilute.
When there s not much that can be done beyond offering simple comforts to an end stage patient s last days or euthanasia of course. Animals like people typically drink for one reason because they re thirsty. But with early diagnosis and good care you can help boost. Cat s kidneys play several important roles in keeping your pet healthy including removing toxins maintaining their blood pressure and helping to produce hormones for new red blood cells.
Your cat s kidneys do many important things. When kidney disease occurs it compromises the kidney s abilities to perform these important tasks. After all cats with kidney disease often live for years beyond their initial diagnosis. In general a cat drinking more water than usual is not normal and is usually a symptom that something is wrong.
When it s chronic there s no cure. Why do some cats hang their heads over their water bowls. Do you notice a change in your cat s water intake. The most obvious and common change is an increased intake of water called polydipsia.
Producing high quality urine. Because the kidneys aren t working well your cat will need to drink more water.