Thursday, September 5, 2013

WATER YOUR CATS

Seattle had a little heat wave this summer. It reached temperatures as high as "maybe a little cold for summertime in Maryland." Like 78-85F. 

But as a region where most people (including me) don't own an air conditioner, this was still pretty freakishly hot. Hot enough that I had to actually start thinking about hydration.

My two cats, like many cats, just aren't very "into" water. They're still pretty healthy in spite of this. They eat wet canned food twice a day, so they do get at least a little moisture regularly, and they do have fresh water available in case they actually want it.

But I worry anyway.

So I decided to start mixing extra water in with their meals, so that the quantity of water is maybe about equal in volume with the actual food. This mix gets stirred up before serving enough that the cats have no choice but to treat it like stew, and down the water with the food. (My husband has backed this play, and also adds water to their food when he feeds them.) They lick their dishes clean every time, and in the process they end up drinking considerably more water than they used to.

The upside is that they've looked significantly more spry and comfortable than they did during Seattle's last heat wave.

The downside is that now they both drool a little when they're happy. 

I'd worry that maybe we've overwatered them, but they otherwise seem to be in much better condition than they did before we started this. Still. If I'd known that they'd blossom into droolers, once they became hydrated enough to spare the moisture...

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