Water Intake Test
Water intake tests are very important to help us work out whether your cat is drinking too much water. Some diseases make cats drink more water than they should. Monitoring the water intake can be an important part of checking the response to treatment for diabetic cats.
Water intake can vary depending on many factors, including the weather, the type of food your cat eats and how much activity he or she does. Consequently the amount of water your cat drinks can vary from day to day. Because of this, we do a Water Intake Test over 2 consecutive days (2x 24 hour periods) so that we can average out how much is actually taken.
It is very difficult to assess water intake if there is more than one animal in the household, as they share water sources. To do a Water Intake Test accurately, animals may need to be kept separate over the time of the test. Alternatively they may need to be hospitalised so that they only get to drink from one source.
Step 1: Empty out all bowls that your cat normally drinks from, inside and outside the house.
Step 2: Measure exactly how much water you add to each bowl. Make a note of this.
Step 3: Don’t allow the bowl to be empty of water. Note down the amount of water you add to the bowl during the day and add this figure to the figure from Step 2.
Step 4: After 24 hours, measure exactly how much water is left in each bowl or bucket.
Step 5: Subtract the amount left over from the amount in Step 3.
Step 6: Repeat Steps 1-5 over 1 more 24-hour period.
Bring your calculations into the clinic or call us so we can assess the amount taken in and work out whether this is normal or abnormal.