Cat dehydration occurs when there is excessive loss of fluid from the cat's body. When this happens, it is not just water loss. It is also the loss of some important minerals in the body such as chloride, sodium and potassium.
Water is essential to your cat's health. This helps them maintain good health and replenish the fluids they lose through urine and feces.
Water is also essential for your cat's circulation, digestion, and waste removal. If your cat's dehydration is left untreated, the condition can lead to other serious medical problems.
What causes dehydration in cats?
Dehydration in cats is usually caused by the cat not drinking enough water or excessive water loss. Cats can also lose moisture through slight sweating through their paws, but this usually does not cause sudden water loss.
Dehydration can be caused by many different factors, such as:
- Diabetes
- Diarrhea
- Heat
- Heatstroke
- Hot weather or overheating
- Injury
- Vomit
To help your cat maintain healthy hydration, make sure she always has access to fresh water in a clean bowl every day.
Symptoms
The disease in an animal occurs with symptoms that can accompany various diseases, so it is necessary to show the pet to a doctor.
If an animal suffers from vomiting and diarrhea and does not drink water at all, this is an alarming sign.
The inability to defecate indicates insufficient fluid levels in the body.
If the oral mucosa is light in color, the saliva is viscous and does not excrete well, this indicates the presence of pathologies.
With existing infectious diseases and inflammation, the temperature can not only rise, but also fall. A sharp change in body temperature leads to profuse sweating and, accordingly, loss of large amounts of fluid.
So, let's name the main symptoms of the disease:
- dry skin;
- lethargy of the animal;
- sunken eyes;
- lack of normal appetite;
- constipation or diarrhea;
- arrhythmia;
- body temperature atypical for an individual;
- saliva viscosity;
- light shade of gums.
What are the common symptoms of dehydration in cats?
Make sure your cat gets enough water as part of its daily diet. If your cat doesn't get enough water, she may become dehydrated.
Some signs of dehydration in cats include:
- Loss of energy
- Dyspnea
- Refusal to eat
- Sunken eyes
- Sticky and dry gums
Skin Tightening is a good test to help you determine if your cat is dehydrated. To do this, carefully grab a small piece of the cat's skin around the shoulders, pull it up and release.
If your cat is dehydrated, the skin will quickly snap back into place. If the skin is slowly drooping, it may mean your cat is dehydrated.
If your cat's skin remains in the tent position and does not fall down, it could be a sign of severe dehydration. In such cases, you should immediately seek medical attention for your cat.
Recommendations for owners of special cats
If the furry pet of the family:
- she eats dry food, but for some reason drinks little; her diet should be diversified with wet spiders;
- periodically suffers from dehydration due to improper functioning of the kidneys, subcutaneous injections of medicinal solutions will help, which are performed regularly, at a certain interval and only after a doctor’s prescription;
- a light drinker by nature (there are such people!), this can be considered the norm if the pet is active and eats well, has healthy mucous membranes and elastic skin, regularly goes to the toilet, while the urine is a healthy, light yellow color, and intestinal excrement is normal , soft consistency.
Video - How much water does a cat need?
What should I do if my cat is dehydrated?
Dehydration in cats is often a sign of a serious illness. If you suspect your cat is dehydrated, contact your veterinarian immediately.
In the meantime, you can try some home remedies to rehydrate your cat:
- Add some chicken broth or tuna juice to the water.
- Instead of dry food, try giving them wet food.
- Place ice cubes in a bowl of water.
You should know your cat's food and water preferences. For example, some cats like to drink water from a water bowl, and some like to use a cat fountain. You should try to encourage them to drink. However, you should never force them.
Preventive measures
To prevent exicosis, you need to follow simple rules:
- keep a bowl of your favorite liquid within walking distance of the animal;
- if there is more than one cat living in the house, it is better to provide each of them with individual dishes;
- when treating any disease, monitor the cat, monitor its appetite and thirst;
- Along with dry food, give your cat wet food;
- monitor the time the animal spends in direct sunlight;
- If you are urinating frequently, have your pet examined by a doctor.
Some individuals prefer to drink running water. You can install a special drinking fountain for them.
To prevent a sensitive cat from touching the bowl with its whiskers, it should be low and spacious.
How is dehydration treated?
A quick procedure that your veterinarian can perform involves injecting a fluid under your cat's skin. In severe cases, your veterinarian may recommend hospitalizing your cat and giving her fluids through a needle that is inserted directly into the cat's vein.
This method can usually restore the cat's dehydration within a few hours or days.
Your veterinarian will also diagnose the underlying cause of your cat's dehydration and help you get her back to health.
Clinical diagnosis of dehydration
As a rule, doctors accept domestic animals that are brought in in a state of moderate or severe severity out of turn.
The specialist will carefully listen to the owner’s complaints, ask additional questions about the animal’s feeding habits and health, and then examine the cat. To have objective data about her condition, the veterinarian will prescribe general and biochemical blood tests, as well as a urine test.
Only a qualified veterinarian can determine the exact stage of dehydration and help your pet.
In this case, factors confirming dehydration will be:
- increased percentage of hematocrit (the content of red cells in the total blood volume). In the form this parameter is designated as “PCV”;
- a large amount of protein in the blood;
- hyperconcentration of urine.
On a note! The examination will not only confirm (or refute) the fact of dehydration, but also understand the reasons for this condition. If pathologies of internal organs are suspected, additional studies are carried out.
If dehydration is suspected, it is best to show the animal to a specialist.
How to prevent your cat from becoming dehydrated?
There are several ways to prevent your cat from becoming dehydrated. Some options include:
- Wipe down and provide drinking bowls with fresh water daily.
- Provide your cat with several sources of clean water around your home.
- Try giving your cat an electrolyte supplement or meat-flavored water from a trusted pet food store.
- Use a fresh water fountain for cats to encourage them to drink.
If your cat is dehydrated or hesitant to drink, it is important to take her to the vet immediately. Dehydration in cats can lead to serious health problems that should be addressed as soon as possible.
Treatment
If signs of dehydration are noticed, you should immediately begin procedures to restore water balance.
When the above symptoms (not vomiting) are detected, you can try to forcefully inject the cat with water or an aqueous solution with salt and granulated sugar into the oral cavity.
If vomiting, you can inject a solution of sodium chloride or glucose (10 ml) into the cat’s withers. Additionally, you can administer 1 ml of Gamavit. When purchasing livestock, it is better to learn how to give injections from a veterinarian in advance.
Such manipulations will save the cat from loss of moisture and minerals, and help his body before contacting a doctor. Loss of beneficial components can lead to death, while treatment of the concomitant disease can be done later.
At the clinic, cats are treated through intravenous infusions. The cat is brought into the treatment room and fluid is replenished through droppers with a solution that ensures normal vital functions. If it is not possible to regularly attend procedures with a cat, it is left under the supervision of a specialist in a hospital, where treatment procedures are performed.
Prognosis and prevention
If treatment is not carried out in time and the symptoms of dehydration are not eliminated, then many of the cat’s internal organs and systems will fail, resulting in death. To prevent this disorder, it is necessary to provide your pet with free access to fluids. It is important to feed your pet high-quality food to avoid poisoning. It is possible to reduce the chances of dehydration in a cat if you do not allow it to stay in direct sunlight for a long time. The problem occurs less frequently in pets that are vaccinated and dewormed on time.
How much water does your cat need?
An adult cat can drink up to 200 ml of water per day
Your cat needs 40 to 50 ml of water per day per kilogram of its body weight. For example, if a pet weighs five to six kilograms, then she should drink from 180 to 200 ml of liquid per day.
If your cat eats wet food frequently, you may notice that she doesn't drink as much water. This is because the liquid enters her body when she eats. Wet food is 80% water. On the other hand, cats that primarily eat dry food do not consume as much water from their food. They definitely need to drink water from a bowl.
Main reasons
Sources of dehydration in a cat can be various pathological conditions that can develop rapidly or gradually. Sometimes the disorder is not associated with pathology, but appears when the pet does not have access to water. Often the pathology is affected by severe poisoning, which is associated with taking certain drugs or foods. A negative reaction can also be a consequence of rat poison or other toxic substances entering the cat’s body. The following reasons can provoke dehydration in cats:
- Diseases of the digestive tract, which include: panleukopenia;
- salmonella infection;
- calicivirus;
- toxoplasmosis;
- gastroenteritis;
- inflammation of the pancreas;
- intestinal obstruction.
According to veterinarians, dehydration of a cat’s body is influenced by allergic reactions that occur to food. If you do not notice dehydration in time and do not exclude provoking foods from your diet, then violations of many internal organs and systems are possible.
Elimination of vomiting using traditional medicine methods
Peppermint tea will help eliminate vomiting.
Traditional medicine is effective in treating many diseases, and vomiting in children is no exception. So at home you can stop vomiting in the following ways:
- Using an aqueous dill solution. Pour a glass of boiling water over a teaspoon of the plant’s fruits and allow to cool. Even infants can be given this solution. Should be taken one teaspoon at a time. If you feel better, you can increase the dosage.
- Using green tea. You can add a little sugar or honey to it before taking it.
- By resorting to the help of a fruit such as quince. It is very effective in combating bouts of vomiting. Before use, you should either bake it or grate it on a fine grater, and then eat it little by little.
- In case of bilious vomiting, you can resort to mint tea. This kind of medicine is prepared like this. Crushed peppermint leaves in the amount of 2 tablespoons are brewed with a glass of boiling water and left for 2 hours. Then take a tablespoon 5 times a day.
- You can also make a solution similar to Regidron yourself. In a liter of boiled water, half a spoonful of soda and salt are dissolved. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar there. Afterwards, everything is thoroughly stirred and after cooling, this solution is ready for use.
