My cat is not drinking: is it serious? Often not, and that is where to start: a cat drinks little by nature. It descends from a hunter that got most of its water from its prey, it concentrates its urine better than almost any other mammal, and a cat fed wet food can go days without being seen drinking and come to no harm. The problem is the cat on dry food that drinks little: its very concentrated urine lays the ground for crystals, cystitis and, with age, tired kidneys. Here is how much water it needs for its weight and its diet, why it snubs its bowl, what gets it to drink, with the studies to back it up, what water fountains are really worth, how to measure at home whether it is drinking enough, and the cases, rare but urgent, where it must see a vet the same day.
Cat not drinking: the essentials in brief
| How much water | the usual benchmark is about 50 ml per kilo per day, all sources combined: 200 to 250 ml for a 4 to 5 kg cat. Wet food provides three quarters of it; a cat on dry food has to drink almost all of it |
|---|---|
| Why it drinks little | it is built to get its water from its prey; its kidneys concentrate urine strongly; and its bowl is often badly placed, too small or not clean enough for its liking |
| What gets it to drink | wet food first, with water added to it: it is the only measured lever that really dilutes the urine; then several water points away from the food bowl and the litter tray, a wide, clean bowl, water changed every day |
| The water fountain | one more water point, filtered, always fresh, which some cats love; but the three published studies do not show that it makes cats drink more on average. Offer it in addition to the bowl, never instead of it |
| Knowing if it drinks enough | measure the water over 24 hours; look at the litter tray: two to four urinations a day; moist gums, a fold of skin that drops back at once |
| When to see a vet | the same day if it has neither drunk nor eaten for 24 hours, if it strains to urinate with no result (an emergency, especially in a male), or if, conversely, it starts drinking much more than before |
Sources: International Cat Care, Cornell Feline Health Center, MSD Veterinary Manual, Cats Protection, PDSA; studies by Buckley et al. (2011), Markwell et al. (1999), Grant (2010), Robbins et al. (2019), Rishniw and Bicalho (2015), the review by Kosmal et al. (2026) and the measurements by van Diggelen et al. (2026).
Contents
Why a cat drinks so little
A wild cat hardly drinks at all: it eats mice, which are 65 to 85% water. Yours has kept the physiology that goes with it. Its kidneys concentrate urine better than those of most mammals, and it tolerates a loss of water that other animals could not bear. You read everywhere that the cat "is late to feel thirst" or "does not feel thirst": that is an old hypothesis, and the most recent review on the question, which went through 32 studies published since 1975, judges that it is not proven (Kosmal et al., 2026). What is proven is the concentration of the urine, and that is what causes the problem.
Everything then depends on what is in its bowl. Wet food contains from 60 to more than 85% water, dry food 3 to 11% (MSD Veterinary Manual). Measurements published in 2026 on 22 cats show it very simply: fed dry food only, they drank about 100 ml of water a day; fed wet food only, 15 to 35 ml, because the rest came from the plate, and their total water intake was higher (van Diggelen et al., 2026). A cat on wet food that is never seen drinking is therefore normal; a cat on dry food that does not drink is not.
And then there are the cat reasons, the ones owners underestimate: a bowl set next to the dry food, a bowl near the litter tray, a bowl whose water is two days old, a bowl too small, in which it has to push its muzzle down. In a survey of 549 households, 41% placed the water next to the food, half offered only one water point, and about 60% of cats drank elsewhere: from glasses, watering cans, puddles, the tap (Handl and Fritz, 2018). The cat is not refusing to drink; it is refusing that bowl, in that place. "My cat is not drinking enough", "my cat is not drinking water", "it is not drinking much", "it will not drink from its bowl": those are the four ways we are asked the question, and they most often have the same answer, which is set out in the rest of this article.
How much water a cat should drink
There is no measured water requirement for cats: the reference benchmark, 50 to 60 ml per kilo per day, was established in dogs and carried over to cats. The Cornell Feline Health Center puts it this way: about one cup of water a day, that is 240 ml, for a 4.5 kg cat. The intakes actually measured in healthy cats range from 23 to 51 ml per kilo per day, drinking water and water from food combined, and only the groups above 42 ml per kilo had properly diluted urine (Kosmal et al., 2026). Remember Cats Protection's order of magnitude:
| Cat's weight | Water per day, all sources | If it eats dry food | If it eats wet food |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.7 kg | about 135 ml | almost all of it to drink | about a quarter to drink |
| 4 kg | about 200 ml | almost all of it to drink | about a quarter to drink |
| 6 kg | about 300 ml | almost all of it to drink | about a quarter to drink |
These figures rise with heat, activity, a female nursing kittens, and with certain diseases. They are not there to force a cat to drink, but to know whether yours is within the norm: see below how to measure.
Why a cat that drinks little is a problem
Because its urine is concentrated. Among 1,040 apparently healthy cats examined in veterinary practices, 91% had a urine specific gravity above 1.030, the threshold above which minerals precipitate more easily (Rishniw and Bicalho, 2015). And water changes everything: when the same cats are fed the same food at 6%, 25%, 53% and then 73% moisture, it is only at 73% that the urine specific gravity drops, from 1.052 to 1.036, and that the supersaturation with calcium oxalate, the mineral of the most common stones, is halved (Buckley et al., 2011).
The consequences have a collective name, lower urinary tract disease, which affects 1 to 3% of cats every year: so-called idiopathic cystitis in 60 to 70% of cases, stones in 10 to 15%, the rest being plugs and infections (International Cat Care). The risk factors are known: dry food, indoor living, excess weight, neutered male, multi-cat household. In the male, a plug or a stone can block the urethra: it strains to urinate, nothing comes out, and without treatment it dies within 24 to 48 hours according to Cornell, within two to three days according to International Cat Care. It is the absolute emergency in cats. We detailed the signs, the recurrences and what to watch for in the litter tray in our article on cat urine.
Does water protect against recurrences? The only study to have tested it on sick cats suggests so: 54 cats with idiopathic cystitis were given the same food, some as the canned version, others as dry food; after one year, 11% of the cats on wet food had relapsed, against 39% of the cats on dry food (Markwell et al., 1999). The study is old and modest, but it is the reason why all vets advise wet food for a cat that has had cystitis. Otherwise recurrences are the rule: 58% of cats over a three-year follow-up (Kaul et al., 2020).
With age, it is the kidney that matters. Chronic kidney disease affects a large share of older cats, up to 40% after the age of ten according to Cornell, and a diseased kidney can no longer concentrate: the cat urinates a lot, becomes dehydrated, drinks more to compensate, and becomes constipated because its colon reclaims all the water it can. An older cat that starts drinking more is not a cat that has finally got the message: it is a cat to have examined, as we explain in our senior cat guide.
What gets a cat to drink, and what does not work
Wet food first, with water in it
It is the number one lever, the only one whose effect on the urine has been measured. A portion of wet food every day, or a complete switch to wet food for a cat that has already had crystals, and a spoonful of warm water mixed into it. You can also wet the kibble: to reach the same water content as wet food, you need about two volumes of water for one volume of kibble, introduced in stages over one or two weeks, otherwise the cat refuses (Villaverde, 2019). International Cat Care warns that too much water puts some cats off their food, and that others will never accept wet kibble: you try, you watch. For flavour, a teaspoon of the water from a tin of tuna in spring water or of home-made chicken broth, with no salt, no stock cube and above all no onion or garlic, in the water bowl or in the wet food. Never milk: most adult cats digest it badly.
Several water points, away from the food bowl and the litter tray
A cat does not drink where it eats, and even less where it relieves itself: in the wild, water near prey or droppings is suspect. International Cat Care advises at least one bowl per floor, in different rooms, and in a multi-cat household one bowl per cat plus one, as with litter trays. A quiet spot, away from slamming doors and the washing machine, a little away from the wall so that it can see what is coming while it drinks, and never a double food-and-water bowl: the two side by side is exactly what it avoids. For an older cat with a sore neck or shoulders, a raised, tilted bowl saves it from bending down.
The right bowl
Wide, shallow, filled to the brim, so that it does not have to push its head in: that is the advice of International Cat Care, Cats Protection and the PDSA. It is often explained by "whisker fatigue", the whiskers that would rub against the sides. Let us say what is known: the only study on the subject, 40 indoor cats fed from a wide bowl and then from their usual bowl, found no difference in the amount eaten or the time spent eating, and a moderate preference for the wide bowl (Slovak and Foster, 2021). Offer both, see which one it chooses. The material matters less than people say: ceramic, glass or stainless steel are preferred to plastic by the welfare charities, which suspect it of holding odours; no study has verified it, any more than the often-claimed link between plastic bowls and chin acne. The safest is a bowl that goes in the dishwasher.
Fresh water, a clean bowl
It is the point owners neglect most and the one that costs least. In a study of 55 cat water bowls sampled at home, two out of three contained faecal coliforms, and tap water left for more than twelve hours was contaminated in 84% of cases (Srikullabutr et al., 2021). A cat smells what we do not see: the slimy film at the bottom of the bowl can be smelt before it can be seen. Water changed morning and evening, bowl washed every day, as the MSD Veterinary Manual asks. Room temperature as a rule, because cold masks flavours according to International Cat Care, but some cats go for the ice-cold water from the tap: an ice cube in the bowl in summer costs nothing to try.
The water fountain: for cats that like running water
Many cats prefer to drink from the tap, and the water fountain is made for them: moving, filtered water that stays fresh between two changes. But we have to be honest about what the studies show, because the manufacturers are not. In 13 cats given a fountain at home for two weeks, the water drunk rose slightly, without the urine being any more dilute, and one cat took to it so badly that it had to be removed (Grant, 2010). In 9 shelter cats, running water or still water, no difference (Pachel and Neilson, 2010). In 16 laboratory cats comparing a still bowl, a circulating bowl and a free-falling water bowl, no difference in drinking or urine on average, but three cats out of fourteen had a clear individual preference, each for a different model (Robbins et al., 2019). And when bowl and fountain coexist, most cats choose the bowl, according to the 2018 survey. Practical conclusion: the fountain is one more water point, not a miracle solution. You introduce it gradually, next to the usual bowl, which you keep; if the cat adopts it, so much the better, and it will drink cleaner water. Pump, reservoir and spout come apart and are washed every week, the filter is changed as the instructions say. Our four models cover the range of tastes: the 2.2 litre stainless steel tap-style fountain for the cat that drinks from a trickle of water, the 1.5 litre clear fountain where you can see the level at a glance, the cordless fountain with a sensor that only runs when the cat comes near, and the fountain with a night light for the cat that drinks at night.
How to know whether it is drinking enough
Measure, do not guess. In the morning, fill each bowl to the brim with a measuring jug, noting the volume; twenty-four hours later, measure what is left and work out the difference, allowing for evaporation, which is slight, and for other animals, which must be kept apart that day. Do it at home, not while it is hospitalised: stress makes cats drink less. Compare with the table above, remembering that a cat on wet food normally drinks three to four times less than a cat on dry food.
Look at the litter tray. An adult cat urinates two to four times a day, more if it eats wet food. Clumps getting smaller, a cat going to the litter tray with no result or several times in a row, blood: see the vet. No urine for twenty-four hours: an emergency, especially in a male.
Look for the signs of dehydration. Gently pinch the skin between the shoulder blades and let go: it should drop back at once. A fold that stays up for a second, dry, tacky gums, eyes that look sunken, a listless cat that has stopped eating: these are the signs of dehydration that is already marked, around 6 to 8% of body weight according to the MSD Veterinary Manual's scale. The skin fold test is misleading in an old or thin cat, whose skin is less elastic: in that cat, rely on the gums and the behaviour.
And the opposite: the cat that drinks too much. Above 100 ml per kilo per day, it is certainly excessive; above 50 ml per kilo in a cat on dry food, it is already suspect. A cat that starts emptying its bowl, drinking from the tap when it did not before, begging for water, must be examined: kidney disease, diabetes and hyperthyroidism are the three causes to look for, with a blood test and a urine analysis. Never restrict the water of a cat that drinks a lot.
Kitten, older cat, convalescent, heatwave, several cats
The kitten dehydrates much faster than an adult: twelve hours without drinking or eating, and it is the vet. It learns to drink by watching its mother; at home, a very flat, wide bowl, in which it can dip its paw without tipping over, and wet food.
The older cat piles up reasons to drink poorly: kidneys that concentrate less, arthritis that makes it painful to bend down or to climb the stairs to the bowl, a declining sense of smell. One bowl per floor, raised, wet food, and a weigh-in every month: an older cat that drinks more and loses weight is a cat that needs a check-up.
After an operation or an anaesthetic, a cat may snub water and food for a few hours, until the nausea passes. Follow the clinic's discharge instructions; offer wet food thinned with warm water rather than plain water; and if it has neither drunk nor eaten twenty-four hours after coming home, or if it vomits, call the clinic. Never force a cat to drink from a syringe without veterinary advice: the water can go into the lungs.
During a heatwave, put out more bowls in the cool rooms, change the water twice a day, add an ice cube, switch to wet food, and watch a cat that pants or lies prostrate: that is not normal behaviour in a cat.
With several cats, water is a resource like any other: the subordinate cat will not go and drink under the other's gaze. One bowl per cat plus one, in different rooms, out of sight of one another.
When to see a vet
- The same day: your cat has neither drunk nor eaten for twenty-four hours, twelve hours for a kitten; it has been vomiting or has had diarrhoea for more than a day without drinking; it is listless, with dry gums. An overweight cat that stops eating can develop liver disease within a few days of fasting.
- Immediate emergency: it keeps going to the litter tray, strains, meows, and nothing comes out; it licks its genitals; its belly is tense. In the male, this is urinary obstruction, fatal within one to three days without treatment.
- Within the week: it drinks noticeably more than before, especially if it is over seven; it urinates more or outside the litter tray; it is losing weight. Blood test and urine analysis.
A cat that has simply always drunk little, eats well, plays, urinates normally and has moist gums does not need a vet: it needs a little wet food and better bowls.
Getting your cat to drink: our selection
Four fountains for four temperaments, and wide ceramic or stainless steel bowls for the other water points. The whole cat water fountains and bowls collection.
Stainless steel fountain, 2.2 L, tap-styleView product
Clear fountain, 1.5 L, tap spoutView product
Cordless fountain, 2.2 L, with sensorView product
Fountain, 2 L, quiet, LED night lightView product
Raised, tilted stainless steel bowlView product
Ceramic bowl, 15 cmView product
2 L anti-splash water bowlView product
Frequently asked questions about the cat that is not drinking
How do I get a cat to drink when it will not drink?
Wet food first, with a spoonful of warm water in it: it is the only means whose effect on the urine has been measured. Then several wide bowls, away from the dry food and the litter tray, filled to the brim with water changed every day, and a fountain if it likes running water.
Why does my cat no longer want to drink water?
Often because of the bowl: too close to the food or the litter tray, two-day-old water, a bowl too small or dirty. If it eats wet food, it drinks little and that is normal. If it has neither drunk nor eaten for 24 hours, or if it strains to urinate, see a vet the same day.
How much water should a cat drink a day?
About 50 ml per kilo per day, water from food included: 200 ml for a 4 kg cat. On dry food, it has to drink almost all of it; on wet food, which contains 70 to 80% water, it only needs to drink about a quarter of it.
My cat does not drink but eats wet food: is that normal?
Yes. Cats fed wet food only drank 15 to 35 ml a day in a 2026 study, against 100 ml on dry food, for a higher total water intake. A cat on wet food that is never seen drinking is within the norm.
How do I know if my cat is dehydrated?
Pinch the skin between the shoulder blades: the fold should drop back at once. Dry, tacky gums, sunken eyes, a listless cat: marked dehydration, to be seen by a vet. The skin fold test is misleading in an old or thin cat; then rely on the gums and the behaviour.
My cat drinks from the tap but not from its bowl: why?
Because tap water is fresh, moving, and away from its food. Change its bowl more often, move it away from the dry food, and offer a fountain: it is made for that very cat, while keeping a bowl alongside.
Does a water fountain really make a cat drink more?
Not on average: three studies, on 13, 9 and 16 cats, found neither more water drunk nor more dilute urine, but a few cats had a clear preference. It is one more water point, clean and fresh, to offer alongside the bowl, not instead of it.
Where should I put my cat's water bowl?
Away from the food bowl and the litter tray, in a quiet spot, a little away from the wall. At least one bowl per floor, and with several cats, one bowl per cat plus one, in different rooms. Never a double food-and-water bowl.
Which water bowl should I choose for a cat?
Wide, shallow, filled to the brim, in ceramic, glass or stainless steel, and dishwasher-safe. Cats seem to prefer wide bowls, though it is not proven: offer two shapes and watch. Raised for an older cat.
Should I change my cat's water every day?
Yes, morning and evening ideally: in one study, two bowls out of three contained coliforms, and water left for more than twelve hours was contaminated in 84% of cases. Wash the bowl every day, and the fountain every week.
My cat is not drinking after surgery: what should I do?
A few hours of going off food and water are normal after an anaesthetic. Offer wet food thinned with warm water, follow the clinic's instructions, and call them if it has neither drunk nor eaten 24 hours after coming home or if it vomits. Never force water in with a syringe without advice.
My cat is not drinking during a heatwave: what should I do?
Put out more bowls in the cool rooms, change the water twice a day, add an ice cube, switch to wet food with water added. A cat that pants or lies prostrate in strong heat must be cooled down and seen by a vet.
My cat is drinking a lot: is it serious?
Above 100 ml per kilo per day, it is excessive; above 50 ml in a cat on dry food, it is suspect. A cat that starts drinking more than before, especially after the age of seven, must be examined: kidneys, diabetes, thyroid. Never limit its water.
My cat is not eating or drinking: when should I see a vet?
The same day beyond 24 hours without drinking or eating, 12 hours for a kitten, and straight away if it vomits, is listless or goes to the litter tray with no result. An overweight cat that fasts for a few days risks liver disease.
Can I give milk or broth to a cat that is not drinking?
No milk: most adult cats digest it badly. A teaspoon of the water from tuna in spring water or of home-made chicken broth, with no salt, no stock cube, no onion or garlic, in the water or the wet food, can tempt it to drink.
Sources
- International Cat Care, "How to encourage your cat to drink", updated 26 September 2025: placement of bowls, one per cat plus one, temperature, broth, fountain
- International Cat Care, "Increased thirst and drinking" and "Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease": measuring drinking over 24 hours, polydipsia threshold, frequency and causes of urinary disorders
- Cornell Feline Health Center, "Hydration", 2021: one cup of water a day for a 4.5 kg cat, signs of dehydration
- MSD Veterinary Manual, "Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals", 2024 and "The Fluid Resuscitation Plan in Animals", November 2025: water content of foods, dehydration scale
- Cats Protection, "How much water should a cat drink?" and "How often should cats poo and pee?", January 2025: volumes by weight, two to four urinations a day, 24 hours without drinking
- Kosmal et al., "Diet format, protein, amino acids, salt, and osmolytes, as well as water viscosity, affect water consumption in domestic cats: a scoping review of 32 publications (1975-2025)", Journal of Animal Science, 2026
- van Diggelen et al., "Water intake and consumption behavior of colony and privately-owned healthy domestic cats fed 100% dry, 50% dry and 50% wet, and 100% wet diets", Journal of Animal Science, 2026
- Buckley et al., "Effect of dietary water intake on urinary output, specific gravity and relative supersaturation for calcium oxalate and struvite in the cat", British Journal of Nutrition, 2011
- Markwell et al., "Clinical evaluation of commercially available urinary acidification diets in the management of idiopathic cystitis in cats", JAVMA, 1999: recurrences on wet food and on dry food
- Rishniw and Bicalho, "Factors affecting urine specific gravity in apparently healthy cats", JFMS, 2015 and Kaul et al., "Recurrence rate and long-term course of cats with feline lower urinary tract disease", JFMS, 2020
- Grant, "Effect of water source on intake and urine concentration in healthy cats", JFMS, 2010 and Robbins et al., "Quantified water intake in laboratory cats from still, free-falling and circulating water bowls", JFMS, 2019: the fountains put to the test
- Slovak and Foster, "Evaluation of whisker stress in cats", JFMS, 2021
- Srikullabutr et al., "Prevalence of coliform bacterial contamination in cat drinking water in households", Veterinary World, 2021
- Handl and Fritz, "The water requirements and drinking habits of cats", Veterinary Focus, 2018 and Villaverde, "Urolithiasis and specific gravity in cats", Veterinary Focus, 2019 (journal published by a pet food manufacturer): survey on drinking habits, water to add to kibble
Article updated 2 November 2026. The photos in this article were generated by AI. See also: cat urine, the senior cat and the vomiting cat.
