Will a cat automatically drink more if they eat more dry food?

[cat man do]

In nature, felines gain 70 % of their water from their prey as that is the water content of what they eat.

It is therefore possible that with dry food, that water intake isnt always adjusted by a feline to compensate.

I know withe one of my cats getting CRF that he probably didnt fulfil his required fluid intake.

[swampmaxmum]

How often does Alice pee (no delicat-e way to put that!) as if that's normal and she's not dehydrated, she must be getting her fluid from somewhere?? My Max drinks only a little bit more on his dry food than on the wet, but has one mega drink a day early am and that's it so it looks like he's not drinking. Is she maybe a secret drinker? (sorry!  ).
She's probably enjoying the Sheba a lot more than the RC sensitive too.  I found a good way to check the moisture in wet food is to blend a bit of a can -  I have to add water to RC pouches to make them nice and smooth, whereas Hills k/d blends into a soup.

[Mark]

I am monitoring water bowls and they don't seem to go down. I have ended up giving her Sheba if that's the only way she will take moisture 

[CurlyCatz]

all of my cats automatically drink alot more if they are only eating dried.

[Mark]

Thanks anyway - I think Willow will eat it anyway. Might do her some good. For a tiny cat, she isn't really particular. Although she shuns most wet food. The only time she eats wet  usually, is a) If clapton has licked the jelly off  b) It is dried up 

[Corporal Smokey]

Sorry Mark, I'd have sent you a sample of sensible if I'd thought about it 

[Millys Mum]

Spose it could be bloating from grain intolerance, i have a friend with IBS that cant eat wheat etc in which case orijen and bozita could be a winning combo 

I gave mine some royal canin sensible and 4 out of 6 got diarrhoea! Sensible my ass

[Mark]

They only had one version of s/o on vet uk - not sure what it is meant to be as it smells 

I got some dry sensitive 33 today to see how she gets on - Pappilon is sending me some Hill's Venison for her to try and I have ordered some duck & oatmeal from postalpetproducts. In the meantime, I hav had to give her some rubbish food before she expires 

[Millys Mum]

Can she have fresh chicken or applaws/almo nature for her wet?
Sensitivity pouch is really bland and boring for them after a few meals, quite high in chicken tho. Have you tried the duck version? Sometimes they like that better.

[Mark]

I will just have to monitor her carefully - Also, if she won't eat the s/o, I will give her regular food until the Eagle Pack arrives. She can't go without.

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

This is not helpful I know but I think the drinking thing depends on the cat.  When Korky was diagnosed with early CRF the vet put him on RC renal dry food.  I questioned this as Korky had always been fed wet food and didn't drink.  The vet said 'don't worry - he'll drink more on the dry'.  He didn't - despite all my efforts (including the purchase of a water fountain that ended up in the Purrs auction  ) so I put him back on wet.

[Den]

Sometimes Memphy has days where he eats way more dry than wet and his water intake is noticeably more (a lot more). I have a friend whos cats are exclusively on dry and they both drink a lot of water!!

[Mark]

Not tubbiness but her belly is distended. You can see where he belly is shaved that she has flanks that hang down. I have a feeling that she may have been a fat cat before she was a stray and then suffered malnutrition 

[Team Svartalfheims]

One thing to watch with the Sensible is the fat content as its 22% fat although I don't think it's Alice that is prone to tubbyness is it?

[Mark]

I know this is very controversial but my vet recommended a dry, sensitive food to help with Smokey's tummy troubles. He's been fine ever since. Neither of them were really into wet food anyway, I used to chuck loads of the stuff. Now they eat almost exclusively dry with a tin of Applaws at weekends. They drink loads (yeah I know it's not normal etc...) and are certainly not dehydrated. I check their water intake really seriously having lost a cat to crf. Their coats have never looked better either.

Like I said, this opinion isn't shared by many on here but I trust my vet wholeheartedly on this and you can see the difference on the before and after pics of Smokey.

By the way, they're not on s/o, just Sensible 33. Josh was on Mature 27 but they kept eating each other's tea 

My new vet thinks highly of RC food. I have some sensible 33 as well - and the bonus is you can get it in pet shops.

[Mark]

I would rather she ate some dry as well at £6.00 a box for wet 

[Corporal Smokey]

I know this is very controversial but my vet recommended a dry, sensitive food to help with Smokey's tummy troubles. He's been fine ever since. Neither of them were really into wet food anyway, I used to chuck loads of the stuff. Now they eat almost exclusively dry with a tin of Applaws at weekends. They drink loads (yeah I know it's not normal etc...) and are certainly not dehydrated. I check their water intake really seriously having lost a cat to crf. Their coats have never looked better either.

Like I said, this opinion isn't shared by many on here but I trust my vet wholeheartedly on this and you can see the difference on the before and after pics of Smokey.

By the way, they're not on s/o, just Sensible 33. Josh was on Mature 27 but they kept eating each other's tea 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I usually mix some water into the team's wet food so might be worth trying that with Alice.

Do they eat it all straight away?. I thought of doing that but remembered someone (Susanne?) saying that after 10 minutes, bacteria starts multiplying 

That's adding water to dry food 

If Alice is showing some interest in the wet food and is used to wet food, then I would remove the dry sensitivity food and force her to eat the wet.  Of course, if she refused to eat it then you have a problem but it sounds like she is interested in it.

[Mark]

The only thing is, I will need to keep her on the same food for a while to determine if it is a diet thing that is making her belly swell. Maybe then I can experiment by seeing if other foods affect her.. I also want to try the Eagle Pack duck & oatmeal as it seems like the best option for her with pre & pro biotics (don't know the difference) and it also has glucasamine in which might help her wobbly legs 

[Team Svartalfheims]

Do they eat it all straight away?. I thought of doing that but remembered someone (Susanne?) saying that after 10 minutes, bacteria starts multiplying 

I don't put a huge amount down at once so the majority of it gets eaten quite quickly. Maybe try just putting half a pouch/tray down for Alice at a time and keep the other half in the fridge until you need it if she's not a big eater. Adding hot water releases the smell of the food more as well which makes it more appetising to them. Ummm I must confess I don't think I've ever removed the bowl as soon as 10mins have elapsed.

[Team Svartalfheims]

I wonder if it might be worth trying her on Kattovits sensitive food. I've used one of their other foods and found them to be good. http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/kattovit/61653

Found this on Zooplus as well: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/supplements_specialty_cat_food/integra/integra_moist/62682 trays, tins and dry for a bit of variety

[Mark]

I usually mix some water into the team's wet food so might be worth trying that with Alice.

Do they eat it all straight away?. I thought of doing that but remembered someone (Susanne?) saying that after 10 minutes, bacteria starts multiplying 

[Mark]

One of the issues is she is only eating s/o food so her only variety is wet or dry. If I give her wet only, she will have to eat or starve as it's not cheap.

[Team Svartalfheims]

I usually mix some water into the team's wet food so might be worth trying that with Alice.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

They do usually drink more than if they're on wet food, but they rarely take in as much water overall as cats that eat wet food exclusively.  If she's nibbling the wet, I would take away the dry and try and get her to eat more wet.  If she was eating wet food before I wouldn't switch her over to dry.

[Mark]

Basically, Alice's latest tests are clear so the vet has recommended RC s/o sensititivity diet. I already had some both wet and dry. She is happily eating the dry but nibbling at the wet - So she has gone from 90% wet to 90% dry - she rarely if ever drinks water as it never seems to go down although she has 3 bowls dotted around. I'm just worried about dehydration. Her kidneys are fine btw.

I'm hoping that she will just get thirsty and drink - any ideas?