Greetings folks! With Spring in the air and vaccines becoming more plentiful, folks are really starting to move around again! Rooms are booking quickly here at Tiny’s Place Luxury Cat Boarding, so if you are planning to travel, get on the books early so you get your favorite room again.
In this blog post we would like to talk about poop (as it relates to water). Yes, poop. And water. We deal with lots of it here at Tiny’s cat hotel, and fancy ourselves experts on it. There are a lot of articles on cat feces on the internet, and it gets discussed a lot at the Veterinary office when you take your cat in for checkups. Many things affect poop, however today we are going to talk specifically about water.
There are many articles these days insisting that a canned food only diet is the only way you can ensure that your cat gets enough water intake. Some cats aren’t great drinkers and nature designed them to get water from animals they killed and ate while hunting. Although most of our cats fancy themselves wild cats in the forest, alas…they are actually house cats looking out the window.
What if you don’t like having to open so many cans every day? What if your cat only eats a little bit several times per day, and won’t eat canned food unless it is a freshly cracked can? There are lots of reasons that a free choice kibble diet can suit both the owner and the cat much better, and the food waste of a quality canned food can hurt your pocketbook as well as the environment.
What to do to get enough water in the cat on a daily basis? A water fountain! We have 3 of them here at Tiny’s and it has been our observation that at least 90% of the cats who stay here can’t wait to go drink out of the water fountain during their playroom time. Some of them play in the water and make a big mess (it’s fun), but most like to drink from the stream that dribbles down from the fountain. There are fountains in the playroom and both the suites. Tiny and Raylan have one in their home as well which they love. Fountains aren’t for EVERY cat, but a fair number of them love them.
There are a lot of fountains on the market in a variety of price ranges. We use a couple of different kinds. In the playroom we have the Drinkwell Fountain which is available on Chewy for $44.95. It’s easy to clean, consistent, doesn’t seem to clog very easily. It uses an easy to find replacement filter and it’s just the right size for a cat.
If your cat has plastic allergies, there is a stainless steel fountain Drinkwell 360 fountain. This fountain only holds about 2 quarts of water, so you have to watch it closely to make sure it stays full, but it’s attractive and offers a number of ways you can have it stream the water. This fountain is $69.95 on Chewy. I’ve owned the Pioneer pet fountains, which are very reasonably priced, as well, but I prefer the designs that Drinkwell is selling right now.
Things to bear in mind if you purchase a fountain: Make sure your cat isn’t afraid of it. Place a bowl of water next to it and try to monitor if your cat is drinking from their new fountain, or if they still prefer a bowl. Cats are fickle animals and we need to make sure we don’t hurt them while trying to help them!
Fountains require maintenance. Make sure you have replacement filters on hand so you are able to keep your fountain clean on a maintenance schedule. I find that about 2 weeks is the longest you can go without needing to clean the hair out and give the pump a little breather from trying to pump around a blockage. Also, if they run out of water the pump will burn up. Be sure to keep your fountain topped off to the fill line the manufacturer recommends.
Enjoy shopping for just the right fountain for your cat and you! Don’t forget to tell them that Tiny recommended you buy it for them!
Until the next time! Happy Spring Travels!
The Tiny’s Place Gang