How to Tell if a Cat is Dehydrated & Treatment Options
Dehydration, or hypohydration as it is more known in the medical world, is a very serious and even potentially life-threatening situation that can affect your cat. While it is not very commonly worried about, dehydration can and will arise whenever your cat experiences an excessive amount of electrolyte and water that is removed from their body. In other words, if your cat is not taking in enough water and electrolytes, they are going to be at risk for becoming dehydrated.
Cats are very similar to most of the other mammals on the planet in the sense that they too are composed of nearly 60% water. While dehydration is able to be chronic (meaning that it is not going to be very serious but will last for a longer amount of time) or acute, which is going to be much more serious and require some type of immediate intervention by your veterinarian, it is also able to affect all types of cats not matter what their age or breed may be. With that being said, it is going to be cats that are younger, older moggies, and especially cast who are dealing with some other types of medical conditions that will be at an increased risk for suffering from dehydration.
Dehydration in Your Cat: The Symptoms
While there are going to be some behavioral and visual symptoms to signify that your cat is experiencing dehydration, there are also going to be several tests that can be done in order to help diagnose their dehydration. Here are some of the more common symptoms to look for if you feel that your cat may be dehydrated.
- Eyes: your cat’s eyes will start to appear sullen, sunken and ‘dull’, or even drowsy.
- Lethargy: they will appear to be lazier than normal, as well as sleepier and not as interactive or wanting to play with you.
- Heart rate: they are going to have an elevated heart rate.
- Panting: while cats are able to pant, they hardly ever do so. That being said, when you see them breathing very fast with their mouth open, it is a sign that they are overheated and dehydrated.
- Gums: your cat’s gums will start to feel as though they are tacky and dry as opposed to moist.
- Not drinking: you may have noticed that your cat is not drinking water or that they are even drinking an unusually large amount of water.
- Constipation: this will occur as your cat’s body will be trying its hardest to conserve what little water is already in their system, meaning that it will start to try and reabsorb as much water as possible from feces as it is passing through their colon.
- An infrequent amount of urination: be sure that you are checking how often they are using their litter box.
- Loss of appetite: your cat may start to refuse eating.
If you are more experienced when it comes to owning a pet cat and feel that your cat is dehydrated, you may want to consider performing some more tests at home in order to figure out if they are dehydrated or not. But if you are not comfortable doing extra tests on your cat at home and on your own, it may be wiser to seek out the help of your veterinarian.
Dehydration Risk Factors in Cats
As with most living animals, dehydration is not going to be a good thing for your cat to have. Even if there is no medical emergency that is triggered, long-term dehydration in your cat can potentially lead to kidney problems due to an insufficient amount of water available for flushing out extra minerals and other toxins from their body. With that being said, there are actually some certain risk factors that will make your cat’s chances of becoming dehydrated much higher than normal. Here are the main factors for your cat becoming dehydrated that you should be aware of.
Vomiting and diarrhea
Vomiting and/or diarrhea for longer than one day are going to inevitably lead to your cat becoming dehydrated. If your cat is having diarrhea issues, then much of their water is going to be lost through their watery poo, resulting in the loss of most of their fluids. If the symptoms persist, it will be impossible for them to replace all of the lost fluids by simply drinking water.
Realistically, for your cat to become dehydrated through vomiting or diarrhea, they will have had to been doing so for longer than two to three days in a row. If this is the case, then you will need to take them to the veterinarian in order to get some special fluids to help rehydrate them.
Certain medical conditions
There are some medical conditions that your cat can have which will trigger dehydration. If your cat is drooling or has an increased amount of urination, they will, in turn, be losing lots of water. This will then place them in a category that increases their risk for becoming dehydrated. Dehydration is also going to be associated with having a urinary tract obstruction or even heatstroke. If you suspect that your cat may be suffering from either of these symptoms, be sure that you get them to your veterinarian as quickly as you can for further testing.
Dried food
If you are feeding your cat a dried food diet, they are going to be at an increased risk for becoming dehydrated. This is because the average dried food diet is only going to provide your cat with about 40 ml of water, but you need to keep in mind that your cat needs a minimum of 200 ml of water every single day, meaning that your cat will need to drink at least 160 ml of water to get to their daily minimum, which is a lot of water for your cat to drink. In fact, most cats will simply not do that. On top of that, if your cat is a fussy drinker, there is pretty much no chance that they will get anywhere near that volume of water.
The main problems with cats not drinking enough water stems from the fact that they have evolved from their ancestral desert animals and throughout history, cats have always been able to get the amount of water that they require on a daily basis through the prey that they eat (such as small rodents). What this means is that your cat is not programmed to start drinking a lot of water and will struggle trying to compensate if they are on an all dried food diet. If this is the case with your cat, you may want to consider switching them over to a diet that contains moist foods as this will help reduce their risk for becoming dehydrated.
Kidney failure and diabetes
Both kidney failure and diabetes can cause your cat to urinate much more frequently, meaning that they are going to end up losing a lot more fluids. It is going to be very hard work to try and make sure that they are replacing all of the fluids that they are losing.
Treatments for Dehydration in Your Cat
If your cat is suffering from being dehydrated, they are going to require treatment from a skilled medical specialist, such as your veterinarian. The entire aim will be to replace all of the electrolytes and fluids, as well as to properly diagnose and then treat the underlying cause of the dehydration. Your veterinarian will administer subcutaneous or intravenous fluids to get them hydrated again, and then they will run some specialized tests to help them determine what the cause for the loss of fluids really is.
When your cat gets to this stage of dehydration, water by itself may not necessarily be sufficient to get them hydrated. If this is the case, your cat will require a balanced electrolyte solution. This is due to their dehydration not being solely about losing water. It is also going to be a problem with their electrolyte balance within their body. If this electrolyte imbalance is not rectified, their body will not be able to properly absorb any of the water that they are consuming.
Depending upon the severity of their dehydration, it may potentially be necessary to give your cat special medication to help prevent them from being sick or prevent the diarrhea, as this will help them to not lose as much fluid from their body.
There is a good chance that you will be required to continue your cat’s rehydration treatment after you have gotten them back home. You will be given syringes, needles, and even some special fluids. Just remember that these special fluids are not just water and should only be administered under the direction and guidance of your veterinarian. You will be shown exactly what you will need to do and exactly how to do it. Just be sure that you stick to the directions that are given to your by your veterinarian to avoid any unnecessary complications from occurring.
