cat drinking lots more water

bagpussbear

My cat has taken to drinking a lot more water, been going on for a few weeks now. He is 14 and has a heart mumur, but is happy, enjoys his food.

I'm off to the vets tomorrow to have him checked out - I realise this can be a sign of renal failure (happened to a previous cat I owned) but I wondered if thirstiness can be a sign of anything else? would the mumur be a factor?

Just wondered if anyone would share their experiences or knowledge please? I think I am just worried as though I suspect the vet will say renal deterioration, I would like to be a bit prepared if it could be symptomatic of anything else.

thanks

inkie

In humans polydipsia (increased thirst) can be a sign of diabetes mellitus - don't know if this would be the same in felines?

RuthnJasper

Alas, I can't offer any advice, other than to wonder if someone else is putting out food for him or he's found a secret stash and this is making him more thirsty. Just a thought - what I really wanted to say is that I hope all goes well tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Let us know how you get on. x

bagpussbear

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Alas, I can't offer any advice, other than to wonder if someone else is putting out food for him or he's found a secret stash and this is making him more thirsty. Just a thought - what I really wanted to say is that I hope all goes well tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Let us know how you get on. x

Thanks, Bagpuss only ventures out for about half hour each day, by his own choice, he much prefers being indoors - he never ventures further than our fence, so definitely not eating anything else. But that was a good point, thank you.

I will report back tomorrow.

bagpussbear

Update on Bagpuss!

Visited the vets this evening, and they took blood and urine samples, which will be sent away and results hopefully back Thurs evening.

But she did one of those 'dipper sticks' in the urine sample and it showed there was a lot of blood in the urine (was the darkest colour on the stick) and something else that showed white blood cell count was high indicating an infection. So has prescribed antibiotics.

Fingers crossed the blood work is ok, and its just a urinary infection.

The whole lot cost £207 - eek! I've got pet plan insurance for Bagpuss, but never made a claim, need to dig out the paperwork and see what I need to do now.

RuthnJasper

bagpussbear wrote: »

Update on Bagpuss!

Visited the vets this evening, and they took blood and urine samples, which will be sent away and results hopefully back Thurs evening.

But she did one of those 'dipper sticks' in the urine sample and it showed there was a lot of blood in the urine (was the darkest colour on the stick) and something else that showed white blood cell count was high indicating an infection. So has prescribed antibiotics.

Fingers crossed the blood work is ok, and its just a urinary infection.

The whole lot cost £207 - eek! I've got pet plan insurance for Bagpuss, but never made a claim, need to dig out the paperwork and see what I need to do now.

Thanks for the update. Aww, bless him. No wonder he's not been happy, a urine infection isn't nice. Fingers crossed for the test results!

bagpussbear

Thank you :-)