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Did you know that cats drink their urine?
Even though cats are adorable and loving creatures, they sometimes exhibit strange habits that shock their owners.
Some of these strange behaviors include; marking their territory with urine and urinating in undesignated areas away from their litter trays.
In this detailed post, find out why your furry friend is drinking its pee and what you should do if you notice it.
Is Drinking Urine Harmful To My Cat
Absolutely no!
As weird as it sounds, cats, once in a while, do drink their own pee.
However, cats frequently drinking their urine might be a serious indication that something is not alright.
The following diseases and disorders can cause cats to drink their own urine:
- Vitamin deficiency
- Diabetes
- Hyperthyroidism
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Kidney failure
Making sure your cat’s immunity is high is crucial in preventing urine intake, and a healthy cat diet is a problem solver for this issue.
Also, ensuring your cat is not left idle for too long is important in ensuring it does not drink its urine. After all, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop!
Cat Pee 101: What You Need To Know About Your Cat Pee
Similar to humans, cat urine indicates a lot about its immunity level, deficiencies, and disorders.
When you notice your cat drinking its pee, it is advisable to look at the color of the urine or take a sample to the vet for proper screening.
Proper screening helps highlight the reason why your healthy cat could be drinking its pee.
Normal Cat Urine
Normally indoor cats urinate two to five times a day on average.
Your cat urination schedule is influenced by factors like; water intake, the amount of moisture in the food, and underlying medical conditions and weather conditions.
Normal cat urine should be clear, golden, straw-colored, or pale yellow. It is important to look at the urine color of your cat when you find him/her driving it.
Also, normal cat urine has a slightly pungent, acidic scent that is fairly hard to smell, with a very weak scent.
Abnormal Cat Urine
Decreased urination is often the first sign of a problem with your cat, especially if they pee irregularly and then drink the urine afterward.
Abnormal cat urine is darker and more bloody looking.
Sick cats usually pee on the floor away from the litter box, giving them a good chance of drinking the infected urine, which is very harmful to their bodies.
If you notice any change in color, especially red-tinged urine, and your cat is drinking this infected urine, notify your veterinarian immediately.
Lastly, infected cat urine has a strong, pungent odor that is very smelly.
4 Reasons Why Your Cat Is Drinking Its Pee
Excessive Dehydration
When cats lack water for many days, they can drink their urine due to being excessively dehydrated.
That’s why, as a pet owner, it is crucial to ensure that your cat’s water bowl has water at all times.
Proper hydration is very important, especially during the summer period.
What Needs To Be Done?
The solution is simple!
Ensure you provide your cat with clean and fresh water daily.
But if your cat is extremely thirsty, you may have to visit a veterinarian as it may have an underlying problem.
Improper House Breeding
Poor cat upbringing might be the reason why your cat drinks its urine.
Most cats raised in a penned area may develop strange behaviors such as drinking urine, especially if the floor doesn’t absorb the urine immediately.
Although some people believe that felines drink their urine because of boredom, it is usually because of dehydration.
If not properly dehydrated, your cat may suffer from diseases such as feline lower urinary tract disease, bladder inflammation, ruptured bladder, tumors, and kidney disease.
However, urine is not harmful to your feline friend, and you should not tense when you find out that your cat is drinking.
What Needs To Be Done?
First, learning your feline’s behavior, manners, and moods is vital.
These patterns will help you to know why your cat drinks its urine.
Although it might take time, you can train your cat to pee in the litter box, where it cannot drink its pee easily.
Health Problems
It is normal for your cat to feel thirsty, especially during the hot summer seasons.
But if your furry friend is excessively thirsty to the extent of drinking its urine, it may be because of an underlying sickness like diabetes and hyperthyroidism.
Some of the things that may cause a cat to be excessively thirsty are stress, anxiety, or a hidden metabolic disease.
What Needs To Be Done?
In this case, you should visit your veterinarian to find out why your cat is drinking its urine.
There is a chance your cat may have kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, or diabetes mellitus.
Urine Smell
Cats are curious animals and tend to taste most of the foods their pet owners eat.
So, if you come across your cat drinking its pee, this shouldn’t come as a shock.
The cat may be attracted to the smell of its urine.
This smell is enough for your feline friend to lick or drink its urine out of its curious instinct.
What Needs To Be Done?
You can always stop urine drinking behaviors by supplying your cat with fresh and clean water.
When cats get thirsty, it is good not to struggle to find water to quench their thirst.
Summary
The next time you see your cat drink its urine, do not panic!
Even though it is not healthy for a cat to drink its urine, it is not life-threatening.
However, you should ask yourself – why?
As stated above, a cat can drink its urine because of dehydration, improper house breeding, interesting smell, and health problems.
As a result, it is vital to discover why your cat is drinking its pee as soon as possible, as it may be serious if not controlled.
After highlighting why your cat drinks its urine, take the necessary precautions to prevent this unpleasant behavior.
Purrfect n’ Pawesome is the brainchild of Amanda, who has been into researching and writing about pets to help other pet parents in nurturing their adorable pets. Currently, she runs Purrfect n’ Pawesome along with her team of experienced and dedicated pet experts. Along with being an awesome writer and entrepreneur, Amanda is a cat mom to two innocently spoiled cats, Balanca and Scruffy.
She has been writing about pet care and nurturing and wants to share her readers’ experiences, learnings, and knowledge.
Over the years, she had the opportunity to work with various pet owners having multiple breeds, and that exposure gave her experience and the lessons of a lifetime.
Her family, her entire universe revolves around her two cats, who give her endless support and inspiration to move ahead with her objectives in life. Amanda is a live example of a balanced approach to all parenthood questions we all face in life.
