Veterinary Voices UK Public Page

30/08/2024

Cute or cruel?

We often see posts about dog health and welfare, but what about cats?

Cats can also suffer from poor breeding practices and some breeds are more prone to suffering than others.

This article by Vet Help Direct covers three RED FLAG BREEDS that we should be more aware of when choosing a cat for their health and welfare.

➡️ Brachycephalic Breeds

The research confirmed that flatter-faced cats (of breeds such as the Persian or Exotic Shorthair), were more likely to have breathing problems. And that the breathing difficulties were also associated with increased tear staining and a more sedentary lifestyle.

➡️ Munchkin Cats

The Munchkin abnormality results in greatly shortened fore and hind limbs. This compromises the ability of affected animals to jump, express normal behaviour and causes abnormal loading and gait. It is plausible that this may increase their risk of painful joint disease such as osteoarthritis.

➡️ Scottish Folds

Unfortunately, the genetic defect that causes abnormality of the ear cartilage also causes severe abnormalities of the cartilage of bones too. This means that it’s not just their ears that get affected, but cats with the folded ears will also have defective bone development and severe bone and cartilage abnormalities.

See the article by Vet Help Direct below:

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2022/07/25/what-cat-breed-is-healthiest/

29/08/2024

Retractable Leads: Are they right for your dog?

Retractable leads can seem like a good idea as they allow dogs who may not be allowed off lead to experience some freedom.

However, there are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account when using retractable leads and they certainly aren't appropriate for every dog.

When over one thousand veterinary professionals were polled a whopping 92% had experienced issues with retractable leads.

These issues ranged from:

▪️Burns to people from the lead
▪️Failure of locking mechanism, especially with large dogs
▪️Tangling humans and other animals in the lead
▪️Trip hazard to cyclists and pedestrians causing injuries
▪️Dogs being out of control due to length of extension
▪️Being allowed to walk around the veterinary practice waiting room and approaching other sick or scared animals inappropriately
▪️Sadly many people reported to have attended road traffic accidents where dogs had run in front of cars, buses and trucks as the locking system was too loose, failed or the dogs weren't adequately controlled.

Sadly many of these pets lost their lives despite the intensive care of the veterinary team who attended them.

So... Are they right for your dog?

This is a hard question to answer because circumstances are very individual. Given then number of issues seen it would suggest that many owners are making the decision to use a retractable lead when in fact they are not appropriate to their dog, reason for use or lifestyle.

Retractable leads should be used with extreme caution near:

❌Roads
❌Others dogs
❌Busy public places
❌Indoors

And their use may not be sensible to use with:

❓Large dogs
❓Strong dogs that pull
❓Boisterous dogs
❓Reactive dogs that could lunge
❓Dogs on a loose retractable that could trip or tangle someone

28/08/2024

Caution with Cat Sales

A few years ago, when Cats Protection published their CATS report which highlighted some interesting points in cat health and welfare.

On of these issues was the accessibility of cats and kittens being sold over the internet, with an increase in bogus or poor welfare cats and kittens being sold.

➡️Deborah Meaden in Cats Protection Report – ‘CATS 2021 has found that 68% of cats and kittens purchased in the last year were found online. Online shopping has undoubtedly become a huge part of our lives- particularly during the pandemic.

But when it comes to cats and kittens, buying online isn’t without risks. It is shocking how easy it is for unscrupulous seller to operate online and put profit before kitten welfare’

Shockingly an estimated 450 000 bought cats and kittens were found on Facebook, despite the fact that Facebook, between the years of 2016-17 took the decision to ban the sale of pets through its platform!

When the community was polled over 99% of veterinary professionals had experienced issues with cats or kittens sold over the internet.

Top issues raised were:

➡️ Kittens being sold as pedigree at high price that are in fact just a domestic short/ long hair cat.
These cats make beautiful pets, but are being sold under false advertisement as pedigree at high prices when they are not pedigree

➡️ Cats being bred in poor welfare conditions and sold too young

➡️ Cats being sold extremely sick and in a very poor condition

➡️ Cats being sold in such poor condition and with such extensive disease they are unable to be saved by veterinary professionals despite best attempts

This website may help you with making decisions on pet purchases and help highlight 'red flags': https://paag.org.uk/how-to-buy-a-pet/cats/

27/08/2024

➡️ Renal diets – why they’re important!

➡️ It’s really important for cats diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to eat a diet that has been recommended by their veterinary team and is specially produced for their condition.

➡️ We know that diet changes for cats with CKD can help slow down disease progression and increase longevity. Not only can dietary modifications extend your cat’s life, but they can also improve their quality of life by reducing the build-up of toxins that cause nausea, and providing extra electrolytes and vitamins that can be lost in the urine.

➡️ The kidneys are responsible for filtering excess phosphate out of the blood. When they stop working properly, this phosphate can build up causing all sorts of problems and worsen kidney function. Veterinary “renal diets” are produced specifically for cats with kidney disease and contain reduced amounts of phosphorus. While phosphate restriction is the most important feature of renal diets, there’s much more to them than that. Good quality renal diets are carefully formulated with a variety of functional ingredients that all have a part to play in supporting the patient’s health – see here for more:

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/diet-and-chronic-kidney-disease

Cats can be fussy and slow to accept a new food. This is especially true if they are feeling unwell.

✅Some top tips to improve acceptance:

✅ It can take months for a cat to accept a new food, so don’t expect it to happen in days. It doesn’t mean the new food isn’t tasty, or that the cat won’t come to enjoy it, given time. As diet is such an important factor in the disease, it's really important to persevere.
✅ If possible, don’t make diet changes when your cat is stressed or unwell and avoid feeding the new diet at the same time as medications. These can all cause aversion to the food.
✅ Choose the right diet. Your vet practice should recommend a high quality, science-based diet that is tested for palatability and available in wet and dry formats to suit all preferences.
✅ Smell is important to cats. Let the food reach room temperature before serving or gently warm a small amount to body temperature to increase the aroma.
✅ Sometimes tasty toppings can be added to your cat’s diet. You must check with your veterinary team before adding anything. They may recommend a palatability enhancer that is formulated to be safe in cats with kidney disease.
✅ Slowly substitute the old food for the new one over at least one week. Try putting the foods in separate bowls if your cat doesn’t like them mixed.

💦Furthermore, when we have cats with renal disease, we become even more aware of maintaining hydration💦

💦When cats become dehydrated, they can be slow to initiate drinking and have a low thirst stimulus. When they do start to drink, they are not very efficient as they cannot create a suction with their tongue!

💦Behaviour also has an impact; cats can feel vulnerable when drinking from a bowl of water and can be sensitive to the presentation and taste of the water.

💦Dehydration can be associated with several conditions including chronic kidney disease!

💦When we are managing feline cases holistically, looking at their environment is essential and this includes water intake!

💦Increasing a cat's liquid intake should be considered as a key factor to reach a correct level of hydration, together with a healthy diet and proper environmental management.

So what can we do?!

💧Cats can feel vulnerable while drinking, so giving them privacy can help

💧Cats don't like their food source near their water so having separate food and water stations can help

💧Having water stations in different areas of the house. This is especially essential if you have a multi-cat household to prevent resource issues and inter-cat conflict

💧Proving them with different types of bowl - wide (so their whiskers don't touch), and different material in case they don't like the taste or reflection of water in them

💧Changing the water regularly so it is fresh and cool

💧Flavouring the water or providing them with a hydration supplement to encourage drinking such as Purina Pro Plan Hydra Care

💧Providing them with running water such as water fountains

💧If we have mobility issues such as osteoarthritis, we might struggle or be reluctant to jump up and take water from a bowl on a high surface or a tap - please remember that as we get older we may need changes to our access

Read more about the science behind feline drinking and how to get your cats drinking more below 👇

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/help-i-need-my-cat-to-drink-more

26/08/2024

Important information about Bluetongue Virus and Camelids.

Unfortunately, BTV3 has reached our shores again. This is disappointing and understandably a scary time, because we do not have access to vaccinations in the UK yet. Vigilance for clinical signs is highly important, and making sure that we are not moving camelids into and out of the temporary control zone. We need to think hard about whether movement is sensible out of the higher risk areas on the east coast. You can see high risk counties on the map here: gov.uk/guidance/bluetongue

Testing prior to movement out of high risk areas is still available free of charge through your veterinary surgeon - this does need to be cleared with ukfarmcare first, but it's a fairly straightforward process. For now, monitoring your stock and reporting any concerns you may have is important to control the potential spread of this midge-borne disease.

25/08/2024

Shhh let’s talk menopause… LOUDLY

In a frank conversation, Liz Barton and Ami Sawran discuss the “hot” topic of the menopause. Do you think this podcast won’t apply to you? Think again! Every single one of us will be impacted by menopause, whether it be ourselves or our partners, colleagues and clients.

So, let’s get these menopause facts on the table. Normalise it to break the taboo surrounding it.

Did you know there are 34 listed symptoms? This makes the menopause a unique experience for all. 75% of people will experience perimenopausal symptoms that will negatively impact them, lasting on average a whole decade.

Liz Barton MA VetMB MRCVS, co-founder of Wellvet and Vetmums and Head of Communications for VetCT describes how for her the menopause was a crouching tiger, hidden dragon, affecting her veterinary career when she wasn’t expecting it. With Veterinary Voices’ very own Ami Sawran BVSc PgCertVPS CertAVP (CP) PhD FRCVS, this podcast discusses the experiences of menopause for women in the profession and the impact it has on the profession through mental health and retention issues.

We talk about the positive adjustments that can be made in the veterinary workplace and Liz provides details about the first veterinary-specific menopause resources that are now freely available online through Wellvet. Let’s feed this tiger and let it sit quietly in the corner.

Please see free Veterinary-specific resources on:

https://www.wellvet.co.uk/resources/menopause-resources-for-veterinary-teams/

Podcast below 👇

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/Shhh-lets-talk-menopause-LOUDLY-e2n3739

25/08/2024

A wonderful part of having a huge veterinary community is seeing the amazing things they do.

One of our members is part of an inspiring initiative called Blankets for Baby Rhinos.

Blankets for Baby Rhinos is a small UK charity started in 2016 initially to inspire people to knit and crochet blankets for orphaned rhinos whose Mothers had been killed by poachers for the illegal trade of their horns. The blankets are essential to keep the babies warm, now they are missing the comfort and warmth of their mother and give them comfort during their adjustment to being in the care of orphanages.

The blankets and other items are donated from many countries and will be sent to orphanages, orphanage staff, K-9 units, rangers, and community projects.

The charity has since diversified and now undertakes fundraisers to donate cash to their many beneficiaries that include rhino orphanages, anti poaching units and K-9 units, wildlife vets, wildlife rehabilitation centres, as well as sending handcrafted items to the local communities surrounding the wildlife reserves. Monetary donations are used to buy milk and teff for the orphans, medical costs of rehabilitating rescued pangolins, supporting wildlife vets who undertake snare removals and medical treatment, medical treatment of pangolins rescued from the illegal trade, equipment for the anti poaching rangers, K9’s and mounted units.

Read more below 👇

www.blanketsforbabyrhinos.org

19/08/2024

'He's limping, but he's not in pain!'

This is something we hear, a lot.

And unfortunately it can lead to a huge amount of pets carrying on with chronic pain without the necessary medicinal or multimodal support.

An article by Vet Help Direct helps to explain more about where this confusion stems from:

Limping and stiffness can be caused by several different conditions. The most common being acute injuries and skeletal issues like osteoarthritis (OA). As many as 80% of dogs over 8 years old have OA in one or more joints.

The way that our dogs display pain may not be how we expect; limping usually equals pain or discomfort!

The article covers:

➡️ The difference between acute and chronic pain
➡️ If your pet will ever limp without pain
➡️ Treatment options

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2022/04/12/your-dogs-limping-that-means-hes-in-pain/

18/08/2024

➡️Reminder⬅️

A year on.... Lay people must NOT be offering intravaginal artificial insemination (‘AI’) breeding services.

Lay people have been advised by the RCVS - Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to cease offering of intravaginal artificial insemination (‘AI’) breeding services for dogs, therefore under the new guidance lay people are legally prohibited from doing so.

This is a massive relief to veterinary professionals and animal welfare advocates who have been voicing major concerns for the direction of dog breeding - particularly seen in the dramatic increase in unscrupulous 'fertility clinics' - 98% of veterinary professionals asked were concerned about fertility clinics.

Although AI can be used to widen the gene pool of a breeding line and specialist breeding services run by veterinary surgeons with reproductive knowledge and specialism are essential in provision of services, support and education of breeders, more commonly now we are seeing establishments set up and 'AI' being used inseminate dogs with serious health conditions.

✅ Let's celebrate and support effective relationships between incredible breeders and veterinary professionals, aiming to ensure we producing puppies that have health tested parents, whose breeders are working to avoid extreme conformation, who effectively socialise and house their puppies, who protect their puppies with the necessary preventative medicine, who breed from healthy happy dam and sire and who constantly strive towards improving their puppies health. We are so proud of what you're achieving.

This is in stark contrast to others. One Bulldog website even shockingly quoted:

💬Due to their builds and the health problems that bulldogs have, we always recommend that you artificially inseminate your dog rather than mating it naturally.

This is incredibly frustrating that they are clearly AWARE of the health issues these breeds suffer from but choose to continue anyway!

These fertility clinics who support extreme conformation appear to be supporting the breeding of dogs whose conformation is intrinsically linked to poor health and welfare and the Naturewatch Foundation found multiple concerns in a recent report.

Sadly, one study found four flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds were found to have the shortest life expectancy. This included French Bulldogs only expected to live 4.5 years from age 0 and English Bulldogs at 7.4 years, statistics that are heartbreaking and distressing.

Read more below 👇

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/breeding-beyond-dogs-limits

Credit to a report by Naturewatch Foundation

RCVS: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/news-and-views/features/standards-and-advice-update-june-2023/

17/08/2024

16/08/2024

Just because your pet is eating, doesn't mean there is no dental pain!

Dental disease is one of the most common health problems experienced by dogs but often remains unrecognised by owners as a major welfare issue.

Vet Compass found in dogs that:

➡️One in every 8 dogs (12.5%) overall suffers from dental disease every year.
➡️Eighteen breeds showed increased risk of dental disease compared with crossbred dogs. The breeds with the highest risk included Toy Poodle (x 3.97), King Charles Spaniel (x 2.63), Greyhound (x 2.58) and Cavalier King Charles spaniel (x 2.39).
➡️Four breeds showed reduced risk of dental disease compared with crossbred dogs: German Shepherd Dog (x 0.25), French Bulldog (x 0.43), Staffordshire Bull Terrier (x 0.45) and Labrador Retriever (x 0.49).
➡️Flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds overall had 1.25 times the risk of dental disease compared with breeds with medium-length (mesocephalic) skulls.
➡️Spaniel breeds overall had 1.63 times the risk of dental disease compared with non-spaniel breeds.
➡️Smaller dogs were at had greater risk of dental disease.
➡️Aging was strongly associated with increased risk of dental disease.

Furthermore, Vet Compass also found that Periodontal disease is the most commonly diagnosed disease in UK cats.

➡️The study found 15.2% of cats are diagnosed annually (estimated 1.8 million cats affected every year in the UK), with many more likely going undiagnosed.

Periodontal disease causes a range of oral health issues, including gum inflammation, attachment loss of the structures supporting the teeth, tooth mobility, and pain. The early stages include gingivitis (gum inflammation) which can be reversed with good oral health treatment. However, if left untreated, gingivitis can progress to periodontitis (end stage gum disease) which is very difficult to resolve and can lead to teeth loss.

11/08/2024

Let’s talk guinea pigs, the stressed, the squeaks and the cystitis

This podcast presents an exciting opportunity to listen to Vet Voices very own Robyn Lowe RVN, chatting with small animal vet and guinea pig specialist, John Chitty BVetMed CertZooMed MRCVS about their mutual love of guinea pigs.

We tackle the common misconceptions around guinea pigs and delve into the wonderful world of cystitis. Could a more holistic approach be more successful? Could reducing stress with changes in husbandry trump antimicrobials? And are they just really cats in disguise?! Catch up on the latest tips and tricks with us.

If you are as enthusiastic about small furries as these guys this is a podcast you won’t want to miss it. Robyn and John share their wealth of experience, discussing everything from the colourful descriptions of bedding to the sludgey joys of urine!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/Guinea-pigs-the-stress--the-squeaks-and-the-cystitis-e2mhrvf

You can also sign up to be part of the first Guinea Pig forum.

The day is devoted solely to guinea pig welfare. As the first event of its kind, we aim to initiate the production of standards of care for guinea pigs, equivalent to those produced for rabbits. Working to form a Welfare Association to work on these, and to represent the needs of this species.

This event will establish a framework for keeping guinea pig welfare in public and veterinary professional minds, including enhancing the annual Guinea Pig Awareness Week campaign.

https://guineapigalliance.com/guinea-pig-welfare-forum/

09/08/2024

Sometimes, all you hear about is the hate, but there is more love in this world than you could possibly imagine.

Charlie Mackesy

07/08/2024

Well done Polly!

Cornwall vet swims to rescue trapped calves in race against rising tide!

Polly Dugmore put on a wetsuit late at night after a herd of 10-week-old animals escaped from the field onto a beach.

A herd of calves was saved from drowning when a vet engaged in a midnight marathon swimming race against the tide to guide the animals to safety.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/07/cornwall-vet-swims-to-rescue-of-trapped-calves-in-race-against-rising-tide

06/08/2024

🩵 Amplify🩵

At a time when the UK news is filled with such horrors and sadness, it's important to be an advocate for those who may no longer feel safe, and amplify messages of support and kindness.

Share stories from your local community, of bake sales and fundraisers, of charity challenges and community resilience, of rebuilding and respect, of fun runs and friendship.

We are a community, and a veterinary team is often a central point where people within a community come with their beloved animals to ensure they maintain their health and welfare, alleviate pain and suffering and work together for the best outcome when they're poorly. Farm vets are central to the farming community when they arrive on a farm to manage herd health and welfare. It's time to open conversations and make sure people feel connected.

Whether you are a client or colleague, we are so incredibly sorry if you're currently feeling scared, sad and alone.

Our communities are here, those who spread the message of hate and contempt are often heard the loudest, but we want to share a message of kindness, trust, allyship, tolerance, respect, compassion, community and friendship.

🩵This message is for you to share your love.
🩵Your compassion for your clients.
🩵Your respect for your veterinary team.
🩵Your pictures of your animals enjoying friendship and fun.

When they go low, we go high - Michelle Obama.

04/08/2024

Your experience of loss and love were incredibly touching. Please share some memories of your pet, to show other people that grief and bereavement is normal and we should be there to support and embrace the many emotions that people experience whilst grieving.

💬 ‘Why are you so upset, it was just a pet?’

Thankfully a statement we hear less and less, but one that still rears its ugly head on occasion.

Grief is a natural reaction to loss, which manifests itself in emotional pain or sadness. It can occur when you lose someone or something that you care about. The grieving process affects everyone differently. Grief is a personal experience that can be complex and unpredictable.

Because society does not often validate grief over the loss of a pet, this can lead to disenfranchised grief: grief that is not acknowledged as valid by social norms.

The human-animal bond shows that many feel that pets are the same as members of their human family, and in some cases where there has been a caregiving component, a companionship in an isolated individual or in many other circumstances, the loss of a pet can be more impactful on someone's life as a loss of a human friend or family member.

An important part of grief for many people is the remembrance and memories that in time you can reflect on with happiness and fondness.

Take this opportunity to share about your pets, remembering their beauty, their character, what they brought to your life in joy and happiness 🩵

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/grief-in-companion-animals-is-it-the-same-as-losing-a-human

02/08/2024

It's a few months until Halloween, Bonfire night and New Year... But it's time to start thinking about your pets noise phobia NOW.

Countdown is on...

🎶Noise Desensitisation: Taking the nervousness out of the noise🎶

Noise anxiety: 50% of dogs react fearfully to some noise.

Statistically more bites happen around thunderstorms and fireworks, likely because of anxiety levels are our attempts to comfort frantic dogs.

Furthermore, if your pet has developed a new phobia as it ages, considering chronic pain and treating this can be essential to their holistic care of anxiety and phobias.

This can make firework season a very stressful time of year for both you and your pet!

➡️Noise phobias can be managed a number of ways but one very useful method is desensitisation and counter conditioning.

➡️Through repetition of quiet noise ( that are scary in louder levels), the pet learns to ignore the stimulus and the level of stimulation can be increased until higher levels of the stimulus are ignored.

➡️This is something that is best taken slowly with dedication, commitment and persistence and only using positive training techniques. If you start now you may make a positive difference to bonfire night and new year fireworks.

Check out this website for more information on noise phobias ⬇️

https://www.petdialog.co.uk/noise.aspx

31/07/2024

An area of growing interest is the impact of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) on a dog after castration.

‘Research is in its infancy and there is no direct proof that there is a causative connection between elevated LH concentration and the long-term adverse health effects of castration.’

One of the most interesting reviews is by Michelle A. Kutzler (2020) in the review ‘Possible Relationship between Long-Term Adverse Health Effects of Gonad-Removing Surgical Sterilization and Luteinizing Hormone in Dogs.’ which covers a number of conditions and how LH could impact them.

In the normal adult dog, an area in the brain called the hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH then stimulates another area in the BRAIN, the anterior pituitary gland, to release luteinizing hormone.

Luteinizing hormone (LH) stimulates the secretion of gonadal steroid hormones, testosterone in males, and these gonadal steroid hormones then negatively feedback to the brain in the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary to decrease the secretion of GnRH and LH, respectively. This cycle continues continuously.

However, in surgically castrated dogs where the testicles have been physically removed, there is no negative feedback. This results in higher circulating levels of luteinizing hormone than usually exist in a dog's body. In these cases, LH concentrations are more than thirty times the concentrations found in normal adult dogs.

In medical castration such as using Deslorelin acetate , it acts like the natural hormone gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) which controls the secretion of other hormones involved in infertility. The implant slowly releases a continuous low dose of deslorelin, this suppresses the production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). As a result, in male dogs less testosterone circulates in the blood, the dog stops producing s***m and their libido is reduced. However, as we are not removing the testicles as we would in a surgical castration, the negative feedback mechanism for LH is not interrupted and there is no persistently high LH seen.

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/castration-in-dogs-what-when-why

28/07/2024

💛 Gold standard is a method, procedure or measurement that is widely accepted as being the best available to test for or treat a disease.

➡️ However, is 'gold standard' always the best?

➡️ Not if the treatment plan can't be implemented by our wonderful owners 💕

➡️ What about contextualised care?

Considering the patient and the owner in a holistic way, to take into account numerous factors (so many we can't list them) such as patient temperament, financial situation, owner abilities and emotional capability, external factors, owners and patient routine, patient preference on oral medication and much more....

💬 In this podcast we discuss the importance of contextualised care: a holistic consideration of both patient and client needs and capability.

A contextualised care approach can help us provide individuals with the right treatment for their situation, maximising client compliance and ultimately getting the best patient outcomes possible.

Old friends, Dr Hannah Capon, founder of Canine Arthritis Management and Veterinary Voices very own Robyn Lowe RVN, use their experiences of multimodal management of osteoarthritis (OA) cases in practice to explore this fascinating topic.

They share their thoughts with an infectious mutual passion to improve client communications to enable the best patient care.

Available on Apple Play, Spotify and other platforms

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/Is-Gold-Standard-Always-Best-e2m6j6u

26/07/2024

💧Help! My cat won't drink enough!💧

🌞With the weather set to be warm, we can often worry about our cats becoming dehydrated - they can be really terrible at taking on enough water!

🌞With the news saying 'UK set for 'horror' 38C heatwave and it will hit before the end of month' it's more important than ever to focus on your cats drinking habits.

➡️There are several evolutionary, physiological and behavioural reasons that make cats more susceptible to dehydration. Cats have evolved as desert dwellers with very high urine concentrating ability enabling them to adapt to periods of scarce water. Domesticated cats tend to increase their urine concentration rather than drinking more when eating food with a low moisture content.

➡️When cats become dehydrated, they can be slow to initiate drinking and have a low thirst stimulus. When they do start to drink, they are not very efficient as they cannot create a suction with their tongue!

➡️Behaviour also has an impact; cats can feel vulnerable when drinking from a bowl of water and can be sensitive to the presentation and taste of the water.

➡️Dehydration can be associated with several conditions including chronic kidney disease, constipation, diabetes mellitus, as well as something to watch out for in the senior life stage. It is also worth considering any cat that has polyuria (urinating more) or other increased water losses such as those with poor faecal quality or skin diseases, where they may be losing water via the skin or loss of saliva from over grooming.

➡️When we are managing feline cases holistically, looking at their environment is essential and this includes water intake!

➡️Increasing a cat's liquid intake should be considered as a key factor to reach a correct level of hydration, together with a healthy diet and proper environmental management.

So what can we do?!

💧Cats can feel vulnerable while drinking, so giving them privacy can help
💧Cats don't like their food source near their water so having separate food and water stations can help
💧Having water stations in different areas of the house. This is especially essential if you have a multi-cat household to prevent resource issues and inter-cat conflict
💧Proving them with different types of bowl - wide (so their whiskers don't touch), and different material in case they don't like the taste or reflection of water in them
💧Changing the water regularly so it is fresh and cool
💧Flavouring the water or providing them with a hydration supplement to encourage drinking such as Purina Pro Plan Hydra Care
💧Providing them with running water such as water fountains
💧If we have mobility issues such as osteoarthritis, we might struggle or be reluctant to jump up and take water from a bowl on a high surface or a tap - please remember that as we get older we may need changes to our access

Thank you Purina for supporting this educational post on feline hydration

Read more about the science behind feline drinking and how to get your cats drinking more below 👇

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/help-i-need-my-cat-to-drink-more