D -- Drinking

D is for drinking.

Cats need water. Feral cats may get enough from the animals we chase. House cats who eat wet food get more water than cats who eat dry food. Cats who don't get enough water, even over a short period of time, often have internal problems that only a vet can cure. If you see a cat panting on a hot day, get it some water as soon as you can.

When we lived in the shed, he filled our water whenever he came to feed us. Sometimes he also had to wipe out or dump out the junk that was growing in it. He called us good kitty when we drank our water. When it rained, we would sometimes drink out of the puddles [second half of the video]. Sometimes we went to the cattle ponds to drink as well. The last week before I crossed the bridge, I walked over 300 metres to get to the pond. I was having trouble drinking from the big big bowl we had.

In winter time, he brought hot water to take the ice out of the bowls twice a day. He always called us Good Kitties when we drank the warm water. Later on, they got a heated bowl. Sometimes, however, the kitties sit in the bowl to keep warm [first half of the video]

Parker tells me that inside cats also get water, but they have bowls. She likes having bowls in a different place than her food, because they don't like food in their water. One of the kitties she has talked to sometimes has a water dish next to her food and another in another room. Sometimes this other kitty prefers drinking from a cup in the bathroom rather than from a bowl.

One time, before Parker and I were born, they tried a new brand of food (not a major brand) for the shed cats that did not have enough moisture in it (it was only about 9% or 10%). If one cat does not eat, he's just being finicky. But when eight cats won't eat it, there's probably something wrong with the food. Some of that year's kittens were able to eat some if water was added to it; most of them waited until they got their regular 12% moisture food. Since that time, they have always checked the moisture when getting a new brand of food. (There will be more on food later in the alphabet.)