Cats

How to Encourage a Cat to Drink More Water

June 21, 2026 11 min read

How to Encourage a Cat to Drink More Water (12 Things That Actually Work)

Some cats drink just enough. Others seem to go out of their way to avoid the water bowl entirely — ignoring it for hours, sniffing it once, and walking off like it personally offended them.

If you’re here, you’re probably dealing with the second type. The good news: there are specific, practical things you can change that make a real difference. Not all of them will work for every cat, but working through this list systematically will almost certainly find what clicks for yours.

Why This Matters More Than It Might Seem

Cats have a naturally low thirst drive — a legacy from desert-dwelling ancestors who got most of their water from prey rather than standing water sources. Domestic cats, especially those eating dry kibble, have to actively drink far more than their instincts push them toward just to stay adequately hydrated.

Chronic mild dehydration in cats is directly linked to urinary tract disease, bladder crystals, and kidney problems — conditions that are common, progressive, and expensive to treat. Getting your cat to drink more isn’t just a quality-of-life issue. Over time, it’s a genuine health issue.

12 Ways to Get Your Cat Drinking More

1. Switch to a Water Fountain

This is the single most effective change for the majority of cats that under-drink. Cats are instinctively drawn to moving water — it signals freshness and safety in a way a static bowl simply doesn’t. A fountain keeps water circulating continuously, maintains a cooler temperature, and typically includes a carbon filter that removes the odors stagnant water picks up over time.

Cats that ignore a bowl for hours will often start visiting a fountain multiple times a day. If your cat is a tap drinker — pushing their head under a running faucet whenever you’re near the sink — a fountain gives them the same experience independently, on their own schedule, without you having to be there.

It’s worth investing in a decent one. Stainless steel or ceramic models are easier to clean and more durable than plastic. Look for one that runs quietly — a noisy pump can make some cats reluctant to approach.

See: Best Cat Water Fountains — Reviewed and Ranked

2. Add Wet Food to Their Diet

Wet food is roughly 70–80% moisture. Dry kibble sits at around 8–10%. Even adding one wet food meal per day alongside dry food meaningfully increases your cat’s total daily water intake — without requiring them to drink anything extra from a bowl.

For cats that are genuinely resistant to drinking, dietary moisture is often more reliable than trying to change their drinking behavior. Their food delivers the hydration automatically at every meal.

If your cat has never eaten wet food, introduce it gradually alongside their current food rather than switching abruptly. Most cats adapt within a few days.

3. Move the Water Bowl Away from the Food

This is one of the easiest changes and one of the most commonly overlooked. Most cat owners place food and water right next to each other for convenience — but it works against how cats think about water.

In the wild, water near a carcass or kill site was a contamination risk. Cats carry that instinct indoors. Many will avoid a water source placed too close to their food, sometimes entirely, without the owner ever realizing the connection.

Try moving the water bowl to a different area of the room — or better yet, a completely different room. Some cats respond to this change within hours.

4. Add More Water Stations

One bowl in one location means your cat has to make a deliberate trip to drink. Multiple stations — kitchen, bedroom, living room, hallway — mean water is simply always nearby, wherever your cat happens to be resting or passing through.

More access points almost always means more drinking. This is especially true in larger homes and in multi-cat households where one cat may be subtly discouraging another from accessing the shared water source.

5. Upgrade the Bowl

The bowl itself matters more than most people realize. Two specific issues come up repeatedly:

Whisker fatigue. Deep, narrow bowls force a cat’s whiskers to press against the sides while they eat or drink. Whiskers are highly sensitive sensory organs — repeated contact with bowl edges causes genuine discomfort, and some cats respond by drinking less rather than repeatedly experiencing it. Wide, shallow bowls — sometimes called whisker-friendly bowls — eliminate this issue entirely.

Plastic odor absorption. Plastic bowls develop microscopic scratches over time that harbor bacteria and absorb odors, even after washing. Cats with sensitive noses — which is most of them — detect these residual smells and may avoid the bowl as a result. Switching to ceramic, glass, or stainless steel makes a consistent difference for many cats.

6. Refresh the Water More Often

Water sitting in a bowl accumulates dust, saliva, and airborne particles within hours. To a cat’s nose — estimated to be around 14 times more sensitive than ours — a bowl filled this morning smells noticeably different from fresh water by afternoon.

Refreshing water twice a day is a free change that requires no equipment and consistently produces better results than topping up a bowl that’s been sitting since yesterday. If your cat tends to drink right after you refill the bowl and ignores it afterward, freshness is likely the issue.

7. Try Different Water Temperatures

Some cats have strong temperature preferences that owners never think to test. Most prefer water that’s cool to slightly cold — particularly in warm weather. A small ice cube added to the bowl during summer can spark interest in cats that have been avoiding room-temperature water.

A minority of cats actually prefer slightly warmer water, particularly seniors or cats that seem sensitive to cold. If ice doesn’t help, try water at room temperature rather than straight from the cold tap and see if your cat responds differently.

8. Try Filtered Water

In areas where tap water has a noticeable chlorine taste or smell, some cats detect and dislike it — even though it’s perfectly safe. A basic pitcher filter removes chlorine taste and odor inexpensively. Alternatively, letting tap water sit uncovered in the bowl for 30–60 minutes before offering it allows much of the chlorine to dissipate naturally.

Most cat water fountains also include activated carbon filters that handle this automatically, which is one of the reasons cats with chlorine sensitivity often respond well to fountains.

Related: Can Cats Drink Tap Water?

9. Add a Small Amount of Low-Sodium Broth

Adding a small amount of low-sodium chicken or fish broth to your cat’s water makes it more appealing through scent and taste. This works well as a short-term strategy to get a cat drinking more — particularly useful when a cat is recovering from illness, transitioning to a new diet, or during hot weather when hydration is more critical.

Make sure the broth contains no onion, garlic, or other ingredients that are toxic to cats. Unseasoned, low-sodium broth specifically made for pets is the safest option. This isn’t a long-term replacement for building better drinking habits, but as a transitional tool it’s effective.

10. Add Water to Dry Food

If wet food isn’t an option and your cat is resistant to drinking, adding a small amount of warm water to dry kibble is a low-resistance way to increase moisture intake. Some cats accept this immediately; others need a few days to adjust to the softer texture.

Start with just enough water to moisten the food slightly rather than making it soupy. Increase gradually if your cat tolerates it. It’s not as effective as wet food — the moisture content still doesn’t approach wet food levels — but it’s significantly better than dry kibble alone.

11. Use a Separate Bowl for Each Cat

In multi-cat households, water competition is a real and often invisible problem. A more dominant cat may guard the water source — not always aggressively, but through presence alone. A less confident cat will simply avoid the bowl when the other cat is nearby, and may not drink enough as a result.

The general guidance for multi-cat households is one water station per cat, plus one extra — placed in different locations so no single cat can control access to all of them. Watch your cats’ behavior around the bowl to see if resource guarding might be happening.

12. Let Your Cat Drink from the Tap (Within Reason)

If your cat loves the tap and will actively drink from a running faucet, there’s nothing wrong with turning it on for them regularly. The water is fresh, moving, and usually cooler than bowl water — all things cats prefer. The main limitation is that it requires you to be present and available.

A fountain is the practical long-term solution for tap-obsessed cats — it replicates the experience without the scheduling constraint. But in the short term, using the tap as a bridge while your cat adjusts to a fountain is a perfectly reasonable approach.

Common Mistakes That Make Things Worse

Some well-intentioned interventions actually reduce how much cats drink. Worth knowing before you try everything at once.

Forcing Contact with the Water

Dipping a cat’s paw in water or physically guiding them to the bowl almost always backfires. Cats associate places and objects with their experiences of them — a negative interaction with the water bowl can create lasting aversion. Let curiosity lead. Place new water sources near where your cat already spends time and let them investigate at their own pace.

Changing Everything at Once

Introducing a fountain, moving the bowl, switching the food, and adding broth all in the same week makes it impossible to know what’s working. Make one change at a time, give it three to five days, and observe whether your cat’s drinking behavior changes before trying something else.

Putting Water Next to the Litter Box

An obvious point — but it happens. Cats won’t drink near their elimination area. Water should be in a completely separate location from both food and litter.

Giving Up on a Fountain Too Quickly

Some cats approach a new fountain immediately. Others investigate it for days before drinking from it. A week of cautious observation is normal behavior — it doesn’t mean your cat doesn’t like it. Give any new water source at least seven to ten days before concluding it isn’t working.

Neglecting to Clean the Fountain

A fountain that isn’t cleaned regularly develops biofilm on internal surfaces — a thin bacterial layer that cats can detect and that makes the water less appealing over time. A fountain that’s properly maintained consistently outperforms a dirty one, even for cats that were initially enthusiastic about it. Full disassembly and cleaning every one to two weeks is the standard maintenance schedule.

Common Questions

How long does it take to see a change after making adjustments?

Simple changes like moving the bowl or refreshing water more often can produce results within a day or two. A fountain typically takes three to ten days for a cat to fully adopt — though tap-drinking cats often take to them faster. Dietary changes like adding wet food show results over a week or two as the cat adjusts to the new routine.

My cat drinks from everywhere except the bowl — puddles, glasses, the sink. What’s going on?

This is actually very useful diagnostic information. A cat seeking out alternative water sources is telling you something specific: the bowl isn’t appealing to them, not that they don’t want to drink. Possible reasons — the bowl is too close to their food, the water has sat too long, the bowl material smells off, or they simply prefer moving or fresh water. Work through the list above systematically.

Can I add anything else to the water to make it more appealing?

Catnip tea (cooled, unsweetened) works for some cats — brew catnip like a tea, cool completely, and add a small amount to the water. A small amount of tuna juice (from tuna packed in water, not oil or brine) is another option some cats respond to. Both are short-term engagement tools rather than permanent solutions, and neither should be the primary strategy — building reliable drinking habits through bowl positioning, fountain use, and wet food is more sustainable.

My senior cat has stopped drinking as much as they used to. Should I be worried?

A notable decrease in drinking in a senior cat is worth a vet visit rather than a DIY fix. Reduced drinking in older cats can be a sign of nausea, dental pain, or early kidney disease suppressing thirst — conditions that need diagnosis and treatment, not just a fountain upgrade. If the vet gives the all-clear, then working through hydration improvements makes sense as a follow-up.

The Bottom Line

Most cats that don’t drink enough aren’t being stubborn — they’re responding to specific things about their water setup that don’t match their instincts or preferences. The fix is usually found by systematically changing those things rather than trying harder to make them drink from a setup that isn’t working.

Start with the highest-impact changes: a fountain if your cat shows any interest in running water, wet food if they’re on dry kibble, and relocating the water bowl if it’s currently next to the food. For most under-drinking cats, one or two of these changes produces a noticeable improvement within a week.

The rest of the list is there for the cats that need more experimentation — and most situations do have a solution somewhere in it.

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