clarissa

Hello cat lovers,

clarissa

My name is Clarissa, and I am your friendly neighborhood cat lover and veterinarian. I have four children, a wonderful husband, and three cats I cherish with all my heart.

As a pet parent and a veterinarian, I’ve worked with many cats, and I want to impart all the wisdom I’ve learned to the people who need it the most: other pet parents.

I am a British American, and back home, we used to have a darling British shorthair cat, lovingly named Chunky. He was my first pet. We brought him home when I was 13, and I loved that boy so much. But what I remember most is being annoyed at him because the little goof would never drink water, no matter what I would do to help him. We had water bowls in every room, but he would go to the bathroom or the kitchen tap whenever he was thirsty. He would get a lot of UT issues which would cause a lot of pain.

When he passed, he was in pain, but I knew his renal issues had sped him his passing. I saw this same thing happen with my friend’s cat, and I decided that I would do everything under my power to keep the people informed about cat hydration and its importance.

Cat hydration is not easily solvable. Many cats dislike water because they’re either not introduced to it early enough or because they’re not appropriately introduced. It’s not their fault, though. To me, if you want to be a cat parent, you should know everything about your cat’s well-being and how to take care of them.

During my career, I’ve come across thousands of cats who suffer from terrible health conditions.

Kidney disease, diabetes, heatstroke, and severe dehydration—all of it occurs because your cat doesn’t drink enough water. You might think your cat is okay because they lap on the water once or twice a day. But that’s not enough for them. Cats are active creatures; they play, run, walk, and hunt.

And even if you have an indoor cat, it doesn’t take long before their dehydration makes things worse.

You Are Your Cat’s Carer

As mentioned before, I have three rescue cats. The eldest is my part-Bengal darling Bugsy, who was adopted from a woman who rescued him from a feral cat attack. My Bugsy was a tiny tot at the time, maybe four weeks, but he fought off a feral cat who had already killed one of his siblings. Bugsy was rescued, and I took him in. I introduced him to baths and water early on.

I trained him to drink water from the water fountain from the get-go. Two years later, he still drinks from the fountain and has plenty throughout the day.

My second cat is our sweet Tuxedo cat Purrito, named by my daughter, Lauren. We adopted Purrito last year. She was a tiny, skinny six-week-old kitten who had a bad case of worms. Someone had left her in the streets, and I found her one night. It was pretty touch-and-go, and we didn’t think she would pull through.

But she was able to flush out the worms from her system. Purrito is a unique cat because she loves water. She’s notorious for getting in the shower or the tub whenever someone’s in the bathroom.

My husband installed a special large birdbath because she likes to sunbathe in the water while sitting in water. She was able to get into the water from instinct, so I was lucky in that.

My son found our last cat not too long ago during the last lockdown. He and his friends were doing a scavenger hunt in the nearby park when they found six kittens, eyes not open yet, their fur spray-painted green. He and his siblings were dumped, so my son ran home to get me.

I arranged a foster for the green kitten’s five tiny siblings. But my son had a real connection with a black and white kitten who had his white fur painted green. With his black back and feet, my son named him Loki, and the rest is history.

True to his word, Loki is the youngest and the most spoilt kitten I’ve had. And he gives us the most trouble with drinking water. He demands that we hold him while he drinks water and loves ice cubes made with water from meat or chicken bits. Loki was the runt of the litter, so he’s not as strong or big as he thinks.

He gets tired easily but is too proud to see it. We try to keep him hydrated. But it takes time to get your cats assimilated.

My children take turns taking care of the cats and experiment with different feeding methods. So far, we’ve only had success with water fountains. That’s why I prefer them over other ways of making cats drink water.

Feline hydration is essential for your cat’s long-term health and well-being. And I want to be sure that all pet parents understand why. I lost Chunky when I was a teenager because we didn’t know how important it was. He died in pain, and I cannot put his little face out of my head.

As a pet parent, I don’t want anyone to lose their cat babies because of something preventable.

Appropriate care makes a huge difference for your cat’s health. If you catch something beforehand, you can prevent the issue from spreading further.

My Motto is to Help Parents Keep Their Cats Hydrated

Are you with me?

Follow all the advice I provide and tell me about the tips that work well for you. Water fountains weren’t always popular. It’s all thanks to a client with five cats and a running shelter for me to know that such things exist.

I partner with multiple shelters and foster parents to help them spread the word. I also give them all the information I have on feline hydration, so they do not miss any signs of dehydration. I do all this out of love.

I know every pet parent out there loves their cat so much. So, follow my word. And try your best to keep your cat hydrated. Please keep track of their blood work and health by keeping up with a regular vet appointment. If not, go online and read through my articles on how you should keep your cat hydrated.

You have all the information you need at the tip of your fingers.

Write to me at [email protected]