Dehydrated cat, how much water is enough...?

Are you aware that 1 teaspoon equals 4.92892159ml?

That's 1/5th of a teaspoon per ml or 1/10th of a teaspoon per 0.5 ml.

That is an incredibly small amount of liquid.

It is so small that I don't think you can even begin to know if it actually went down the cat's throat.

If your cat is really dehydrated - and you don't say how you determined she might be dehydrated - 0.5ml is an insignificant amount of water to give her to try and rehydrate her.

I would think that something more like a full teaspoon of water every 15 minutes would be more appropriate.

If your cat is really dehydrated and won't drink water on her own, she needs fluids to be administered either intravenously or subcutaneously.

I've done probably upwards of 200 doses of subcutaneous fluids (100 ml of Lactated Ringers Solution per doze) for cats with kidney failure and ill for other reasons and needing additional fluids.

You say that she started showing some common side effect - do you mean side effects of the antibiotics? What antibiotic is she on?

We've had 26 cats over 22 years and have had a fair share of them on antibiotics at one time or another and we've never encountered those sorts of side effects from antibiotic use.

What was your cat diagnosed with?

Someone responded - jessy - to your question saying to check your cat's gums by pushing on them and seeing how long it takes for the color to return to them again as a way of determining if the cat is dehydrated - that is incorrect.

That is rough test to see if the cat is anemic, not dehydrated.

If you push on your cat's gums for a few couple of seconds and then remove the pressure, if the gums return to normal color fairly quickly, the cat is not anemic.

The gums can indicate dehydration because they will usually be sticky or tacky if the cat is dehydrate.

But pushing on the gums and releasing them is not a test for dehydraion - it is a crude test for anemia.

So, disregard that other person's advice about pushing and releasing the gums to test for dehydration.

The really sad thing is that he or she labels themselves as a Certified Vet Assistant and he is giving out incorrect information to people who may follow it without double checking it.

I am so sorry hun that you are going through this. I just went through the same thing with my Sheltie last week. We lost her. :(

Vomiting makes it worse for your kitties health. So the trick is to do it slowly. Try .25 ml every 30 minutes. She will still be getting .5 an hour but it will be slower & easier on her stomach. Also try putting her near a running faucet for a few mins. Running water helps to stimulate cats & encourage them to drink on their own. If she throws up again take her to the ER vet.

You can ask your vet about other antibiotics that don't upset the stomach as much, this may help.

If the cat's scruff, when pulled up, doesn't go back down immediately, the cat is still dehydrated. I usually go by that. But syringing a half teaspoon every hour sure won't hurt.

That should be ok until you talk to your vet. Check her levels by doing this. Press on a pink part on her gums, if the color comes back in less than 2 sec than she is fine, if its more than give her maybe .5 ml more. But dont overdue it. I mean dont keep giving her water till her color comes back normal. Just do it this once. Until you hear from the vet. He will recommend what to do from there.

Put yet another water bowl down, one who you'll watch the water pass down in. Maybe a measuring cup, or anything like that. She in most cases simply beverages while you are now not looking, but when she's nonetheless urinating, she's k. She customarily is aware of what she demands, and can drink if she demands to.

If nausea vomitting and especially no eating are happening because of antibiotics then they should be stopped and a different one prescribed.

You cannot feed enough water to a dehydrated cat. Fluids need to be given