Water is essential for everyone, including cats in the animal kingdom. Many people say that different cats have different preferences when it comes to drinking water and eating, just like some cats love cat food while others don't. To help you understand these drinking preferences of cats, we have compiled the following information to help you understand the science of cat drinking. 
Why do cats have such a strange drinking habit?
1. Cats have remarkably sensitive taste buds. Even water that tastes bland to humans can have a rich and varied flavor to a cat. Perhaps we don't know that toilet water and mop water taste wonderfully delicious to cats.
2. Cats' noses are very sensitive to temperature changes, especially in winter. Warm foot bath water from their owners can stimulate a cat's nose, and the warm steam will make the cat feel very comfortable, thus triggering its desire to drink water.
3. For cats, running water is the only clean water. Water flowing from the tap (especially purified water, as many households now have tap water available for direct drinking) is clean, so cats love drinking tap water.
4. For cats, larger portions of water mean fresher water. Since cats' ancestors were prairie cats, who typically drank from ponds or lakes, larger portions of water are considered fresher to them. Therefore, some cats are particularly fond of bathwater in the bathtub.
II. How should we deal with cats that have unusual drinking habits?
1. Never let your cat drink toilet water, mop water, or bath water, as they contain a lot of bacteria. Bath water also contains shampoo residue. Therefore, always close the toilet lid and empty the mop water and bath water promptly.
2. When preparing water for your cat, choose a larger container, such as a washbasin. You can also make your own circulating water system, which isn't difficult; I'll share the method with you when I have the chance. Change the drinking water daily to ensure its cleanliness.
3. If your cat likes to drink water from the water purifier pipe, you can let it drink it if you don't mind, but it's best not to let your cat drink tap water.
III. How to determine a cat's water intake
1. When we observe whether a cat drinks a lot of water, we mainly look at the portion of water that is freely available for drinking.
2. Water in food refers to the total water content of the food consumed daily. For example, the water content of cat food is approximately 8-10%; the water content of canned cat food is over 75%. If a cat eats 100g of cat food with a 10% water content daily, it will ingest 100 x 0.1 = 10ml of water from its food. Similarly, if a cat eats 200g of canned cat food with an 80% water content daily, it will ingest 200 x 0.8 = 160ml of water from its food.
3. Metabolic water in cats, simply put, is the water produced during the digestion of food. Generally, every 100 kcal of metabolic energy produces 10-16 ml of metabolic water. If a cat ingests 200 kcal of food, it will produce 2 x 10-16 ml = 20-32 ml of metabolic water during metabolism.
Cats are very clean animals, so in daily life, in addition to regularly bathing and cleaning the litter box, it is also necessary to change the water frequently. For the health of your cat, I believe you can definitely change the water every day.
