Can Cats Drink Carbonated Water?
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It is normal for cat owners to want to share food and beverages with their cats. However, it is important to remember that what is safe to consume for humans isn’t necessarily what is safe to consume for cats. As such, if cat owners are careless, they could hurt their cats by accident by feeding the latter something unsuitable. Fortunately, carbonated water isn’t one of those things. Unfortunately, that isn’t the same as saying that cats will always be fine after drinking every single kind of carbonated water that can be found out there.
On its own, carbonated water should be fine. The potential problem is that it is common for carbonated water to have various ingredients added to it, which may or may not be fine. For example, sugar isn’t outright toxic for cats. However, it isn’t exactly what anyone would consider to be healthy for them. On top of that, cats can’t taste sweetness, thus making sugar that much more pointless.
Similarly, sodium can be a serious issue. Cats need some sodium to live. The issue is that it doesn’t take a lot of sodium before a cat starts experiencing serious medical issues, meaning that cat owners need to watch their sodium intake very carefully. On top of this, people might want to watch out for fruits. Some common fruits are safe for cats to consume.
Other common fruits are very much not. Summed up, if people are thinking about providing carbonated water to their cat, they might want to check with a veterinarian to see if it is fine beforehand. Besides this, it should be mentioned that it is best for cats to get most of their water from normal water rather than carbonated water. This is because too much of the latter stuff can cause bloating. Something that cat owners should seek to prevent in their cats.
What Is Bloating Anyways?
Bloating is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that it can happen for a number of reasons, with examples including eating too much, drinking too much, and certain medical conditions. Bloating is uncomfortable. Even worse, it can have serious consequences for the cat’s health. This is because bloating will compress the cat’s other organs, which will impair the functions of the other organs. To name an example, it is possible for this to make it difficult for cats to breathe.
Cats can’t communicate in the same way as humans. Thanks to that, it can be even more difficult to tell that there is something wrong with cats than there is something wrong with humans. Still, there are some common symptoms for bloating in cats, so it is a good idea for cat owners to keep a watchful eye out for them. To name some examples, people should pay attention to drooling, lethargy, swollen stomach, attempts to belch, attempts to vomit, and sudden weakness.
These symptoms are by no means exclusive to bloating, so it is often difficult for cat owners to tell one issue from another. However, they definitely show that something is wrong, which in turn, means that cat owners should bring their cats to the veterinarian as soon as possible. Said individuals are the ones with the right expertise, experience, and equipment needed to figure out what is going on before coming up with a treatment plan. As such, they are the ones to seek out whenever cats show issues. With cat health as with human health, swifter intervention means higher chances of a positive health outcome.
What Is Carbonated Water Anyways?
As for carbonated water, it is one of those things with a name that makes it very clear what it is supposed to be. After all, carbonated water means water with carbon dioxide dissolved into it. Sometimes, this happens through natural means. Other times, well, suffice to say that people found ways to infuse water with the gas in the mid 18th century.
After which, they promptly noted that they found it very satisfying to drink for reasons that weren’t wholly clear to them, thus paving the way for the founding of the soft drinks industry once an industrial method for doing the same was found later in the same century. Regardless, carbonated water has proven to be very popular. For proof, look no further than the fact that it is used in everything from cooking to soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Similarly, it is common for cats to develop an interest in the stuff as well, which makes it extremely fortunate that it isn’t toxic to them.
What Can You Do If Your Cat Isn’t Drinking Enough Water?
Cats are like humans in that they need to take in a fair amount of water on a regular basis to ensure their continuing survival. They don’t necessarily need to get this water by drinking water. Like humans, it is very much possible for cats to meet part of their daily requirements through the food that they eat, which explains why cats that eat wet food seem to have less need for water than cats that eat dry food.
Still, if a cat isn’t drinking water, that is cause for concern. It could be that they have some kind of medical condition that is hindering them in this regard. For example, endocrine issues can cause them to lose their sense of thirst, which is problematic to say the least. Similarly, peridontal disease can make a cat unwilling to drink water, not because they have no sense of thirst but because doing so is too painful for them. Alternatively, there are plenty of other potential explanations as well.
Sometimes, cats are being put off because their drinking bowl isn’t clean enough. Other times, their drinking bowl might be too small for them, which is relevant because some cats are less than enthusiastic about their whiskers bumping the sides of bowls. In any case, if a cat isn’t drinking water, people can try various solutions such as providing moister food and providing a more flavorful beverage. However, if the issue persists for too long, it is time to bring the cat to the veterinarian to get an expert’s opinion about what is going on.
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