Is Your Cat Drinking Enough Fresh Water? #PetHydrationMonth

Did you know that cats need one-ounce of water per pound of body weight daily?  Did you know 80% of your pet’s body is made of water?  July is Pet Hydration Month and we want to share some information about proper hydration and the use of a pet fountain.

Truffle introduces the PetSafe® Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountain

July is Pet Hydration Month and was started by PetSafe® Brand to raise the awareness to pet parents about the importance of keeping pets appropriately hydrated. As we stated earlier, 80% of your cat's body is made of water compared to 60% in humans. It's important for cats (and dogs) to drink a minimum of one-ounce of water per pound of their body weight per day. If your cat is active or has a health condition, this amount may increase. 

Truffle loves drinking from her PetSafe® Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountain

Proper hydration can help prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) and urinary disease, aid with energy levels and temperature regulation, and speed recovery time from sickness of surgery. If cats don't receive the proper amount of water, they can become dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when fluid levels drop to less than normal due to reduced water intake or increased fluid loss (illness, increased activity, lack of availability of fresh water, or dirty bowls). To help prevent dehydration, you should provide clean water at all times and change it frequently to ensure freshness.  It's important to wash bowls every day to prevent bacteria from forming.

If you suspect your cat may be dehydrated, you should get her to the veterinarian immediately  The vet needs to monitor her and possibly administer IV fluids. Common symptoms of dehydration include:

• vomiting and/or diarrhea
• lack of energy
• excessive and ongoing panting
• loss of appetite
• sunken, dry eyes
• dry and stick gums
• loss of skin elasticity

Graphic provided by PetSafe® Brand

One way we've found to ensure we have clean and fresh water is to use a pet fountain. We love the Drinkwell® fountains from PetSafe® Brands and have a couple of varieties located in our home. PetSafe Brand pet fountains encourage pets to drink more water and offer a stylish alternative to traditional pet bowls. Mom Paula loves the calming effect of the running water in the fountains. Pet fountains help keep us healthy and hydrated by providing fresh, filtered, circulating water.  We know several of our cat blogging friends who love to drink running water from the faucet at the sink and an appropriate pet fountain is the next step in satisfying your cat.  The hy-drate® Filtration systems add filtered water to your pet's water bowl. Healthy Pet Water Station™ systems are perfect for owners who don't want to refill the water bowl every day. 

Truffle's favority pet fountain is the PetSafe® Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountain

We received the PetSafe® Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountain to review during Pet Hydration Month. The Drinkwell 360™ fountain has the option of multiple streams (interchangeable spout rings) with adjustable flow settings. It's made of stainless steel and it circular to allow pets to drink from any angle and is perfect for multiple pet households. This fountain is a little larger than some of the other fountains, but we really like it. The 360 fountain has two filters: a carbon filter (The filter contains granulated carbon for extended filtration and the duo density polyester pad captures debris) and a foam pre-filter ( trap any large debris and hair in the water, before they reach the pump, providing cleaner water to your pet. The foam filters help keep the pump cleaner in between cleanings and maintain the fountain's flow rate).  Filters should be changed about every two weeks, depending on the number of pets in the household and its use.

Graphic courtesy PetSafe® Brands

Truffle has always enjoyed drinking from a stream of water. Brulee prefers drinking from the bowl, but she is leaning more towards a drinking from a stream with the Drinkwell 360 fountain. Mom Paula likes the fact the fountain in stainless steel and less likely to collect bacteria like plastic fountains. The only problem we had was our house has hard water and we had problems cleaning the hard water stains. A representative from PetSafe recommended using one of those cleaning "erasers" and now our fountain stays shiny and clean.

Giveaway

We're excited to announce that one of our readers has the opportunity to win a PetSafe® Brand Drinkwell® Stainless 360 Multi-Pet Fountain of her own. No purchase necessary. The giveaway is open to residents of the United States 18+ years, except where prohibited by law. The giveaway will run from July 18-25, 2017 at 11:59pm ET. One winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter (powered by Random.org) and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize and a new winner will be randomly chosen. To qualify for the giveaway, a comment must be left on our blog post.  Other entry options are available after a comment is left.  Please check your email and be sure to add sweetpurrfections@sc.rr.com to your address book!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway