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My cat is recovering from dehydration. Does wet food hydrate her?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Longhair | Female | spayed | 2 years old

My cat Lilly isn't drinking enough water. She went to the vet for severe dehydration. She is on doxycycline, Amoxi Clav K+ Suspension, Mirtazapine, PancrePlus, and is getting Lactated Ringers subdermal. She absorbs the LR in a couple hours and she is eating voraciously (wet food) but I don't see her consuming very much water. The antibiotics are for a persistent URI. Could this be due to a chronic condition? Im worried that when her meds run out that she will get ill again. Suggestions?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on January 2nd, 2020

I'm sorry Lilly has been sick! Wet food has a higher moisture content than dry food, so she is getting some water in her by eating that. Also she is getting fluids, so she is getting water there too. If she wasn't getting fluids, I would be worried about her not drinking water, but in this case, I'm not. When the fluids run out, feed her wet food and add water to it.

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