My cat licks walls and won't drink from her bowl. Should I worry?

Cats actually prefer to drink from running water. I suggest you get her a water/drinking fountain: ( https://www.petco.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=48&fromPageValue=search&searchKeyword=&searchTerm=water+fountain )

Hello, thank er you for using PetCoach. I would not necessarily be "concerned" but it would be good for him to drink more water. Two good ways to get more water into a cat are: 1. Feed canned food and 2. Get a water fountain for him. Cats tend to drink more from a source of running water. If he eats canned food it obviously has a higher water content than dry food. I suggest you do those two things and see how things go from there. ( https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cat+drinking+fountain&crid=1UT6TC4LCPX9I&sprefix=cat+drinking+founta%2Caps%2C327&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Excessive thirst in cats is always a concern and should be investigated. Squishy may drink a lot of water because of diabetes, kidney problems, overactive thyroid gland, liver disease or even tumor development. You should take Squishy to your local vets for an appointment as she will need full clinical examination and possibly a blood test to find out what the problem is. In the meantime, you should let her drink as much as wants to maintain normal hydration - she will not get into any problems because of that.

You can try some other type of canned food. Sometimes their tastes change and they decided they don't like what they had before. Cats can be picky. The other way to increase water consumption is to get a drinking fountain. Many cats like to drink from running water and will actually drink more if running water is constantly available. I would suggest you try this. Petco (or any large pet store) has a wide variety or drinking fountains: https://www.petco.com/shop/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=24&fromPageValue=search&searchTerm=drinking+fountain Hope this helps. Best wishes!

You have nothing to worry about, my cats are exactly the same, they will prefer every other option that seems to be fresher than their bowls, i tried a fountain bowl for a while but it never really replaced their need to drink from wherever they could.

This is concerning, and while it's good she will drink the water mixed with the food, you do want her to drink from the water bowl. Give her canned food and add water to it to get more water in her. I'd try getting her a pet water fountain. It provides a constant source of fresh water, and cats tend to love drinking from it. I have one for my cats, and they love it. I hope this helps!

Is this new and normal? If this is new then I would recommend bringing Gershwin to the veterinarian for some blood work and a urine sample to evaluate for a urinary tract infection or kidney issue. If she has always done this it can be normal for some cats to gravitate towards the faucets. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.