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Is my senior cat getting nutrients if she drinks a lot but won't eat?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Longhair | Female | spayed | 12 years and 9 months old | 6 lbs

My 12 yo cat doesn’t eat enough. She drinks a lot and licks the gel or liquid from wet food and eats dry food. She also like cat broth but only eats the broth none of the meat. Is there anything I could do to help her get more nutrients ? I think she weighs only 6 lbs.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 8th, 2019

Drinking a lot more means that she is also urinating a lot more. This is called Polydipsia and polyuria or PU PD.
There are various reasons for PU PD and they need to be investigated by a veterinarian, especially in an older cat.
Blood work can rule out any of those.
1) diabetes---a urinalysis and blood test will be able to rule it in or out. Diabetes is usually treated with diet and insulin. Weight loss is a cardinal sign.

2) Kidney disease, treated with diet and supportive treatment
3)diabetes insipidus, usually tested with a water deprivation test and treated with a medication called Minirin.
You will need to make an appointment with your vet for an exam and blood tests. I am sure your vet will find the cause of the PU PD.

Apart from that feeding your kitty pate-style wet food is usually better than the food with gravy as cats tend to lick the gravy off, which they cannot do with pate style wet food.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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