A little worried about my cats

[MitchT]

The OH started fretting the other day saying our cats appeared to be drinking an awful lot more water than usual from the bowl that we leave out on the kitchen floor. I put her mind at ease by suggesting that their usual favourite source of water (rainwater which has collected in plan pots, etc. around the garden) is currently unavailable due to being frozen, so of course they'll drink more from the bowl in the kitchen, (which they don't usually take any interest in). This put her mind at rest for a while but then she came up with something else. Apparently grit has a sweet flavour which is attractive to cats, but also contains something which is poisonous to them. Logically, if they're eating grit they'll be getting very thirsty, so now I'm worried too. The council gritters don't get anywhere near our house, but we have been gritting the front doorstep ourselves. Is my first theory about their preferred water supply being unavailable correct, hence their increased use of the water provided by us, or should we be worried?

[paintman]

This thread talks about the dangers of grit & salt:
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
So if you're doing this on areas where the cats are walking they'll pick up the salt on their paws & then ingest it when grooming. Causes dehydration hence they drink more.

If you're not using a grit containing salt or other chemicals then it may well be that your assumption re. usual water supply not being available is correct but best check the grit to be safe.

Edited by paintman on Monday 21st January 01:28

[Superficial]

Always worth washing the paws of animals who go outside when there is grit and salt around, as above they can both cause health issues and can even be life threatening.