When I did my usual water change about 2 weeks ago (I do them weekly, but learned in the meantime) - I didn't think anything about my two cats drinking "fish poo, pee, used food" water because they were really liking it. Well long story short - both of them got a nasty bacterial infection causing lack of appetite, frequent vomiting, and weight loss. The vet said this can be very serious. We're treating both boys with anti-biotics now, but one (the older of the two), is still very sick. The other is a young cat (3yo) and is a really big boy, so I think his immune system is just a little better than the 8yo's system.
Soooo, the moral of MY stupidity here is... keep your pets OUT of the used fish water!! The $180 vet bill and the $15 in meds for each cat just wasn't worth them enjoying some "tasty" water! You may have been lucky so far, but watch out... we have been lucky for about 3 months, but I guess there was just something in that batch of water - and we as owners will never know when it's ok and when it's not. Poor kitties paid the price for my ignorance.
Soooo, the moral of MY stupidity here is... keep your pets OUT of the used fish water!! The $180 vet bill and the $15 in meds for each cat just wasn't worth them enjoying some "tasty" water! You may have been lucky so far, but watch out... we have been lucky for about 3 months, but I guess there was just something in that batch of water - and we as owners will never know when it's ok and when it's not. Poor kitties paid the price for my ignorance.
