Since there are so many great apps out there, I want to ask the ever-so-important question: Which one is absolutely essential to your daily life?
I'll go first: Waterllama! I started using it a few months ago because I really like to know precisely what and how much I drink each day, especially during the summer.
I'd love to hear about the app you use the most and why it's so important to you. And if you have any tips or tricks for getting the most out of the app, I'd love to hear those too!
I generally agree with you but cats probably aren't the best example to use here. They evolved as desert animals with very limited access to water. Because of that their bodies are extremely efficient at using water, which is why their pee is so concentrated and smelly, and they have a very low thirst drive. Cats do regularly drink without being thirsty.
Insert dog for cat, whatever.
The cats drinking despite not being thirsty sounds like a hard claim to prove.
Cats have a biology that is supposed to extract the liquids they need from their prey. Their drinking is supplementary and opportunistic, so likely doesn't work through a sensation of thirst the way it does for us.
Cats who are fed dry kibble, do not drink enough, because of this. Dehydration related problems are by far the most common health issue with pet cats.
Flowing water devices, or even flavoring the water, to encourage cats to drink more, is a thing because of this.
I bought a mouse poison that works on the same principle. Mice eat the dry pellets and it dehydrates them. Apparently, they don’t have a similar thirst mechanism as humans. I have found a dead one in my garage, so it does seem to work.