[Shasta220]

I’m taking care of a 17yr old cat with kidney disease right now. I clean/change her water bowl daily, and every time I come, it’ll have lots of specks and and orange tinge to it. Would it have anything to do with her kidney disease? Or is it probably just because her canned food is near the water dish, and she has some “backwash” in the water?

[theBCnut]

Set a glass of water from the same source on the counter and leave it and check it tomorrow to see if it looks the same. If it does, it’s the pipes in the house, otherwise, her bowl may need a thorough washing every day because her germs are growing in there. Yes, she backwashes, gross.

[Shasta220]

Thank you. I scrub it as well as I can, and the water is clear when it comes out. Silly kitty! I wish her water wasn’t so close to the food bowl, that’d probably help…

[theBCnut]

Clear when it comes out doesn’t really tell you anything. You have to let it sit for a while and settle to see some things. We have an iron loving bacteria that turns the water a bit orange after it has set. You can also look in the tank of the toilet and see if it looks like there is a slime coating there. This bacteria is harmless, so we don’t do anything about it, but it can make water look icky. But it is still likely to be a backwash issue.

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