Pedialyte is a rehydrating drink with electrolyte content designed for humans including babies. It is described as an effective rehydration drink. The contains essential electrolytes which are body salts including sodium and potassium citrate, sodium chloride and also glucose. There are other brands of electrolyte replacement products: Hydralyte, Gastrolyte, Dioralyte. I have never used the product and therefore I need to seek the advice of others to find out if it is safe cats.
Conclusion: veterinarians state that it is okay to give your cat Pedialyte in limited quantities although some cautiously state that you should seek veterinary advice beforehand. That’s probably to protect themselves and maybe a condition of their insurance policy! That said, it is probably advisable to touch base with your veterinarian on this if you want to be cautious, especially on the amount to administer.
Veterinary advice
What do the veterinarians say about Pedialyte? Most of the articles relate to dogs but the same rules must apply to cats. And they say that, in summary, small quantities of Pedialyte is likely to be safe for dogs. But one veterinary website, petmd.com, tells people to call their vet instead of giving their dog Pedialyte. They say that there are many reasons why you should not give your dog Pedialyte. And they also state that there are no scientific studies which advocate the use of Pedialyte in dogs. Another vet website says that Pedialyte in small quantities is safe for “most dogs”.
The vetinfo.com website tells us that as Pedialyte is designed for infants and young children it is perfectly suitable for pets as well. They recommend giving a few drops of Pedialyte every 10 minutes for an hour with an eyedropper. I presume this is direct into the mouth. They state that when Pedialyte is added to a cat’s water bowl it isn’t a sufficient treatment because cats don’t seek out water when they are dehydrated. In other words, you have to positively administer it if you want to guarantee benefits. They recommend adding it to tuna juice to encourage a cat to drink it.
Vet tech advice
A veterinary technician who runs her own website advises that you should always consult your veterinarian before you administer Pedialyte. And it should be flavourless. She advises mixing it half/half with water. You can administer this solution directly to your cat using a syringe by squirting it into the pouch of the cheek. Or you can simply add a limited quantity to wet cat food I would have thought.
PoC visitor
A visitor to PoC, Judy Anderson, recommends the product. She has a healthy scepticism about conventional treatments and the authorities including the FDA in America. She prefers a more natural, holistic approach and also recommends nano silver a.k.a. colloidal silver for home treatments.
She adds Pedialyte to her cat’s wet cat food. She thinks cats can drink Pedialyte and recommends it. There is an argument that domestic cats need constant rehydration because they are poor drinkers due to their wildcat inheritance. This applies especially to domestic cats on dry food diets. In fact, one veterinarian believes that all domestic cats on dry cat food diets are dehydrated permanently which goes against good health.
Non-veterinary advice
A non-veterinary website says that “in general, Pedialyte is perfectly safe for cats”. That is not a complete endorsement. All the non-veterinary websites that I visited recommend Pedialyte for cats.
