Her routine is not an obstacle to work around; for a senior cat it is the structure that makes her feel safe, so keep it intact and adjust the water itself: where it sits, what it sits in, and how fresh it tastes. Introduce a single adjustment, watch her response for several days, and only then consider the next.
Placement: Water Where She Already Lives
Many seniors drink less simply because every drink costs a journey. Add another station along the floor-level routes of the room where she spends most of her day, on a path she already walks between bed, litter tray and food, rather than relocating the bowl she knows. Keep the original bowl exactly where it was, so the new station is an extra opportunity, not a change she must solve.
Set water a little away from her food rather than touching it. Many cats prefer that separation, and it also keeps kibble crumbs and wet-food residue out of the water, which matters because a fastidious older cat will refuse a bowl that smells of yesterday's meal long before she refuses a clean one.
The Bowl and the Water Itself
Try a wide, shallow bowl that lets her drink without her whiskers pressing the sides, and fill it to a consistent level so the surface is where she expects it. Wash bowls daily and refill with fresh water at the same times each day; water that has stood for two days collecting dust and odour is a common, invisible reason a senior appears uninterested in drinking.
Note which material and depth she favours if you test a change, and keep the winner. Some seniors prefer ceramic weight and coolness, others drink more readily from a raised bowl that spares stiff neck and joints the downward reach, and that comfort detail can matter more than any flavour trick.
Raising Intake Through Food and Flow
Wet food already carries far more moisture than dry, so if she eats wet food willingly, mixing a spoonful of water through each serving raises her total intake quietly, without any new station to learn. Increase gradually so the texture stays acceptable to her, and watch that she still finishes her meals, because hydration gained at the cost of food refused is no gain at all.
Some seniors who ignore still bowls will investigate a running-water fountain, possibly because moving water smells fresher to them. Place it beside her existing bowl rather than replacing it, give her at least a week to investigate at her own pace, and keep the old bowl filled regardless; a senior should never have to master new equipment to earn a drink.
Watch the Pattern, Not Just the Bowl
Refill to the same mark and note roughly how much disappears each day, alongside her appetite, litter tray visits and energy. A gradual, modest rise after a placement change tells you the change worked. A sudden change tells a different story: drinking noticeably more, or noticeably less, can accompany several age-related conditions, and either direction deserves a prompt discussion with the vet instead of home experimentation.
Never restrict her water to concentrate her drinking, and never wait on a senior who has stopped drinking, is off her food, or seems weak or withdrawn. Those signs move the question out of encouragement and into prompt veterinary care, where her intake notes become genuinely useful history.
Keeping that refill pattern, her weight and her vet findings together in her Pet Passport through KinsLe means a locum vet sees her recent drinking story at a glance.