The Weird Water Habits of Cats Explained

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Camden Hospital for Animals

Catster.Com is a great site for all things feline!  Today we want to share one of their posts that resonates with our clients.  We often hear "my cat won't drink out of her bowl" or 'why does my cat always drink out of my glass?", and a few other out of the ordinary cat/water habits.  Catster has a few helpful hints and a few funny stories when it comes to cats and their water ways!

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1. DRINKING FROM YOUR WATER GLASS

Most behaviorists say that when a cat drinks from his caretaker’s water glass, it means the water in his bowl is stale or too warm. Try giving your cat’s bowl a good wash and rinse, and filling it with fresh water. Of course, if your cat is like my Siouxsie, it won’t matter whether you cleaned and refilled the water dish two seconds before, he’ll choose to drink from your water glass anyway.

2. DRINKING FROM THE FAUCET

This behavior is generally thought to occur because instinct leads cats to prefer cool, flowing water. After all, flowing water is fresher than the stuff sitting in your cat’s dish. How can you resolve this behavior? Try investing in a pet drinking fountain. I’d recommend avoiding the ones made of plastic, though.

3. Fighting for their lives when confronted with a bath

Generally speaking, cats don’t like or need regular baths. They are very good at grooming themselves and have a pretty strong aversion to being plunked down in a basin of water. The exceptions are cats like the Sphynx, whose skin accumulates oils, and kitties who have trouble keeping themselves clean due to digestive problems or incontinence. If you do need to bathe your cat, you might find these tips from Marci Kladnik helpful.

4. Splashing in their water bowl

Years ago, I got a letter from a reader of my cat advice blog, whose cat was making her crazy with his desire to splash all the water out of his bowl or tip it over so that his water ended up all over the floor. My advice: If your cat tips his water dish, get a bowl that’s wider on the bottom than on the top. If the dish isn’t clear, your cat might have an easier time finding the top of the water without tapping it with his paw. If kitty still finds a way to tip his dish, put it in a tray or a pie pan so the water doesn’t go everywhere.

5. Swimming

Believe it or not, some cats actually like to swim. Their distant cousins, the big cats, can often be seen swimming and wading, presumably to stave off the heat. Among domestic cats, theTurkish Van and Turkish Angora are well-known for their love of water -- although nobody knows for sure how they got that way.

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