by Shannon (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Cats strange drinking habit
About my cats strange drinking habit. I am a cat lover and have had several cats in my life. This cat that I have adopted is the cutest cat ever, except for his strange drinking behavior. My cat refuses to drink from his water bowl. I have tried switching it from metal to plastic and trying out many different kinds. He wants to drink directly from the water faucet, leans into the toilet and drinks, and if he drinks from HIS BOWL he dips his paw into it and licks the water from it. He will then find a glass anywhere in the house and knock it over. Our family took the cat in as a stray several months ago and he has had this behavior since day one. These habits have puzzled me. Anyone have any ideas what in the world is going on in this cat’s mind? He is two years old,neutered, and non aggressive.Looking forward to a response 🙂 Sincerely,Shannon
Comments for My cat has a strange habit
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why does lady drink with mouth full by: Anonymous My Lady will check out the water bowl, then step to the nearest food bowl (I have 5) & take a kernel or 2 of dry food, she steps back to the water & takes a sip of it, while dropping the kernels of dry food in her mouth into the water. She will drink a bit, then repeat the process. She doesn’t eat the food dropped in the water. I always change the water when she is done, so her siblings will drink! Yuk! Backwash!
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My cat Bruce by: Anonymous My cat Bruce is a year and a half old. Over the past year, he has refused to drink out of plastic water dishes, so I switched to stainless steel, glass and even bought a purified water fountain for cats; he eventually refused all of them.He now prefers to drink water out of dirty dishes in the sink or stick his paw under the running water facet and lick his paw. The most shocking thing is I have a plastic container about eight inches high and one inch wide. I use it to refill my iron when I iron clothes. HE LOVES TO DRINK OUT OF IT! But he always has to know that the water is fresh. I don’t always keep it filled up because my other Diego likes to play with it and knock it over! Help!
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cat drinking out of faucet by: Anonymous Get one of those electric water fountains for pets. Constant flow down the waterfall and into the reserve. And it just keeps going around and around. My cats no longer use the other type of drinking dish. And they love it. If your walmart carries it more power to you. Great item great price so you don’t have to keep changing the still water. if not there, then all pet stores carry it!
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My silly cat by: Anonymous My cat Simba never drinks out of a still water bowl if it has been there over 15 minutes. It has too be fresh and when he drinks it he likes it moving. So he puts his paw in the bowl and stirs it around the bowl so it is overflowing. Then he will start drinking. If it is not fresh he jumps on top of the fridge or in the middle of the floor and yells at you every time you walk past.
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Cats Strange Drinking Habits by: Anonymous My cats strange drinking habits. My cat Oliver, does not prefer to drink out of his water bowl either. He will only drink out of it while he eats because his food bowl is next to his water bowl. But most of the time he will drink out of the dog bowl or toilets. We had to stop putting the toilet cleaners that hang on the inside of the toilet bowl so he wouldn’t get sick. And he loves to drink out of any faucet. Oliver will sit in the sink or tub and just look at you and meow until you turn it on for him.
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Ariel’s Quirky With the Water Too by: Audrey My year-old female Ariel is quite similar and is not necessarily fussy but will take water (or milk) wherever she can get to it. I haven’t had her drink from the faucet though even though she will jump up on the sink and watch it. She LOVES the toilet which makes me a bit nervous as I try to keep it clean but I don’t like her near it for a while after its just been cleaned. She is completely fascinated by it flushing as well. As for her water dish I purchased an auto-water dish a while ago because she would put her paw in the dish and dig through the water splashing it everywhere and then licking it off her paws. It is also not safe to leave glasses or cups around especially of milk as she likes to dip her paws in those too and help herself. She loves the milk, if she knows you have milk you should just stand and drink because she will climb and crawl all over you for a little dip.
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Drinking with Paw by: Janie I’ve had cats all my life and I never witnessed this habit until I adopted Jaxson. He is a Norwegian Forest Cat and will drink directly from his bowl, but every so often he will dip his paw into the bowl and drink in that manner. It’s so dang cute!
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Cats Strange habit by: Phil from Texas My cats strange habit is along the same line. My boy Dexter drinks water from everywhere except his bowl. He jumps into the sink and drinks from any glasses or dishes I may leave soaking. I had to stop using soap on the dishes that I left laying in the sink! He also drinks from the toilet. And when our hot water heater started leaking in the garage he was drinking from the puddle it made. I guess cats can have some strange drinking habits! My next thing to try for him is one of those new fangled drinking fountains.
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Drinking habit by: Lola Hi Shannon, I just read your story about your kitty and his drinking habits. I had a kitty who did the same thing. She did it for 15 years. I just learned to accept it. She seemed to think the freshest water came out of the faucet or the toilet and that’s what she seemed to want THE freshest water! Eventually I found the right bowl for her, it was a little white ceramic bowl, like the kind you see in Chinese restaurants that have sauce in them. And then I only filled it with bottled water, not an expensive kind, it was actually Nestle’s pure water. And she loved it. She still preferred the faucet, but when that wasn’t an option, she happily drank out of her bowl. It did have to be filled often though even if I had to dump out the old water. I hope some of this helps, just love him. My best, Lola