I have a cat who, every day, dips his paws in his water bowl, dirtying it up with litter. Has anybody seen this kind of behavior in a cat before? I would like to stop this, because I know it's not good for them to be drinking that water and I have to change it so often. I can't figure out if he's playing in the water or if he is just obsessed with clean paws!
2006-08-23 08:52:11 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
My 22 yr old cat has been pulling the water bowl to her before she drinks. Of course this makes the water splash all over so I have been putting the bowl on dish towels or hand towels.
Why does she do this? I have no idea. I honestly don't think your cat is getting a lot of litter in his system drinking from his bowl.
I have lots of bowls around the house. I wash them every day and put fresh, filtered water in them.
It doesn't sound very hygenic to us and I think cats have very good sense about ingesting anything that would hurt them.
2006-08-23 09:00:56 · answer #1 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im sorry that I dont have an answer for you on this one, but one of my cats does this all the time too. She LOVES to play in her water dish. I thought it was strange, but reading others, it seems to almost be normal. Now my other cat on the other hand HATES the water and will only go by it to drink...
She always tries to pull the bowl closer to her, then it cumps over. I bought a rubbered bottom bowl and put it on a floor mat and she still manages to dump it over on the floor and play in it.
As for the litter, she doesnt get litter in the bowl. I guess I would suggest a different type of litter...
2006-08-23 16:22:55 · answer #2 · answered by *SunshineGirl* 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cat Leo does this sometimes. Only he will stick his paw in the water bowl and then lick it off of his paw. It's absolutely hilarious and I don't know why he does it. I just change his water when it gets dirty cause they are supposed to have really fresh water all the time anyway.
2006-08-23 16:10:12 · answer #3 · answered by Turtle 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a cat once that loved to play in his water! This could very well be, but I also had a very prissy cat that hated to be dirty! She would also do this but not really playing...afterward she would groom herself all over! I'm not sure what to do. I would just keep changing the water every time you see him do this. Atleast his paws are clean:)
2006-08-23 16:07:40 · answer #4 · answered by Love not hate 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we have two cats, one almost 2 years old and one is about 3 months old..the older one does this a lot! on the other hand my parent's cat who is 11 years old, has never done this!
From what I've seen on documentaries, its a way for them to clean their paws.
2006-08-23 18:12:32 · answer #5 · answered by Fiona 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Introduce your cat to the toilet. Are cats do that to. We give them water in a bowel and then we have the toilet seat up and the BR door open. They dont get dehydrated, they love to play in water though, watch your cat though because my orange cat Sherbet dips his toes in then licks the water off. It could just be a fancy way of drinking.
Hope this helped
2006-08-23 18:07:58 · answer #6 · answered by perfectinpink22 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he's testing the water. mine does that. he won't stop doing it either. I don't use clumping litter, it is bad for their digestive systems if ingested even by accident. I use fresh step. they still get it stuck to their feet but I have a peice of carpet surrounding the box that seems to collect a lot of the litter that does get on their paws.
2006-08-23 16:24:19 · answer #7 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are using the clumping litter, it could be sticking to his paws, and cats as you know have very sensitive pads.. It could be true of the regular litter as well.
2006-08-23 15:58:02 · answer #8 · answered by oneblondepilgrim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he's playing in it. my cats do it all the time, you might want to get a different kind of litter if they are getting litter in the water. mine have never gotten litter in the water before.
2006-08-23 16:01:56 · answer #9 · answered by macleod709 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cats were once wild animals which means they drank dirty water, mine tries to drink out of the toliet and sometime succeeds, i wouldnt worry too much about dirty water, make sure they have fresh water once a day, but dont go out of your way to change it all the time...they'll be fine
2006-08-23 16:28:27 · answer #10 · answered by sassy2sloppy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋