I just adopted a 1 year old kitty from the shelter. Tonight I've been observing him drinking his water and each time he approached his water dish a strange behavior occurs. Basically he will stick his mouth in the water and make his front paws move in a digging motion. His paws are not inside the dish when he does this so I don't think he is splashing the water around. I'm just wondering if anyone else has witnessed a cat doing this. What is he doing?
2006-12-30 15:45:32 · 8 answers · asked by miss_shauna2001 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
One of my cats does the same thing. As he drinks, his little paw kind of swipes at the floor, or it's like he is shaking it off, even though it's not wet. The only thing I can figure is that anytime water is near them, their instinct is to start kicking their feet to swim. So by putting their faces near the water, it triggers that swimming instinct they get when near water.
2006-12-30 15:53:09 · answer #1 · answered by Jennifer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a bowl with a design or pattern on the bottom that the cat can see. Some cats have trouble assessing the depth of water. They will either paw at it or slurp their mouths at it. The design on the bottom of the bowl will help the cat to guage how deep or shallow the water in bowl is. Hopefully, this will stop your cat from pawing around the bowl.
2006-12-31 00:09:51 · answer #2 · answered by Phoebhart 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi: Good for you (to adopt a kitten) It'll be fun to watch him/her grow. I love cats and have owned a few over the years. That behaviour (to me) always signified that they did not like what you had put down for them to eat or drink and they want to cover it up. I try not to look at it as an insult to my culinary arts if I give him the occasional homemade treat and he does this. Perhaps he doesn't like your tap water, or the brand of cat food you gave him. At first it would drive me nuts and I would keep changing the food or the brand. One day I stopped, told him that I had had enough of his shenanigans, went out, bought the best cat food I could afford, a Brita water jug to refine his water, and told him to 'get over it'. He would still do it once in a while but I learnt to ignore that, and when he was hungry enough he would eat it, or live on water until the next day. An occasional fast is good for them, just like us. All the best.
2006-12-31 00:38:43 · answer #3 · answered by marjorie w 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cats do the same thing...I asked the vet and she said she didn't know either...and one of her cats do it! Must be a "cat thing" One of my cats also grabs the water dish and jerks it...or drags it...it's a heavy glass dish. He makes a mess all the time. I don't understand it either.
2006-12-31 04:20:53 · answer #4 · answered by Sharon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i actually think he's trying to see where the water is, since cat's see in black and white and grays, water is clear so it matches the color of his water dish. My cat does the same thing and after he's figured out where the water is he stops.
2006-12-30 23:49:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes i agree with the above answer. They try to cover up smelly yucky things.
They also do this outdoors to hide their food by covering it with dirt so other animals do not know where they are living. But usually its because their food sucks :)
2006-12-31 02:36:16 · answer #6 · answered by angrdrgz3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He might be used to drinking out of creeks and ponds etc. and digging his claws in to keep from sliding in because the banks are slippery?
2006-12-31 00:00:57 · answer #7 · answered by JUAN FRAN$$$ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they do that in ther liter box so when they feel some wettness they just move it around where they think it should go.
2006-12-30 23:56:05 · answer #8 · answered by Gypsy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋