What in the world! Does your cat(s) do this?

Question

Okay, I have a water bowl by my cat's food dish. They eat the food, yes. But they don't drink the perfectly clean water dish right by it! Why would they do this? So sense they don't drink that they drink the dogs water, the left-over water from the tub, and even the toilet. They drink out of alllll them icky places and yet don't drink out of their wonderfully clean/cold water dish? Why?

If you want to know I have 2 cats. One female and one male and they share the food dish (which isn't a problem). I have 1 dog that is both in/outside type dog and she don't care that they drink out of her dish sometimes.
PLEASE... IT'S GETTING ANNOYING!!! lol

Thanx~
♥melissa♥

Answer 1

yes my cat does this too sometimes. he always hv a clean bowl of water , yet he still drinks from the toilet bowl now n then, he even sleeps in the sink.

Answer 2

My cats do the same thing. I have four cats and none of them drink out of their water dish. I have found that most cats would rather drink from running water. That's is why I bought them a cat water fountain. That is to say that you would not mind listening to running water. If you don't want to buy a fountain you could always make one. Either way its up to you but i have found that this should take care of your problem.

Also on another note if your tired of cleaning a litter box you could potty train your cats. I have done this too.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Lol my cats do the same thing!! I have 2 as well, they actually wait outside the bathroom door so they can drink the bath water while it drains. Its so gross! Anyway I heard that they like running water instead of water in a bowl. I know it doesn't explain why they drink out of the dogs bowl or out of dishes....maybe you could try to get one of the bowls where theres a one liter bottle on top and you fill it and screw the top into a bowl so when they drink from it more water trickles out to fill it again. thats all I got hope it helps:)

Answer 4

I'm not sure exactly why they do it, but I have read (and witnessed, with several different cats) that most cats prefer water they find over water that is provided to them. Try leaving some mugs or small dishes of water in random places around the house, like a bookshelf or whatever. You will likely catch them drinking out of the water that they "found".

Another thing is, some cats like to drink running water rather than stagnant water. You can buy a "cat fountain" for a reasonable price that keeps the water flowing. But, it's probably the found water thing.

Answer 5

My cat used to drink out of the bath tub faucet since it had a steady drip...but since that was fixed they can't. We keep the toilet closed so no one drinks out of it (or knocks anything into it). Both cats and dogs share a "Bistro" water dish that has a 2 1/2 gallon jug on it.

Answer 6

haha yes, it's a cat thing. I have two cats as well, a male and a female, and they will drink everywhere BUT the water dish. I always had to plug the bathtub and let them drink out of that instead. lol its kinda funny, but it can get kind of annoying when you have to shut the toilet seat, and you CAN'T forget or else one of them is bound to jump in. if you would rather your cats NOT drink out of the bathtub, then try putting their water dish IN the bathtub. This worked for me when i got tired of them directly drinking from the bathtub. This worked a lot better. (Just push it kind of off to the side so that it's not in the middle.) haha
..cats have their own way of doing things. They don't persuade easily, so you kind of have to trick them into doing stuff.
hope this helps!!

Answer 7

Cat's are very strange creatures that's for sure,but
that's why we love them.!
My Cat does the same and drinks from leaking
taps,Sinks, Rain water in plant pots and even out
of a small fish tank with Siamese fighting fish in it..

But since I started giving him a 50-50 mix of water
and milk he has stopped drinking from these weird
places and now looks at his Milk bowl first..
The vet said to decrease the amount of milk each
time until the bowl is just water, by this time he will
learn that the water bowl is a good watering hole.!

Cats like to be independent and finding there own
water is fun,maybe you could put more smaller
water bowls in weird places for them to find rather
then them drinking out of the toilet.!!LOL.('-')..

Answer 8

I went out and purchased a very expensive food/water dish for my cat and he won't use the water dish I have to use a regular water dish and when he has his certain meow I have to dump out the old water and add fresh clean cold water and sometimes I even have to put ice in his water or he looks at me like I have four heads. He is far beyond spoiled he sill not use his paw to pull his food down I need to do that for him I shake his food dish at a certain meow, he is something else.But he is my baby and I'll do anything for him. My cat even has me turn the shower on for him and he sits under it and gets wet, for real.

Answer 9

Very interesting.
Our cat used to do the same. Always around the taps, outside in the plant's retainers, etc.
Then we moved overseas, which involved 6 weeks of her being fed water ONLY from a normal waterbowl. She could not get water from anywhere else.
We've been in our new house for 3 months already, complete with two bathrooms plus kitchen, along with plant retainers too, and not once has she drunk water from anywhere but her waterbowl.
I think with some cats they get into a habit that they find hard to break. Our cat had a new habit reinfoced, and it stuck, I just hope it stays that way haha!

Answer 10

My cat does the same thing. Cats prefer running water because running water in the wild usually indicates that the water is clean and good. My cat refuses to drink from a still water source unless he's VERY thirsty. He drinks from the sink instead.

Answer 11

lol...don't worry, a lot of cats do this...
some people think it's because they like frsh water, because it reminds them of being wild to find their own water, or because they don't have great depth perception so they drink runing water because it easier to see...either way, many cats do it...
...A good way to stop them from drinking out of these strange places is to get a running cat waterer....They sell them at most pet shops and some walmarts have them. You fill them up with water and plug them in, they run the water up through a filter and it waterfalls into a dish, there are several different styles, but they're all the same principle...

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441779167&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025542&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&bmUID=1175046149939&itemNo=1&In=Cat&N=2025542&Ne=2

this is one from PetSmart...they have a few others, that was just the first...they are a little exspensive, but it will fix the problem...My cat was the same way, now...no more toilet or old sink water for her...hope this helps...good luck!!!