Cats and their strange ways...

[itsallyellow]

I have 2 cats, fairly young (one 3months they other 8 months) They have a lovely water bowl by there food but they never use it. They'de much rather ,and consistantly do ,drink water from my glass of water on my bedside table, dripping taps, pools left on the bathroom floor after I've showered and I even caught one the other day licking condensation off the window. Not that its bothering me, ironically I'm just curious as to why they do this?

[camille79]

I don;t know but just wanted to say that mine does the same! The water glass thing is especially annoying and I need to warn all visitors to keep an eye on their glass as I suspect they would find it even more gross than I would!

[CT]

Yeah, a friend of mine has a cat that does that. They gave her her own glass and she just uses that. Another of their cats only drinks out of the bird bath in the garden. They had to put water in over the summer otherwise she wouldn't drink at all.

[eash]

My cat licked the condensation off the window the other day! I laughed, bless her. She also tries to lick the remains of tea out the cup and milk from cereal bowls! I have to quickly remove them from her sight once they are finished with.

[nickmo]

Hi, 2 cats here too. I'm no animal psycologist or behavourist, but I gather its to do with the oppotunism and feeding habits. Cats wouldn't have water next to the kill in the wild, so try moving the water dish to another location - I have 1 in the lounge and 1 in the bedroom.

Cats, like most animals, feel vunerable when eating/drinking, so a position thats quiet may suit yours and break the habit of the glass.

Mine will try the glass trick occasionally, but a sharp shout will move them. Training a younger cat is easily done if you have a 50p water pistol. If you see them trying to do something that you want to stop, 1 squirt will soon get the message through. Its about as harmless to them as you can get and simply makes them move away from an action. Dead easy to do as well.

The sooner you can break a habit the better. Good luck!

[funnywebsite]

One cat we had used to drink water from the toilet or used to jump in the bath and sip from a dripping tap.

[WendyS]

Do you use bottled mineral water for drinking? If so this may be the reason your cats prefer it to tap water which often contains chloride or fluoride which cats may be sensitive to and dislike. More natural sources of water always seem to appeal more, even if it's muddy water in puddles!

[les saisies]

Try water which has been purified in a filter jug. Our cats much prefer that to tap water.

They also drink from our fish pond in the summer.

[veritymoon]

you can buy this water fountain for cats it encourages them to drink from it as its constantly runs fresh water . its about �30 from the larger pet stores

[nickmo]

Should add that filtered water can asist in preventinig feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) that can affect a cat at any time oif its life.

In male cats it will kill them if not treated due to the build up of crystals in the urethra that blocks the passing of water and so poisons them. Still important to see a vet if any cat is seen straining in the tray, or passes only a tiny drip every time it uses the tray and whos habits have changed to constant toileting more than normal.

It is easy to treat with good success, and there is apparently no specific reason for it to devlope, but filtered water or bottled water will assist in its prevention, and helps a cat that has had this problem to stop its re-occurence.