Why do they do that?

Qestion - Why is it that when cats have plenty of fresh water in their bowls, they want to get their water somewhere else? Tigger and Giz will try to suck on water faucets, lick the bathtub, try to fit their faces into our glasses, and anywhere else they've seen water.

Do your guys cats do this as well? Or is it just my two strange kitties?

A lot of kitties like to drink out of the faucets. I think the idea of fresh running water appeals to them. There are even kitty drinking fountains on the market!:tounge2:

I can understand the concept of fresh running water appealing to them, but I'm talking about there is no water there, but they are still searching for it!

What's funny is that Giz never did it before Tigger arrived and started doing it! Monkey see, monkey do!

I really don't know....Maybe it is the thrill of the search or they are still thirsty? :tounge2: :tounge2: :tounge2: :tounge2:

Some cats do not like to have their water next to their food. Try moving the food or water bowl so they are not next to each other. Maybe not even within smelling distance. Some cats want very fresh water with no dust or cat hairs in it, so you might need to change the water bowl more often. And wash it daily. It does seem, with my cats anyway, that mostly they don't want to drink next to their food. Their favorite place to drink from is a bowl set in the bathtub/shower combo which we don't wind up changing out much during the day, so water sitting a few hours is fine with them- as long as it is in the bathtub. We finally just put a bowl in the tub as they kept licking the sides and I didn't want them licking up soap scum.

Is the water bowl plastic? Plastic "flavor" gets into water, which is why I hate drinking from plastic cups. Try using a stainless steel or ceramic bowl in addition to not having it next to the food.

My cats like to drink out of a glass of water sometimes too. I sometimes keep a short glass of water on the sink counter for them. Two of them sometimes slurp from the faucet. Sometimes I turn it on for them to get a drink if they are doing that. Anything to get them drinking more, since cats do not normally drink much, being evolved to extrude moisture from prey (as in blood), something most pet cats don't get to do. Cats eating mostly dry food really need to drink more than they might naturally be inclined to.

Those are great ideas. Some things I hadn't even thought of. However, they drink out of their water bowls with no problem. I give fresh water at least once a day, and the water is almost always gone!

Well, then it's back to the thrill of the search, or fun, or novelty. They see people making water come out of faucets, so maybe they are trying to make it happen also.

Socks does that too. Her favorites include anyone's unsupervised glass or the dog's water bowl (she tried to eat the dog's food once, but didn't find it appealing. We can't stop her from drinking out of his bowl, though!). She has two ceramic bowls of water that are changed daily, one upstairs with her food and one downstairs where she spends most of her time (it's a lot cooler down there). I think she likes the dog's bowl because it's taller and she can put her paws in it and make a nice big mess for us to clean up!

Ha, ha! I think they do it to drive me nuts! In the past week, Tigger has knocked a glass to the floor trying to fit his face in it, and Giz knocked my make-up everywhere trying to fit himself into the sink. And this was right after I had changed their water!