Toilet Drinking?

For some reason my cat loves drinking out of the toilet. Anyone else's cat do this? I don't know why but it seems like he loves the pleasure drinking out of it because I sometimes clean out his water bowl and fill it with new water, yet he still goes to the toilet whenever its available for him to drink. Is this bad, and should what ways can I stop him from doing it?

Originally Posted by lavie1028

I sometimes clean out his water bowl and fill it with new water

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I clean out and refill the water dish daily

Originally Posted by lavie1028

can I stop him from doing it?

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Keep the lid down

I was having trouble with this with Garfield, and had difficulty getting my then 6 y/o son to remember to put the lid down. A fresh ceramic bowl of water sitting on the bathroom counter solved the problem. All Garry wanted was a fresh bowl of water...I would dump it and refill several times a day, and use a new bowl every day.

Davidson has learned how to do this when John doesn't put the seat down. He learned his lesson for awhile when he fell in - but that doesn't stop him from doing it. We have to keep the lid down at all times

As I understand, this cat-behavior - drinking from the toilet, isnt at all unusual.
And some cats prefer old water - we would say entirely unsuitable to drink...

Try with several drink bowls, some of them with stale water!

And put the toilet-lid down yes.

Wellington and Dushka both do it if I forget to keep the lid down.

Keep your toilets very clean (and flushed) and don't worry about it. Our cat growing up drank from the toilet and lived 19 years without an illness. My sister's cats would ONLY drink from the toilet and never a bowl.

My cat rarely drinks from his bowl -- usually the faucet, toilet or, to me this is the most gross, the track of the shower door after we take a shower.

My Molly stopped doing this when I bought her a cat fountain. It might be something for you to consider.

Mine will drink from anything if it's avalible. Toilet, shower, leaky faucet... anything. Except the water bowls, of course. They don't even prefer stale water, because I tried that. They also somehow don't prefer purified water to tap water.

At the old place, there were so many leaky faucets that we couldn't control it, and toilets were left open by the other three roommates. Now, though, only the shower leaks, so I keep the shower door shut, and I'm in the process of training the fiancee to leave the toilet lid down. My two cats are drinking about twice the volume of water that the three cats at my old place were drinking from the dishes. And, keeping the toilet closed means that I can spike the water dishes with the dental cleaner that gives them fresh breath. And the toilet isn't often left open to the 'I can't seem to aim after 23 years' male portion. It's a win-win-win situation. Well, the cats only win with the no cavities thing, but I count that as a win.

Originally Posted by meow meow

Keep your toilets very clean (and flushed) and don't worry about it. Our cat growing up drank from the toilet and lived 19 years without an illness. My sister's cats would ONLY drink from the toilet and never a bowl.

My cat rarely drinks from his bowl -- usually the faucet, toilet or, to me this is the most gross, the track of the shower door after we take a shower.

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Sorry, but I don't agree with that. Personally I think it's appalling to allow an animal to drink out of a toilet bowl no matter how clean we may think it is. I wouldn't let my cats drink out of anything that I didn't deem clean enough for me to drink out of too. And while I keep my toilet clean, I sure wouldn't be dipping in a cup each time I wanted a drink of water! A toilet has nooks and crannies and can harbour bacteria and/or cleaning chemicals, and even the smallest amount can cause illness or even death because bacteria are hardy and multiple.

Bacteria are the oldest known living organisms on earth, and some are billions of years old and can survive extreme temperatures of heat and cold...and chemicals.

If you don't drink out of your toilet, you might want to ask yourself the reasons why, and then apply those same reasons to your pets.

My cats arent allowed in the bathroom. So they dont and have never drank out of a toilet. Maybe put the lid down after you go. I do that anyway.

I keep the toilet lid closed.