toys in her water bowl

My siamese little girl drops all her toys in her water bowl. Every morning I wake up and have to take all the things that she found around the house during the night (rubberbands, furry mouse toys,balls, hair clips)out of her food and water dish. She has done this ever since she was a baby. Does anyone have a cat that acts similiarly? Does anyone know why she might be doing this?

Mine does it with the food dish - I always have to fish his toys out of there. Why? Well my theory behind their thought process is: OK I have this toy in my mouth now but I am also hungry/thirsty. Therefore I drop the toy into whatever bowl I am hovering over so I can eat/drink. Now I am done and on to the next toy it is - and the process repeats. I don't think there is much rime or reason to this. Would love to hear other theories..

There was actually another thread about this same thing. The most common reason seems to be that they really have no depth perception. It is easier for them to gauge where the water level is. I have a few that drop the toys but most of the others stick their paws in first to make ripples.

Very interesting - now the head bobbing makes sense. Loki usually bobbs his head toward the water surface a couple of times before he actually starts drinking - I guess he is trying to gauge the distance. But he never dropped toys into the water, just his food bowl.

hello hil1717, yes my american shorthairs dusty and pigeon both do this. we were leaving on a vacation, so i set out a bowl of water, and threw a toy to one my cats. 15 minutes later, i came back and the toy was in the water dish. i think cats no sense of depth is the best explanation, but i really don't think there's anything to be concerned about because i go through the same thing!

My friend's kittens do the same thing! When she comes home from work, the water dish looks like a shipwreck! I think it's so funny! Squirt does the polite thing and dips his paw in. Joey pushes the dish all over the kitchen floor!

How an animal can have no depth perception and jump from all those high places is beyond me!!! But maybe that's why they're not scared!

Both of my Siamese do this daily... When I wake in the morning to fill their food bowls I always find a ball or furry toy either sitting in the bowl or around it. I always assumed that they just went in to get something to eat and forgot what they went in with. They are both very good retrievers and carry their toys with them from room to room, so I guess this never struck me as odd.
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Monica

MY kitty does the same thing with her water. She'll either drop toys in or stick her paw in first. Sometimes, when she dips her paw in, she brings it up and starts licking her paw for the water. She does this several times before she drinks from it sometimes. Also, the theory on depth perception sounds correct. If I am holding a cup of water and she comes up to take a sip, she'll stick her head down to it and usually her nose goes in just enough to make her realize her nose has water in it and then she drinks. Cat behaviour is so interesting to watch!

My two kitties do this too. Misty sticks her paw in the water to see where it is but Ashes always drops one Kernel of dry food in the bowl. You can never find that water bowl with out just one Kernel in it! I always wondered about that little Kernel but now I know! Haha!:jarswim:

Glad to see my kitty is not the only one dragging wet toys around the house. She has a new favorite toy...a red little furry mouse. I very rarely find this mouse actually in her water bowl...but her water is always pink so i know that the toy has been in there. After she drops it in there she must fish it back out ( it is way too much fun to leave in there)...then she takes it all over the house...I keep finding pink spots all over the house...i think its time for a white toy mouse.

My oldest cat Indy does this all the time.Usually with his mouse. After ripping into it he puts it in his food. I think he's saving it for later (to eat) as if it was a real mouse!