Cats washing thier paws??

I've noticed this strange ritual for a while with my youngest cat, after he uses the litter box, or digs around in a plant (for fun, not going potty) he immediately goes to his water dish or the toilet, dips his paws in one at a time and swishes them around, then shakes off the excess water. Now one of my other cats is doing it in the water dish, and I caught the little one cleaning his paws in my glass of ice water that I left on the coffee table yesterday. He does this now EVERY time he uses the litter box. I know cats are clean but this is strange.

Is this wierd or do your cats do this too?

I wish mine did!! They just walk around the house leaving litter everywhere!! Lucky you!

=O oh my, lol I REALLY don't know what to tell you hahahaah.

Do your cats see you wash your hands with water after every time you mess with the litter box?
Man animals are so smart sometimes

You need to show us pictures of this!!

My cats used to just put there paws in the water before they got a drink. I think it was because they were outside babies and they were just testing the water. I noticed the outside kittens do that before they drink also.

my two females put their paws in the water before drinking too, my oldest piper, does it all the time, she dips and licks her paw several times before drinking,it actually looks as if she is drinking from her paw?

I have seen animals paw at water before drinking it yes.
But a direct corrilation between using the box and then "washing their hands" is what I'm unsure about! lol
Still cute though.

I've never heard of that before... sounds adorable though.

That is so funny! Maybe you should put a finger bowl and a towel rack next to the litter box. Now thats living!:tounge2:

That is funny. I've never heard of that before either, but our cat calls me and wants me to wash his paws when he accidentally steps in his "business". He sits or stands with the dirty paw up in the air and wails until I bring a warm, wet paper towel and clean him up. He's been doing it ever since he was little. So I'm sure the cats get the connection.

Hey! Maybe that is why I keep finding bits of litter in my cat's water bowl! They must be washing their paws!!

Seriously, I do find litter in their water.

jcat! I wish my cats did that!
No they prefer to freak out and jump around getting it all over the carpet and splattering it on the walls cause they freak out about having pooh on them.

I think the behavior started as a way to keep from getting caught digging in the plants.

About two years ago, I noticed that one of the cats was digging up my plants every night. I went around doing a claw check to see who had dirt under thier nails. It was always the same cat, and I would take him to the plant, and then pretend to cry and tell him how sad it made me, then I would spray citrus air freshener on the soil, bring him back to the plant and give him a good wiff. Don't laugh, it worked. He has stopped digging for the most part, except for nights when he isn't allowed to sleep in the bed with me, then I usually wake up to find a big mess. A few months ago, I noticed that the claw check was coming up clean on all the cats, and would always find a trail of potting soil going to the tiolet, and soil on the seat as well as in the water. He must have made the connection with having dirt on his paws, to getting caught.

I guess he likes the feeling of clean paws so much, that he adapted the hand washing to include litter box sawdust (I use pine pellets). Well, I will try to catch a picture of him doing it, but he is camera shy. I will have to sneak up on him after he comes out of the box.