Tap Water..

triv85

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Is it okay to feed kittens/cats tap water? I've been filling my 7-month old kittens water dish with bottled water and I do catch her lapping it up from time to time, but she's also taken a liking to water coming from bathroom and kitchen sinks. She'll run into the bathroom the moment she hears me washing my hands or brushing my teeth, hops up onto the sink and is completely fascinated by the sight of running water. xD Then of course she'll lean in to lap up the falling water.

Anyways, I'm simply worried tap water might be a bit hazardous to her health. Any tips?

Thank you!
 

strange_wings

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It depends on your town or city's water quality. If it's fine I see no problem with tap water. Sometimes even bottled water can have more bacteria in it - so it don't assume that bottled is always better.
 

snake_lady

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I've always fed tap water


I figure if its safe enough for us, it's safe enough for our pets.
 

natalie_ca

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I live in a midsized city and drink tap water. Both my cats drink tap water too. Though their water fountain does have a filter in it, but I think that's more to prevent iron buildup in the fountain bowl from the water sitting.
 

laureen227

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mine get tap water in their fountains... of course, that's also the water I drink, as well!
 

sharky

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small town water wells here 5 in town .... I usually give filtered tap for me and them
 

kara_leigh

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Remember, cats have a much better sense of taste and smell than we do, so if we think the bottled water tastes different than tap they think it tastes MUCH different, and your cat may just prefer tap. I don't like most bottled waters b/c they taste too chemical-ly. Your cat may notice that and not like it. If I drink bottled water like on a road trip or something, I will only drink water made by NestlÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] (they produce many label brands) b/c it tastes the least like chemicals.

Even water in different parts of the same town can taste different to a cat, where it would taste the same to a human, so I've heard that if you move and you have a finicky cat you should bottle tap water from your previous home and gradually switch it over like new food in order for them to drink it. It took us a while to get Gus to drink the tap water in this house whereas he would drink it just fine at our house 10 minutes from here. A lot of it depends on the age of the pipes coming to your house and what material they are made out of also.
 

stephanietx

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I use filtered water in the kitty fountain so I don't have to use a filter, but both of my kitties drink regular tap water, too. Hannah won't drink from the fountain and all she gets is tap water.
 

jack31

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Tap water here--our city has amazingly good tap water--I kid you not we should bottle it. When I go on summer vacation I miss two things---the cats and the water.

Leslie
 

ladylonewolf

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I give Harley tap water, which is what I drink. The water here is actually really good, clean and cold. I didn't realize how much I missed the water here until I lived in Florida for a few years - the water where I lived was just about undrinkable unless you filtered it.
 

binkyhoo

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

It depends on your town or city's water quality. If it's fine I see no problem with tap water. Sometimes even bottled water can have more bacteria in it - so it don't assume that bottled is always better.
As said before. If my tap is good enough for me, then its OK for the cats. I have had some bottled water that went south and tasted aweful. It has a plastic taste. Or is it ammonia? I dont know but yucky.

When Binks and I went on a cross country road trip, I did do bottled water to keep consistant.
 
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