TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Playing in water..
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Playing in water..

post #1 of 14
11/12/09 at 9:23am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone ever found a solution to keeping kitten paws out of the water dish? Why must kittens always do this?

My kittens are getting bad about this. Yesterday morning I came in their room at 6am and found that they'd pawed all of their water out of their dish over night. They were very thirsty.
They're not tipping it, I do use a heavy ceramic bowl, and I have caught them trying to stick their paws in it right in front of me.
Reply
post #2 of 14
11/12/09 at 9:45am
Batman was soooooo bad with the water dish from 3-5 months old. I would come home from work, and all the water would be spilled from him playing with it with his paws! I was so nervous he would get dehydrated when I was gone all day! I had his water dish on a plastic food mat, and that made the water extra fun to play with - because he'd put paw in water, then paw on mat - and then play with all of the water droplets on plastic mat...

I thought about buying one of those cat water fountains, but just imagined that would make a HUGE mess. So I ordered a "water hog" food/water matt from LL Bean - it soaks up the water mess.

I think he had to grow out of playing with the water. He's moved onto playing with his food now........ but he makes it a game.. hits a kibble out the bowl, chases it.. eats it....... He works for his food when he's bored I guess.

Batman absolutely loves water - he jumps up on the bathroom sink if I change out his water or wash my hands, and he'll sit in the sink waiting for a slow drip. He doesn't mess with the water dish anymore - not sure if it's because of the water hog mat, or if he grew out of it.

Good luck
Reply
post #3 of 14
11/12/09 at 9:47am
is there a design at the bottom of the bowl or is it plain?

one theory i heard is since ancient times, cats in the wild move fallen leaves with their paw before drinking. i dont know if that's true or not but it kinda makes sense.

maybe they'll outgrow the habit
Reply
post #4 of 14
11/12/09 at 11:16am
Sorry, I have no suggestions. I have a 2 yr old male that plays in the water. He steals pony tail bands and drops them in the water bowl then proceeds to fish it out with his paw. Sometimes he just paws the water out playing.

I will be watching for comments.
Reply
post #5 of 14
11/12/09 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Nope. I use heavy solid color ceramic soup bowls (bought 6 of them at a garage sale for a $1 a couple years ago ). They get a clean bowl every day.

I've put a storage container lid under their bowl to catch some of the water, but apparently they're splashing it everywhere since I find damp spots a couple feet away from their dish. I hope they grow out of it. I don't want to find out with they do with a fountain.

They were playing in their dry food bowl before they started playing the water..
Reply
post #6 of 14
11/12/09 at 12:27pm
I don't know what to tell you got nothing on this one. I have 12 year old cat that will still play with his water...

He doesn't make as much of a mess as he used to but I still catch him sticking his paws in the water bowls. It so bad that my cats wont drink out of the same bowl. The other kitty knows he's messing up the bowl. (Fur gets in there) So ummm yeah.
Reply
post #7 of 14
11/12/09 at 2:26pm
Thread Starter 
So no one has found a solution to this? I was hoping one of the breeders on here might have some tricks since they'd deal with kittens nearly constantly.
Reply
post #8 of 14
11/12/09 at 3:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
So no one has found a solution to this? I was hoping one of the breeders on here might have some tricks since they'd deal with kittens nearly constantly.
My kittens usually aren't the problem but my 18 month old is the worst.

My theory is that Fluffy likes to see the water moving before she drinks it.





My kittens like to sleep in their water bowls when they're empty.
Reply
post #9 of 14
11/12/09 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WellingtonCats View Post




My kittens like to sleep in their water bowls when they're empty.
That is too funny!!
Reply
post #10 of 14
11/12/09 at 8:08pm
All of mine like playing in the water - putting toys into the water, etc., and they're adults.

One of mine enjoys getting her water out of a water bottle (the kind you hang on the cage) that I keep hung and accessible - no excess spilling that way - only occasional drips. Since she's the only one using it, I am able to see the amount of water she drinks during the day, - maybe some day I'll need to know that. I hung it there just so the cats would get accustomed to using it should we have to travel - and, since she enjoys it so much I've just left it there.

Perhaps that could be a solution for you, too?
Reply
post #11 of 14
11/13/09 at 6:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by killerapple View Post
........ He's moved onto playing with his food now........ but he makes it a game.. hits a kibble out the bowl, chases it.. eats it....... He works for his food when he's bored I guess.


Larry does that. It cracks me up. He slides across the tile floor as he's chasing it. Entertaining himself. He looks so funny when he stops and eats it, then goes back for another one.

So, back to the topic at hand. I have no advice. Larry's 3 and he still sometimes sticks his paw in the water bowl and licks it off.
Reply
post #12 of 14
11/13/09 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GloriaJH View Post
All of mine like playing in the water - putting toys into the water, etc., and they're adults.
Yes.

Taz is 11 year old and still plays with the water, sometimes pawing it, sometimes dropping things in it.

He is an indoor 19 pound, orange tom, if there's something immature and undignified for a cat to do, he is quite willing, ready and able to "step up to the plate" and get it done
Reply
post #13 of 14
11/14/09 at 2:04am
All of mine put their paws in their water bowels. Often they'll hold one in there and drink at the same time. I at first thought it was funny. They don't make a mess with it, they just put their paws in it.

I finnaly realised though what they were doing, and it was so obvious .... cats like cleaning their paws by sticking them in water. My cats are the cat version of obsessive compulsive cleanaholics.

Two of my cats however, I've discovered have a fascination with Ice. As in frozen water. As soon as they hear the sound of me ripping open a bag of party station ice (i like my soda really cold) they are all over me, meowing excitedly.

I have a laugh at it, expecially when I throw a few pieces on the floor. These two go NUTS, and chase it and lick at it and generally have fun with the pieces of ice. They like ice more than cat treats. lol.
Reply
post #14 of 14
11/14/09 at 6:32am
Thread Starter 
I wish all the kittens were doing is checking the water level or washing paws. But nope, it's playing. They play in their litter box and sometimes in their food bowl.
They're 12 weeks old now. The age that kittens want to play with everything at. I guess I'll just have to hope they can latch on to another, less messy, activity soon.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Behavior
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Playing in water..