TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › HELP- Cat plays in water or knocks it over- no water left
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

HELP- Cat plays in water or knocks it over- no water left

post #1 of 18
1/31/11 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
Hello- please help!

I have 2 cats and one of them (who I've had for over 5 months now), just started a terrible habit yesterday where he either knocks over the water dish, or if it's too heavy to knock over, he splashes all the water out onto the floor. Needless to say, this is a problem because then there's no water for him to drink and none for the other cat to drink.

Things I've tried:
1- a really heavy bowl- he just splashes all the water out
2- one of those upside-down jugs that feeds water into the bowl- he literally splashed ALL of the water out of the jug onto the floor in a span of ten minutes.
3- I've 'punished' him while he's doing this by yelling or using a squirt bottle (Which does work with him when he tries to eat human food), but nothing stops him.

Any suggestions?
Reply
post #2 of 18
1/31/11 at 1:59pm
Don't punish him- some cats just love to play in the water. Drinkwells are good for this, they are so enchanted with the running water that they splash the trickle (which just falls down into the bowl below). If you can't afford the money for a good pet fountain then go to the feed store and look at the different feeding bowls they have that are made of ceramic or metal. Buy two- one larger one that the smaller one fits in. Fill the smaller bowl set it into the larger one- you want to be sure that there isn't much space around the two, so don't buy a really little water bowl. The cat will splash the water and it will fall into the larger bowl. Either that or put the water bowl in the bathroom in the shower or tub. That way he can splash away and have fun.

He also sounds bored so try some interactive play with him as well- suoervised www.nekoflies.com are the best. But please stop yelling at him and getting angry. At least he isn't spraying your walls with urine.
Reply
post #3 of 18
1/31/11 at 2:01pm
Have an indoor swimming pool installed. That way there will be too much water to splash out. lol

Seriously, how about letting one of your bathroom faucets constantly drip very slowly, one drop at a time. That way your cats can drink from the sink when they are thirsty and they won't make a mess because it will go down the drain anyway.
Reply
post #4 of 18
1/31/11 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sophie&max View Post
how about letting one of your bathroom faucets constantly drip very slowly, one drop at a time. That way your cats can drink from the sink when they are thirsty and they won't make a mess because it will go down the drain anyway.

That's a good idea.

Punishing him isn't going to work. He's playing, not knowing why he's being punished.
Reply
post #5 of 18
1/31/11 at 3:05pm
Put the heavy water bowl in a shallow pan or tray. Water splashed out will be contained and still available to drink.

I've never minded water splashers, it's just something some cats like to do.
Reply
post #6 of 18
1/31/11 at 3:20pm
Who says cats hate water. I used to have a cat who LOVED water. Would even come into shower and play!! I used to use a large heavy crock and put a plastic tray under the bowl to catch the splashed water. I also let the bathroom faucet drip slowly and this was more fun than the splashing in the bowl.
Reply
post #7 of 18
1/31/11 at 3:34pm
Leaving a faucet to drip is not good for the plumbing, however.

I always turned it on for Ootay when she asked, but would never just leave a faucet dripping. (Unless there was danger of pipes freezing, of course)
Reply
post #8 of 18
1/31/11 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
thank you all for your responses. our big concern is that all the water will be gone, with none left for either cat to drink. also, we are renters and our apartment has hardwood floors, so we do have to be concerned about water sitting on the floors all day. hopefully one of these ideas works!
Reply
post #9 of 18
1/31/11 at 7:06pm
How old is this cat? This is typical kitten behavior.

I have used a big, heavy ceramic dog dish. Try one of those, and put it in a big oversized plastic tray.

They have just the right trays for $12.00 right now at Target. They come in red, white, or black. They are perfect.

Put only about an inch, or less, in the bowl, and refill it that much 2 or 3 times a day.

It will be fine. And if the cat is young, he'll most likely grow out of it - at least as a daily thing.

Or, if the kitchen or bathroom has tile, put the bowl in those rooms.


Robin
Reply
post #10 of 18
1/31/11 at 7:38pm
My more than 14 year old cat is a water baby. She scratches at the floor while she drinks, paddles her feet in the bowl before drinking.

I now have a heavy ceramic bowl set inside a large plastic bowl set on a shallow jelly roll pan.

That mostly keeps the splashes confined. Except for her wet paw prints all over the floor.
Reply
post #11 of 18
1/31/11 at 7:57pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, Wally (the cat in question) is less about 8months-1 yr, so still young. Hopefully he grows out of this. I'm just amazed that we've had him for 5 months and all of he sudden he starts doing this Sunday. I bought a fountain tonight, but unfortunately the pump is broken. Tomorrow I think I'll try the heavy bowl, in another bowl, on a plastic pan method. Thank you all very much.
Reply
post #12 of 18
2/3/11 at 5:48pm
If I fill up my cats' water once a day, I fill it a thousand...

Scaredy surely was raised by raccoons, because she will deliberately drop kibble into the water and fish it out with her paw and eat it. Sometimes she just splashes the water for the heck of it.

I've often walked into the room to see her crouched with one paw submerged, looking like "what? I'm not doing anything!"

She is no kitten, she's about 3 years old. (Feral adoptee)

I put the water bowl into a larger container, and that has saved my kitchen floor - mostly.
Reply
post #13 of 18
2/3/11 at 6:22pm
i had the same prob i just bought a big dog dish and put a towl under it the bigger bowls they seem to have problem tipping them but tiger loves to try to balance himself on it at night time....towl gets 99% of it
Reply
post #14 of 18
2/3/11 at 7:24pm
Buy some of those puppy training pads. They are plastic on one side and absorbent on the other.

Then invest in a heavy flat bottom dish of some kind.... maybe a casserole dish like one of these http://www.internationalhousewares.com/zencart/images/products/lilyville_cass.jpg If it's heavy and flat your cats can't tip it over.

You could also invest in a couple of water fountains. I have one like this one:

http://cat-drinking-fountain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/petmatecatfountain.jpg

There are other types too. I just decided on this one because it looked like it was the easiest to clean. The blue container holds extra water. But with 2 cats I had to replenish it daily, and sometimes more often in the summer because of evaporation.

Also, please don't use a spray bottle on your cat! Cats are not dogs, they do not understand. Spraying them with water is not very nice. Also when you spray the cat with water when it's drinking water, you are likely to create an aversion to drinking water, and you do not want to do that.

Invest in a tin of Pringles Potato Chips. Eat the chips and then when the container is empty, fill it with a few pennies. When your kitties are doing something they aren't supposed to be doing IE: climbing drapes or something, shake the can and say "No!" but don't yell and scream at them. Just a firm "No!" is good enough. Yelling at them will just make them afraid of you.
Reply
post #15 of 18
2/4/11 at 5:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmny View Post
Yeah, Wally (the cat in question) is less about 8months-1 yr, so still young. Hopefully he grows out of this. I'm just amazed that we've had him for 5 months and all of he sudden he starts doing this Sunday. I bought a fountain tonight, but unfortunately the pump is broken. Tomorrow I think I'll try the heavy bowl, in another bowl, on a plastic pan method. Thank you all very much.
OOtay splashed in water all her life.

Splashsplashsplashsplashsplash! with both paws. It made a mess, but I didn't care, it was a Game she loved to play, all her life. It's just what some cats do.
Reply
post #16 of 18
2/4/11 at 7:59am
My Extra cat is a water lover! He drinks out of the sink whenever I am around, but if not, I have a bowl placed on an aluminum foil pie plate with paper towels in it. That way the splashed water goes on the paper towels in the pie plate. When the plate gets too gross, I just put it in the recycle bin, and put down a new one!

Good Luck with your Water-Kitty newbie!!!
Reply
post #17 of 18
2/4/11 at 8:13am
That reminds me, there are those big aluminum roaster pans - disposable - that they sell at grocery stores. You could put a heavy water dish in one of those.


Robin
Reply
post #18 of 18
2/5/11 at 10:32pm
Mulder went through this as a phase at about 8 months. He eventually grew out of it. But while he was doing it I had the same issues - keeping water available all day while I was at work, and not destroying the floors in my apartment.

I started keeping a large bowl of water in the bath tub and pulling the drain up so it wouldn't drain. That way when he splashed all of the water out of the bowl it was trapped in the tub so they could still drink it out of the bottom of the tub. You have to keep your bathtub really clean for this.

This started during a time where I was working a lot and had a boyfriend so they weren't getting as much playtime as normal. I believe he was doing it because he was bored. After about 6 months his stimulation level went up (we moved where there were 2 more kitties and I was home a lot more) and it stopped. I am not sure if he just grew out of it or if the extra stimulation helped!

Good luck!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Behavior
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › HELP- Cat plays in water or knocks it over- no water left