Splashing in the water bowl!

Ok. This is starting to drive me totally nuts. He doesn't do it all the time, but tonight he won't stop. I even had to take his water dish away from him and clean up a large amount of water off the floor and side of the counter.

Emmett keeps splashing water from his water dish. Either he'll lick the water from his paws or off the food mat. Its driving me nuts and I don't know what to do about it? Is this something I should worry about or a passing phase?

I did pack a lot of my stuff today and tomorrow we are moving totally to my parents. Could this be his a behaviour thing due to the big changes around here?

Creepyowl, as soon as you change something significant in your cat's life, their behaviour will change. And luckily so far, it hasn't resulted in Emmett peeing somewhere other than the litter tray.

We've moved twice in the past year and each time we've had odd and bizarre behaviour from our two kitties Russell and Esper. Each time we've explained to them about the move and why we're moving. But nothing ever prevents it. They don't understand it and don't see why there would be a reason to move. Life is good, why disrupt it?

Here's a sample of what my kitties did when we moved. It's a light hearted way of looking at it all. But I know it was all due to the stress of it all seeing everything disappear into boxes and being taken away. I offered my two plenty of treats in our new home the second they arrived. I left them around the house letting them find them on their own accord so that they could associate the new place with positive outcomes.

1) Puffed Up Tail Freaked Out Mode - Those boxes appeared out of nowhere and they're eating up everything and I can't stop it!! I want out! Hang on, I can't get out.

2) The Most Mundane Thing Will Get My Attention - This is one of the few things the boxes haven't eaten. I will watch it and play with it.

3) I Must Do Something to Confuse the Humans - My routine has been messed up without any consultation, thus I will derail them and the boxes that are being fed items from my house.

4) If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them - I will play with all the boxes, including the ones with the lids left open with breakables, daring them to eat me.

5) Hide From Everything - Maybe I'll get some attention and those boxes will stop being fed. When do I ever get fed? What about me? It's always about those darn boxes!

6) Do Something Annoying Every Hour - That will wake up the human from feeding the boxes. They will realise that their plan is crazed!!

7) Eat the Boxes - That should signal that I'm stronger than the boxes and that I should be paid attention to and be told what is going on!!

I agree its probably due to the move disruption. My tulip has a V.NASTY habit of what i can only call inappropriate pooing!!! whenever we move. She ignores the litter box entirely and goes behind the furniture. Euk. She always knows where the trays are but i think its either marking or spite! It doesnt last long - a few days and not all the time. Needless to say Im always on look out when we move house. I always give her lots of hugs and special attention because moving really upsets her (and me!) I think I'd give a lot for it just to be water splashing.
Good luck

Thanks for the replies. I hope Em adjusts to life with my parents.....it will be hard for both of us

Malachi is doing that all the time , he is sticking his paw in the water and then he licks his paw . He also like to splash a little to . He is just playing and having fun . I really don't see any thing wrong with that , other then making a mess for you .

It is simply a reaction to the change, the way he lets off his stress. When we were moving from Alaska to Oregon, all 5 of my cats were acting out. They would rip open sealed boxes, dump the contents out and do other things that were not normal.

Cats love routine, and when their routines change they react. They can even stress themselves out to the point of getting sick, so I would keep a careful eye on him after the move, for he sounds like a sensitive cat.

My younger cat, Vinka, always does this. She dips her paw into the water bowl, shakes it a few times, then licks the paw. And repeat. And repeat. Only if she's really thirsty she'll drink "properly". Just something I've had to get used to.

But I do agree with posters above that since this just started, it's most likely a reaction to the changes happening around him.

If he doesn't settle down after a week or two, you could try changing his bowl. Our Elsa started knocking the water dishes over a few months ago, and drinking from the floor. We experimented with different permutations of bowls, water levels and placemat/not for the water area, and she seemed to calm down about it when we put down a very wide flat bowl with no placemat. Maybe the smaller ones were hitting her whiskers when she drank? Or the placemat was bugging her paws? I don't know, but I haven't mopped up water in quite a while.