Odd behaviour at the water dish?

My Ragdoll Snowman occasionally walks up to the water dish and begins to vigorously paw at it and the area surrounding the bowl not stopping until he's sloshed a fair amount in the floor-then he drinks from the bowl. He doesn't do it all the time and if he hears me say there is water in the dish, he will stop immediately and begin drinking. Any thoughts as to why he is doing this?

I've heard this is quite common.. It's possible that he cannot tell there is water lest it's moving?(It's more reflective this way) also some cats prefer to drink moving water.

My Ghibli does this as well... but i always assumed he just enjoyed playing with water.

Is he testing the depth of the water? my cat likes to dip in a paw before she drinks

Baylee does it too, though she doesn't always slop water over the sides. I don't think it's cuz she likes moving water... I've never seen her drink from the faucet, though I've tried... any other theories? Maybe it IS that she can't see the level very well...

Same thing here with my Simba and Buttons. Fortunatly they can track down the water dish because i need to move the dish to a dry carpet elsewhere.

Kitty Bear does this too! She also moves the water dish until it at just the right angle for her. If I try to set the dish back where I want it, she'll just move it again. Ruth likes to drink from the dripping faucet in the bathroom, so moving the water dish doesn't bother her.

Hunter and Cougar behave normally at the water bowl. However, they LOVE hanging out in the tub right after I've finished taking a bath or shower. They like to play with the water remaining in the tub. Also, the last time I took a bubble bath with candles lit in the room, they were fascinated, staring at me lying in the tub, sitting on the rim and sniffing me. SO CUTE!

Thanks for the replies. I really can't see if he's testing the bowl's depth or not. He may just enjoy making a mess. He does like to play in the water as it exits the tap so there may be something to the moving water theory.

Daisy hardly ever drinks straight from the bowl, but dips her paw in, and licks the water from her paw. It takes her ages to get a drink that way and I had often wondered why she does this. It certainly is interesting, the theory about testing the depth of the water. This could be the answer I've been looking for, so thanks everyone!

Sue