The King of the House Will Only Drink From the Faucet!!

My Mother got my cat into a pretty annoying habit. While out of town, she let the cat drink from the bathroom sink faucet a few times and now the cat practically knocks you down if he thinks you are headed to the bathroom to turn on the faucet. He will even jump up and try to muscle his way to the sink while you are brushing your teeth. Lately, he has resorted to the toilet. I have tried the cat fountains, thinking it was the flow of the water he liked, but nothing seems to break him of this habit. This has been going on for a couple of years now and I'm out of ideas. HELP!!!!

Tried putting the cat fountain in the bathroom? If he drinks from the faucet and the toilet, it sounds like he likes to quench his thirst in that particular room.

My cat Reeses did the same thing!! When she heard the bathroom light switch click on she would run over to the sink and wait there until you turn the faucet on for her. What I did was started ignoring her when she did it and she started drinking out of her bowl but I still occasionally let her drink from the sink. My advice just ignore him and leave the toilet seat down and he should get the point and start drinking from his water dish since that will be his only water source!
-Cindy

Garfield was drinking from the toilet, and from my mug every time I had a fresh drink. I added a nice china bowl next to the bathroom sink, that I would refill several times daily so it was always fresh. I also made sure we kept the toilet lid down!

Maybe if you get your kitty a nice bowl next to the sink, that will keep him happy? Otherwise, just allow a few extra minutes when you brush your teeth. And be glad your kitty is drinking water-it is very healthy!

For cats that like to drink from faucets, perhaps a watering bottle will work. You can probably find them at a pet store that sells rabbit supplies.

This is funny, Sleeves has just decided he's only drinking from the tap in the kitchen sink.. He doesnt touch the water in his bowl. It worries me a little because if he's on his own for long periods of time theres nobody there to turn on the tap. But then if he doesnt have access to the tap and gets THAT thirsty his water is always there.
Why don't you try shutting the bathroom door when its not in use? That way he might learn to drink in another room? Or fill his water bowl up, right in front of him, using the faucett so he can see its come from there?

My cat I had growing up did this, and one of my grandmother's cats does it too...
None of my current cats do it, but I think it is cute. Doesn't bother me in the bathroom, but I wouldn't want it on the kitchen sink.

My cat Garfield drank from a styrofoam cup my husband had in the sink one day and that is the only thing he will drink from now. And he has actually gotten Petals doing the same thing. Luckily Lilo is not a "follower:

Good luck!

I don't have any suggestions about how to wean a cat off of the faucet, but if you're worried about him becoming dehydrated, you could leave the faucet dripping (slowly), and put a water dish under it. The water drips into the bowl, so he has enough water to drink, but if it's dripping very slowly, it doesn't really waste water. Of course, it would work best dripping from a fixture that isn't used often.

And definitely leave the toilet seat down. You don't want kitty drinking nasty germy water.

to the best of my knowledge the reason your cat is doing this is because running water has more oxygen in it - it hasn't been sitting stagnet for any length of time - I THINK that this is the reason why alot of cats like to drink out of taps

Oxygen, never thought of that!
My cats love running water. We had a decorative fountain about 12 inch by 12 inch on our coffee table. They burned out the motor on it because every time we walked into the room it was empty (we have 4 cats).
Now that we don't have a fountain, we have one that has become very resourceful - she jumps up on top of the aquarium and drinks the water (fortunately she leaves the fish alone). Another one likes to go into the bathroom after one of us have showered and lick the tub until it is dry.
BTW, the cats have THREE water bowls, so they are not being deprived of water, lol.