Cat drinking out of toilet for water source?

My grandmother tells my family and her guests to always keep the toilet seat up for her cat, so she can drink from the toilet. Now I asked her why dont you just give her a water bowl to drink from, she says Tiger wont drink from the water bowl. I took matters into my own hands, and sure enough Tiger wont drink from the water bowl? When I was over without telling my grandmother, I added water to her canned food, and she loved it. I notice her feces are really dry, so I think she is dehydrated. Anyway here are my 2 questions.

1. Can we get sick from sitting on the toilet after Tiger has sat on it?
2. Is there a way to get her to drink from a bowl, or is adding water to her canned food good enough?

My grandma always used to keep the seat down, and actually had a water bowl, but since Tiger started to drink from the toilet, she refuses to drink from anything else?

My grandma got impatient trying to get her to drink from a water bowl, so now she threw the bowl out and the toilet seat is always up.

I would think if the toilet is ever cleaned that any residual cleaner would make Tiger very ill. Twitch loves to drink from the toilet as well, but we keep the seat down. Perhaps you could try a water fountain? The Petmate fresh flow fountain is the one I have, & you can order it online from either petsmart or petco for $19.99. To determine if Tiger is dehydrated, snap the skin on the back of the head. It should snap back into place. If it doesn't Tiger is dehydrated. I hope that makes sense. I don't think you can get sick from Tiger & the toilet. You could also try feeding Tiger from one specific bowl & eventually making that bowl the water bowl. It porbably won't work, but it is worth a try.

Good Luck!

Well to answer one question, her skin is not loose and snaps right back, so at least she's not dehydrated.

I second the water fountain. I caught Molly drinking out of the toilet a few times. I went out and bought a water fountain and she never did it again.

I don't know if this will help or not but my wife puts a few ice cubes in the water bowl and all the cats just come running.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

I second the water fountain. I caught Molly drinking out of the toilet a few times. I went out and bought a water fountain and she never did it again.

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Originally Posted by marsch21

I don't know if this will help or not but my wife puts a few ice cubes in the water bowl and all the cats just come running.

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actually, i used to have both of these problems. Pixel still likes me to put ice in the fountain, but she doesn't beg for it. she doesn't try to drink toilet water anymore, either. the other 2 occasionally investigate, but they don't actually drink the water. i got them the petmate freshflow fountain for christmas last year.

We bought a PetMate and find our kitties are drinking more water.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

We bought a PetMate and find our kitties are drinking more water.

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Molly was so fascinated by her PetMate and drinking so much, the vet actually tested her to make sure she wasn't diabetic. She wasn't, she just loved her fountain.


I have placed multiple bowls of water around the house for Abby, and that has increased her water intake. She uses the fountain, but isn't as enamored with it as Molly was.

We have three fountains and fourteen healthy cats. Our toliet lid seat is always down except when in use.

I have to admit that even though I am a clean person and clean my toilet several times a week, I would not want our kitties drinking out of it. I'm sure there must be bacteria left behind after flushing so I'd prefer to have water out for them elsewhere.

I am another fan of water fountains ... Lexus loves drinking from the toilet but it just isn't healthy for her and so we got a fountain. She loves it and isn't at all interested in taking a sip from the toilet water anymore.

Rocky is still known to take a drink from the toilet, but has gotten much better once we got the freshflow from petmate. I know we sound like an add but they really do work and are good for the cats. I also think they are easier to maintain then bowls.