Feeding station tips

[Stavros1404]

I am having issues with my 9 month old kitten not using her water from her feeding station properly. She'd rather stick her paws in and flick the water rather than drink from it.
It's a stand with two bowls and separate area of that is a bottle of water that will fill a little bowl water and will refill when the water level in bowl gets low (a cheap thing it was)
She sounds more time playing with the whole station unless she is rather hungry.
I would be grateful for any advice that can help with her behaviour. BTW I'm in UK if that helps.

 

[Cat McCannon]

Sometimes you gotta let kittens be kittens

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi and welcome to TCS! There is a factor of a 'kitten just being a kitten", but maybe separating the food and the water could help. Some folks, not me, think that the two should not be close to one another. How that might make a difference to your kitten is anybody's guess, but we try what we can because we just can't think like cats do!

The other thing is if the water bottle makes any kind of noise when refilling the water dish, it may intrigue your cat to want to provoke more noise and if so close that she can see it, she may be looking to make more bubbles too, as the water bottle empties into the dish. I presume that bubbles happen?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

LOL, I'm one of those "some folks," but I must add, it doesn't seem to be true for ALL cats. Some cats seem to retain more instinctual behavior, or maybe just different instinctual behavior, than others, and wild cats do not want to eat too near where they drink. The hypothesis is that instinct tells them that food might contaminate the water. It's one of those, "give it a try, might well work (or not), but doesn't cost a thing" suggestions.