Why does Mookie INSIST on dropping his stuffed mice toys in his water dish???

[superpop]

So I finally decided it's time to post outside of the original thread I created here months ago:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/234865/i-need-help-making-a-decision

Anyway Mookie is very weird when it comes to his toys.  He will play with all of his toys but especially loves his 2 smaller stuffed mice toys.  He is constantly playing with all his toys but frequently marches around from room to room holding the small mice toys in his mouth and quite often they are DRENCHED because he drops them in his water dish and sometimes takes them out again.   There is many times I find the mice in the water dish and many times I pick them off the ground and they are soaked.

I don't want to take them away but I have to squeeze them out and let them dry overnight sometimes so they don't mildew.   Is there something I can do to stop him from dropping them in his water dish?

Right now BOTH are taken away because he drenched both of them yesterday and we took them away to dry overnight and he did it again today to BOTH of them.   He really likes them but I'm not going to let them mildew and mold.

 

[rafm]

One of our cats puts everything in the water dish. When I had long hair, there were constantly hair bands in the water dish. He dumps mice in there every chance he gets. I just pick them out, and give them back. I don't think of it as a big deal honestly. If one of the toys gets especially nasty, I throw it out and get another. I actually find it endearing.