Silly kitty of mine and his water drinking habits

[zilenairam]

I need a little advice here. I have a 6-month old kitten, who we rescued form the neighbor children, who resuced him and his sibling from an alley way when they were a few weeks old. Their mother had been hit by a car and had been wandering the area alone for a few days I guess.

They were both quite malnourished. The sibling, however never really recovered and died with a few days. Charlie, though, thrived and the vet gave him a clean bill of health. He's one VERY healthy adorbale kitty, very social and loves to snuggle.

We haven't had any problems with him at all, not even with his nueter last week. - except for one thing. He refuses to drink water out of his bowl! We've tried several different kinds of bowls, but nothing.

He only wants to drink water from a tap like in the kitchen or bathroom. He follows people into the bathroom and jumps on the sink patiently waiting for us to turn the water on to a trickle so he can drink. Same when anyone is in the kitchen, too. I've been trying to ignore him so he doesn't get used to drinking that way, but he's getting more and more insistent and not touching his water bowl. Seems he will only drink running water.

I've seen some fancy water dishes that will activate and run water when the cat is around, but they are a tad pricey for us right now. Are there any lower cost alternatives? I don't mind letting him drink from the tap as a treat, but I'm concerned he's not drinking enough water. I thought maybe a hamster water bottle might work, anybody try that?

[Traci]

Congratulations, you have a water baby (many of us here have kitties who prefer the tap)

You can certainly try a hamster water bottle, but a better, eaiser approach might be investing in a pet fountain, you can find two types: the Drinkwell Fountain and the Fresh Flow Fountain.....both available at petsmart and probably other major pet stores. The Fresh Flow fountain is slightly cheaper.

If you don't want to invest in a pet fountain, perhaps try putting an extra water bowl in the bathroom, strange as it sounds, sometimes kitties prefer their water dishes away from their food or high traffic areas.