Water bowl/water drinking question

[Susan and the girls]

I have a question that may seem slight, but I have to ask it.

I have bowls of water beside the girls' food bowls which I clean and refill each morning. They're usually exactly as full as they were the morning before when I filled them.

On the other hand, the bowls I put in the bathrooms (just teeny bowls hidden away in a spot beside a planter or kinda over to the side of the sink) are emtied several times a day.

Seems they prefer the teeny bowls in the bathrooms. They hardly EVER drink from the bowls next to their food.

Is this strange? I mean, they're getting water, but I'm having to make sure I check the bowls in the bathrooms a couple of times a day. Often they'll sit there staring at the empty bowl. Oh, and when I do refill the teeny bowl, they are usually all three there, waiting to take turns... lap lap lap lap - as though they haven't had any water in days.

[davet]

accept oit-----cats are weird people..why don't you make the bathroom bowls larger cause i suspect, with out doing harm, you will not change their behavior...i probably could find you a cat shrink at $100.00 per hour who will tell you to put larger bowls down...i am telling you for free........

[Traci]

Hey Susan, you should take Davet up on that offer, LOL!

Some cats prefer their water in a location that we normally wouldn't accomodate, can you think of any reason they aren't using the water by their food dishes? I know with mine, the water dish needs to be far enough away from the food, because a couple of them seem to think that kibbles in the water are attractive. Also, heavy traffic areas aren't a prime location for food or water dishes.

Some of mine refuse to use their normal water dish because it's close to the fridge, and some mornings when mom isn't quite awake, she drops things from the fridge or freezer ....they doesn't forget stuff like that. Just throwing some ideas out there that might explain why they prefer their water in the bathroom.

[jason]

Seems they prefer the teeny bowls in the bathrooms. They hardly EVER drink from the bowls next to their food.

Is this strange?

not to me, mine will not touch the one next to their food but will drain the one in the kitchen daily. not sure why either, i just keep them both filled and clean.

[slvrwhispr]

Cody won't drink from a dish near his food, either. In fact, the only place he WILL drink from one is right in front of the TV, lol. So we have his water dish right in front of the TV.

The other thing that Cody does that makes me nervous is he sits outside the bathroom door when anyone's using the toilet and waits for the flush. As soon as he hears the flush and the door opens, he jumps up and drinks out of the toilet. We do our best to discourage this (toilets aren't the cleanest, and when they are clean, it's with chemicals) but it's hard to explain the dangers of chemicals to a cat. But our ghetto apartment doesn't have a toilet lid, and the bathroom is the only place we can keep the litterbox. So... yes. Cats are strange.

[kate & kobi]

Wow guys, thanks for the tip! Kobi hasn't been drinking enough, it seems to me, especially with this heat, so I moved her water bowl to the bathroom just now and she started drinking out of it immediately.

[Susan and the girls]

Well, I'm glad to know that my cats aren't only strange kitties in the world!

Their food bowls are actually in the kitchen. Belle's bowl is next to the fridge (but so far I haven't dropped anything out of the fridge on top of her yet..... the ice maker does make the scatter frequently, though). Daisy and Scarlett have bowls near my little antique hutch, which sits VERY close to the garage door. Daisy, my resident scaredy-cat, goes under the hutch (which sits about a foot off the floor on legs) to eat from the opposite side of her bowl.

So, as of today, I'll move the big water bowls into the bathrooms. Who'da thunk they'd want their water bowls a mile from their food bowls???? I'll just put the teeny bowls next to their food bowls.

Oh - both the kittens (2+ years old and still referred to as "kittens" in this house because of their crazy kitten-like antics) have always loved to drink out of the faucet. In the old house, it was perfect, since the faucet leaked the entire time I lived there..... In this house, thankfully, we have no leaky faucets (or cracks in the floors, or breezes coming through closed windows, or 1/4 inch views to the outside world from underneath exterior doors......), so I actually have to make the effort to turn on the faucets for them to drink.... And, yes I do occasionally turn on the faucet to a drip for them to drink.....

Isn't it funny how they have us trained?

[jason]

now and she started drinking out of it immediately.

great!

[Tina B and crew]

water bowl?? Drink from a water bowl??? Only Willow will even remotely consider drinking from a water bowl, and that is a rare occasion! Water evaporates before it is consumed by the cats. Gizmo will only drink water dripping from the faucet. When I started feeding them wet food they pretty much snubbed the water bowl. I add water to their meals daily...it's the only way I can be sure they get enough fluids

[pam]

I have found that my boys will not drink out of any bowl that is plastic, they only like food and especially water in ceramic or glass dishes. And of course the tub on a nice fresh drip is the best. hope this helps. pam