# Water Sports - A Tale of Two Kitties



## owlyns (May 12, 2018)

Teddy (we didn’t name him, he came that way) is a black male. When we first brought him home, he insisted on knocking the water bowl around before drinking. Well, this made a huge mess, and no matter what we put under it, he managed to spill water all over the floor. So, I finally figured out the solution. I got one of those water feeder tanks that you use when going away, and I put it on a food mat that has a lip. Ever since, before drinking, he goes up to the tank, and pushed it with his head a few times so it rocks back and forth. Then he drinks. My guess was he likes to drink moving water, so we tried one of those fountains. No dice. So it’s knocking the water tank back and forth. Very little spillage, at least...

Cat two, Emma (a tuxedo), drinks by dipping her right paw into the water and then licking the water off her paw. As you can imagine, as this is not very efficient, she is at it for quite a while. She does eventually drink from the bowl.

They were both feral rescues.

On another topic, Teddy likes to place his toys in the food bowl, and recently, he has taken to lining them up neatly in a row along the wall next to the food bowl. Go figure.


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## catsinthegarden (May 19, 2019)

I've never known a cat to head-butt a water dish . . . how funny!

We find toy mice swimming in the water dish, once in a while. Then there was Ernie who insisted on ice in his water dish before he'd drink from it. My husband (foolish man) trained him to sit in front of the fridge and meow until one of us put some cubes in his water. I sure do miss Erns.


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## Love2Cats (Sep 2, 2018)

You could be describing my two. Maynard (our gray tuxedo) tipped over any water dish we could find, except, of course, the one we keep in the bathtub to protect against spills. We too thought one of those self filling bowls would be the solution. Nope, he liked the gurgle sound it made when tank was first inverted into the bowl, so he would body slam the tank to make it rock and gurgle. Luckily he likes the fountain we got as a replacement! Sister (Maynard’s littermate and who is solid black) often delicately dips her paw into the water to drink by licking her paw. She demands that the bathtub water bowl be refilled daily but only when she is present to supervise. Every morning as we get dressed she prowls the edge of the tub meowing until we refresh the water and she gets her back scratched, especially at the base of her tail!

In this house, toy mice swim in the water dish and balls are put in food dishes. I’ve every so often found a mouse in the food but never a ball in the water. Both our babies are now senior citizens with health issues and not as much interested in mice or balls like they used to be. Now the best place to be is in the sun on the screened porch, curled up on a lap, or asleep between us in bed. Maynard still likes to open the drawer with the dish towels, pull a few out and make himself a bed in the drawer. Sister still gets in the bathtub as soon as I let the water out even if there is 2 or 3 inches of water to stand in! She licks a paw, getting it dry before putting it back into the water and drying the other one!

They do have personality!


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