# Why does my cat dip his paw into his water bowl?



## Silinrun (May 14, 2007)

My cat tends to dip his paw into his water bowl after eating, or coming from the litter box, and sometimes at complete random. He also taps a table I have sitting behind the water bowl, that hasnt been set up yet with his paw, yet not scratching, more of a tapping.


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## HersheysKiss (Apr 12, 2007)

I have a cat that does the same thing but on the same note she also likes to splash in any standing water. Sometimes she puts her paws in the water and licks it off...I think a pretty inventive way of drinking but I also think sometimes she does it just for the fun of it. We have to make sure all of our toilet lids are closed otherwise she SPLASHES in them. She takes her paws and splashes the water everywhere. My youngest cat will put his paws in the water but mainly after I have just filled it. I think he is trying to find the surface without having to stick his nose in it.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

One of my cats also does that, but not very often. I was told she did it every time she drank out of her bowl, but I've only seen her do it a couple times. I think her previous owner had a certain shape or color of bowl where depth perception may have been an issue.


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## Silinrun (May 14, 2007)

yeah he seems to do it once in awhile, hes tipped the bowl over once or twice too but its a clear bowl so that could be the problem. Another cat in the house used to do it also, but doesnt anymore, maybe it was also a clear bowl? I try to get him to stop, because hes just getting the water dirty, like getting cat litter in it, im sure he loves the taste of cat litter-water


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Mister would always tap the bowl before drinking. He had vision problems and I think he tapped the water to make it move so he could see where it was and not dunk his nose in it.
Squirrely-Jo (in my avatar) likes to dip her foot and lick the water off, instead of drinking it from the bowl. I don't know why...
h


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## Bethany (Jul 19, 2006)

Stormy likes to put her paw under a running faucet and then lick the water off. I don't know why she does this. I assume because it's fun.


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## -Ann- (Jun 30, 2006)

Heidi n Q said:


> Mister would always tap the bowl before drinking. He had vision problems and I think he tapped the water to make it move so he could see where it was and not dunk his nose in it.


Yep. Cooper does that too!


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

Thurston is forever "washing his paws" in the water bowl. I sometimes have to wash them out three or four times a day because he gets it all mucky.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

I take it your cat is tapping on the table to clean off the paws and all the little bits of litter, etc. Then rinses his paws in the bowl or sometimes skips the tapping part and just goes straight for the wash :lol:


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## katwill10 (Jan 25, 2007)

My cat Dizzy loves to use his paw to "drink" water off of. He drinks a bit from the bowl, but then dips his paw in and uses it the rest of the time. I figure he was a raccoon in a past life.  Sometimes he picks up pieces of dry food with his paw and puts them in his mouth, too.

Karie and crew


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## Mysterious (Mar 1, 2007)

I have a water splasher too. He loves to splash in water and loves to suck the water off his paws.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

Haha, look at that dog looking in at the cat. That is just too funny :lol:


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

He's checking the temperature.


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## WiccanWolf (Apr 4, 2007)

Joy does this too but usually with running water. She moves around the faucet trying to figure out how to drink it w/o getting her head all wet and usually just decides to use her paw as a drinking device.

^.".^


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## meow07 (May 18, 2007)

I have 2 kitties at home and one of them does it too. I truly think he does it for the fun of it. He'll put his paw into his water bowl a few times and sometimes he'll drink off of that wet paw. I think it's cute.


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