Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi Gail--
    
    Don't worry, my Billie doesn't drink water either.  She only drinks
    a little when she has had to be "knocked out" at the vet's--guess
    it makes them thirsty.  Many cats get all the moisture they need
    from their food.
    
    Again, don't worry--if she's thirsty, she'll drink.
    
    You're a good "cat mom"!
    
    Jane

    This is funny that this note should show up today.  Last night I
    was talking with Tim and asking him if he ever saw Mocha drink
    water.  He said no, haven't you.  There is a huge bowl of water
    on the floor at all times for Sebastian, (large enough for a cat
    to swim in) and cat never touches it.  When we first got Mocha he
    would sit on the sink in the bathroom and play with the water while
    I was trying to brush my teeth, etc.  I would let the water run
    over my hand and he would lap from that but, not very much. He
    seems to have lost interest in that caper.
    
    My daughter the (ultra cat lover) says Mocha doesn't drink from the
    dogs bowl because it has "dog spit" in it.  Which reminds me of
    something else Mocha does. When he purrs he drools. I mean a lot.
    So can't be his mouth is very dry, and in need of water.
    
    These funny little fur faces we love so much sure are characters.
    Thanks for this notes file where we can all boast, ask questions,
    help each other, and cry at times.
    
    Barbara

    Alex does not drink water either.  This has caused problems with
    constipation.  What I started doing is adding water to his canned
    food to make like a gravy.  It works really well.  Sometimes he
    will only eat his "gravy" and leave the food until I add more "gravy"
    and fluff it up for him.  I think if he knew it was water, he wouldn't
    touch it!  The vet said he should have more water and this seems
    to have solved the problem.
    

    My cats don't drink water when I put it on the floor in a bowl for
    them.  However, they do drink it from glasses.  So, in the bathrooms
    (since they won't drink water in the kitchen) I have water glasses
    on the floor for them.  Sometimes, they prefer the sink so sometimes
    I'll put a glass up there also.  They will also drink water from
    the tub after a bath or shower have been taken.  But NEVER from their own
    drinking water in the kitchen.   
    
    Mary
    

In Desmond Morris' lastest book on cats (it's the sequel to "Catwatching"
but I don't remember what it's called), he puts forth his theory on why
some cats won't drink from a water dish and prefer drinking in puddles
outside or from other places.  We know that cats have a very well-developed
sense of smell and he feels that modern detergents may leave an odor
that is offensive to the cat so they prefer drinking water elsewhere.
It's a nice theory, but doesn't discuss why they still manage to eat
from bowls presumably washed with the same detergent, or why they lick
water from bathtubs which have probably been washed at some time in the
recent past.  At any rate, most cats dislike citrus and many dishwashing
liquids contain that, so maybe you should try a different type of soap
for washing the water bowl.

Luckily, I don't have this problem.  When Shamus hunkers down for water he
often spends in excess of 3 minutes slurping away.  It looks like he's
praying before a shrine.  Daisy also likes her water.  One of the cats
I recently cat-sat for, Butch, didn't drink alot of water from the bowl
which worried me because he is prone to FUS.  However, he enjoyed licking
the shower down when I was through with it each morning.

Pam

    Lightning only drinks from the bathroom sink and DejaVu drinks from
    the dog's bowl or the bathtub.
    
    They never, NEVER, drink from their own very special dish which
    has bottled water in it.
    
    They don't seem the worse for wear but I do get tired waiting for
    Lightning to finish drinking at 11:30 at night.
    
    Sandi (Lightning's and DejaVu's mom)
    
    

    Our cats only drink from their own bowl as a last resort.
    
    Tenzing prefers to drink from our dog's water bowl (I guess she
    likes Aisha's spit).  She also occasionally drinks from the toilet.
    
    Tristan prefers running water, the hotter the better.  He will
    sometimes drink from water dripping in a sink, but his favorite
    water fountain is the shower.  When we turn it on in the morning
    to warm it up he sticks his head under the water and laps it from
    thin air.  Boy does he have a loooooonnngg tongue.  Sometimes that
    whole side of his body gets soaking wet, but he doesn't seem to
    mind.  When he finishes he usually has a large drop of water hanging
    off his chin which lasts quite a while.  What a nut!
    
    I think that cats that eat only dry food tend to be water-drinkers,
    but cats that get wet food get more in the food, so don't drink
    often.  I wouldn't worry about it, as long as it's available if they
    want it, unless they start having problems.
    
    Karen, Tristan and Tenzing.

    I often thought that the bathtub licking was because of the mineral
    buildup that occurs between cleanings.  Animals (us included) have
    a remarkable way of knowing (craving) what we require to sustain
    our health.
    
    Gary

    .7 - Karen.  I just had to laugh thinking about how funny your fur-face
    must look trying to get the water from the shower.
    
    Sy also doesn't drink from a bowl.  He will drink from the bathroom
    glass.  But his favorate place to get water is from me, every morning
    he is in the bathroom with me when I get out of the shower.  He
    then thinks the water that is on my legs is the best.  I used to
    think he was particular to me, but he also licks Jim's legs dripless.
    
    What a rough tongue they have :-)
    
    Linda
    

    Tisha will not drink from anything other than the toilet !  I can
    no longer use deoderizers any other harmfull chemicals do to her
    drinking habits.  My daughter insisted the cat will drownd if I
    do not keep the seats down, I said hahahah, Tish fell in the toilet
    the other morning, all I heard was the SPLASH, she jumped out so
    quick I never did get a look at her in the bowl, she shook her little
    paws and jumped back up on the seat for another sip.

    
    Thanks to all of you!!  I've now had my good morning laugh and I
    guess I can get to work.  I'd love to meet all your fur faces!
    
    Donna (T.C. and Rocco's mom)
    
    P.S. My guys drink almost the entire bowl of water each day.  They
         love their water bowl!
    

Hannah has her own personal bowl on the bathroom counter....she wants
it "refreshed" (refilled) every time I'm in the bathroom - and she will
not share the bowl of water.  The other cats all use the big dog bowl -
in hot weather, I add a few ice cubes to the dish when I fill it and that
seems to fascinate the cats enough that they all drink.  This might be
a technique to use for cats that don't drink enough as the floating ice
seems to fascinate them and while standing there staring, they might as
well get a drink.    

    I don't know if Kalliste ever drinks out of his bowl or not.  He
    must be drinking from somewhere since he is not dehydrated.
    
    His idea of a good time is to drag his water bowl all around the
    room, splashing water over the edges until the game is over and
    the water is all gone.  I thought I would out-smart him so I bought
    a so called "tip proof" bowl... lasted about 30 seconds.  The next
    idea was to put his bowl in the bathtub so that it wouldn't matter
    if he spilled the water out all over the floor.  He ended up knocking
    the drain closed so that there was about a half inch of water in
    the bottom of the tub to play in and I found wet kitty footprints
    on every clear surface in the bedroom.
    
    He definitely has a water fetish.
    
    Jo

    Both Mercedes and Figaro turn their noses up at the water bowl,
    unless it has milk in it.  So I fill the bowl with water and add
    a few drops of milk (for color).  Believe it or not, they drink
    it!
     
       ^_^
      (>.<)
       ) ( Jeannie

    
    Sulkitt will drink from the water bowl, but only sort of.  She won't
    actually put her *face* near the bowl; instead, she dips in a paw
    and licks the water off the paw.  We have to watch it when we are
    home and have drinks sitting on the coffee table  or the nightstand
    - she will happily stick her feet in OUR water, too - BLECH!
    
    Rita
    

    Trouble has *her* bowl next to her food, but rarely touches it.
    What I did discover is that she likes to drink from the dish of
    water I had put in the window for humidity during the winter.  At
    first I thought it was because of the sponge I had in the bowl
    (supposed to help the water evaporate) because she would sit and
    lick it.  She still drinks from that bowl even tho I have removed
    the sponge.  I guess she didn't like her water next to her food.
    
    
    Bernice
    Mother_of_Trouble

    I have a bowl beside the food dishes for my cats also, but neither
    one ever drinks from it.  I never see Shadow drink water at all.
    I think I will try what someone else suggested and put water into
    her canned food.  Every night before I go to bed, I fix me a glass
    of cold water.  I place it on my bedside table and Buddy is always
    waiting for it.  He will drink out of my glass only and only when
    it has a lot of ice in it.  He likes to lick the ice. 
    
    Cats do the silliest things!!!!

    My boys will drink water from their bowl, but if there's a bowl
    or bucket of water anywhere else in the house, Honey will sit in
    front of it and drink as much as he can possibly hold.  He also
    dries my feet and legs after a shower...scratchy tongue!!
    
    Cats...jeeze!!
    
    Mary
    

    Same here.  Fred will rarely touch the water by his food but will
    sit waiting for it expectantly when I have a glass of water by my
    bedside.  
    
    He is also fascinated by bath water and stands on his hind legs
    watching it.  Or perhaps its the bubble bath??
    
    

    Fuzzles will also "dry" my feet.  She will also jump into the tub
    afterwards.  Bubble baths are great fun, since she will lose her
    usual "reagal" attitude and chase bubbles.
    
    marianne
    

Remember, if your cat's drinking behavior changes (not in the hot
weather though), i.e. goes from no water to lots of water, it may signal 
the onset of diabetes or something else.  That was how we noticed that 
something was wrong with Munchkin - he had a direct line from the water 
to the pan!

My two only drink from glasses.  Mutu and her daughters also like the 
water from the plant dishes, especially the water in the orchid pans!  
Evidently, the chemicals in the plant food haven't bothered them yet, 
since Mutu is almost 16 and her daughters are 14!

Regards,
J.