Cat Obsessed With Ice/water

abbyemma said:

My cat loves her fountain. She was never a fan of still water, so I was worried that she wasn’t getting enough. She now loves to drink moving water, and also just sits at it a lot and stares at it obsessively. I rinse it out about every week, and do a full clean and very 2 weeks, and that seems to keep it in good condition. You have to rinse it because the bottom will get a film if you go any more than a week.

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inkysmom said:

My Maine coon mix has one favorite water bowl in the bedroom. Won't touch the two next to the cat food in the kitchen. The bedroom bowl is HIS. Any cat or dog drinks from it, he's upset and I have to change it. He stares at it. He digs the floor with his paws when he drinks. He puts his paws in it. Water has to be icy cold.

When I see him drinking the dog's water that means his bowl is empty or gross in his mind. He likes to wander around the exam room at the vets office and turn on the automatic sink and drink from it. Lol. Does that mean he'd like a fountain?

I haven't seen him drink from the sinks but they know they're not supposed to be on the counters, so they don't go on them in front of me.

My other cat always tries to drink out of my glass. Water, milk, everything except alcohol. Drives me NUTS!!! He used to sit in the tub while I showered. Until the time he either jumped or fell in and got drenched. Lol!!! Never went in there again.
When my old cat plays with the automatic sink at the vet he drinks from it and gets drenched. Doesn't care at all.

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Caspers Human said:

Y'know... So many people think that cats don't like water. Well, many don't and a few do. That's true.

However, to put it more accurately, many cats DO like water...just so long as the water isn't bigger than they are.

If somebody really is a cat person, they'll know this, intuitively. Shibboleth!

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inkysmom said:

I looked up fountains online. They all say they need new filters every month and seem like they need a lot of cleaning and maintenance.
I'm terrible about keeping up with stuff like that. I have a new air purifier and humidifier that are both probably due for cleaning and new filters now too.
I don't have a dishwasher and just sweeping the whole place and washing dishes and cat and dog bowls all the time takes hours. I know I sound lazy but I loathe cleaning and I feel like I spend all my time doing it, and my place still looks awful. And no sooner do I clean something then a cat or dog makes a huge mess.
I spent three hours sweeping my whole place, cleaning kitty litter and taking out the trash. Came back in, both cats had used the kitty litter again, threw kitty litter all over the floor and my cancer cat used his paw to throw his treats all over the floor and off the plate I put them on. He ate a few, spit out little pieces everywhere and left the kitchen looking like it hasn't been cleaned in weeks.
He also likes yo take huge mouthfuls of dry food then go elsewhere so it it all out and eat some and leave the rest all over the place. I read they do that when they feel insecure or bullied but he beats up the other cat and is bigger. They have the whole kitchen gated off so dogs can't get in and he's the boss with the two dogs too. Doesn't make sense.

The little dog I'm watching ate some of his food and threw the rest all over the floor on the other room.
I literally just spent three hours cleaning and it lasted less than five minutes!!!

Took me an hour and a half to wash all the cat and dog bowls and dishes yesterday. Swept again yesterday, looked like it hasn't been swept in years, from two days before.

So I'm hesitant about adding a fountain. The cats will probably find a way to throw water everywhere. And it will be one more thing to clean.
I only heard recently about cats liking their food and water in different places and I've had cats forever. All the ones I've had just dealt with the food next to the water bowls since I never heard that previously. I randomly put a water bowl in my bedroom in this apartment and discovered the cats love it and drink way more from it. It's empty pretty much daily whereas the ones in the kitchen are rarely touched.

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inkysmom said:

If it's really that easy I'd try it. I'm a disaster when it comes to assembling anything or anything technical.
How do you know of they'd like a fountain or not? My one cat likes to turn on and off the sink at the vet's. At home I don't leave on any sinks. Can't figure out if my other cat would like it or be scared of it.
They just plot to make messes and destroy things in general though lol.
When I got the new air purifier hepa thingy, they ignored it. A week or two later my old cat became fascinated with it. I videoed him just staring at it non-stop and acting like he was going to go after it. Cracked me up.

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