ARRGGHH stop spilling water!

[leviathan]

Greetings...

I noticed a behavior in my kittens hat isnt very unusual, but downright annoying. Yet funny.

My old cat used to go up to her regular water bowl and tug on it gently (to move the water so she could see it maybe?) and would rarely spill it. Of course, it would end up at the other end of the kitchen by the end of the day.

Anyway, my kittens now do this...as well as putting their paw in the water and splashing the water, then getting scared, toppling over the water bowl, spilling most of it everywhere, OR dabbing their paws and drinking drom their paws...or a combination fo the two. In any case, i have the rubber-bottom water bowl that is supposed to PREVENT spilling and i constantly need to change socks due to water being spilled all throughout the kitchen! (thought they peed at first, but it did not smell like amonia and the trail from the water bowl was obvious).

anyway, is there any way to stop this? I was hoping the rubber bottom bowl wouldve kept stuff from spilling, yet i probabaluy have a stream flowing into the dining room as we speak.

any suggestions?

 

[leviathan]

please pardon the typos. haha

 

[malakaiii]

LOTS of kittens do this!

My suggestion would be to either get one of those dish holding racks (a spot for two dishes in a wire frame that keeps them in place), or to stick the bowl down somehow.

I found that my problem was solved when I switched from a metal bowl that made a fun noise for her when she played in it, to a porcelain bowl. Also, I think she grew out of the habit!

If you have a few cats and they all love water, you might want to look into one of those cat fountains.

 

[lotsocats]

I have a cat who does this, so I put his water bowl inside a glass baking dish (like a cake pan). He can splash and tip all he wants and the water will go inside the baking dish instead of the floor!

 

[leviathan]

Originally Posted by lotsocats

I have a cat who does this, so I put his water bowl inside a glass baking dish (like a cake pan). He can splash and tip all he wants and the water will go inside the baking dish instead of the floor!

what a great/simple idea.
hah, i'll be sure to try it out now.
thanks!

 

[momof3rugratz]

How funny I did the same thing LOL. Skittles tipped it trying to make sure water was even in it.

 

[leilaluv]

Chiclet ALWAYS drinks from his paw.He always dos something to the er water and makes it dirty. What I did was got him free feeders, so he always has water and it doesnt spill everywhere. Only thing is you gotta clean it at least twice a week or it will get moldy, but it wont spill =o)

 

[Anne]

Cats can be so funny with water

By the way, had to smile when I noted your thread title and username (Levithan means whale in Hebrew

).

 

[zissou'smom]

I had this same problem and someone suggesting Velcroing her bowl to the floor. I had tried everything else and this worked the best, and its still working, even when I see her try to spill it everywhere. She can't even just dip it over a little.

I recently stumbled upon something that explained this behavior as them not liking to drink or eat out of bowls that their whiskers touch the sides of. Watching Zissou, I think that may be an explanation for why she does it, cause she drinks out of the corner and takes her food out of the bowl, puts it on the floor and then eats it.

 

[devine^brunet]

how cute.Yeh my kitten did the same thing, mine grew out of it. But i agree i think its time to get a heavier bowl

 

[momof3rugratz]

Use a ceramic dog bowl.

 

[kai bengals]

I had to chuckle when I read your post! Our bengals do this sort of thing ALL the time. The only solution I've come up with is, very heavy bowls. Large bowls, with an extra heavy base. Even then our bengals splash and paw at the water.
Some cats just like to do this sort of thing. We put a large baking pan, under the heavy water bowl. It does a good job of containing the splashing.

 

[coyote87]

I am having the same issue with one of my two cats. If you hear of anything that would be helpful, please let me know!

 

[tiptopper]

We use a cloth placemat so when it does get spilled it is contained.