Cat Will Not Stop Knocking Over Water Bowls

[DiceA]

My cat is a little over 2 years old and he's had this issue for a while. It doesn't matter if its a single bowl, a large heavy dispenser, or a fountain, he will knock it over. Its getting to the point where I am afraid to leave him home for more then a few hours because he started doing it on an hourly basis. If I am not checking it constantly, it will end up knocked over. He knows this gets him in trouble and that he's not supposed to be doing it. I've been consistant in disciplining him but the behavior remains unchanged. He has no underling health issues, according to the vet, that would make him do this. I need to get him to stop for both his safety when I have to leave my house to work again and my own sanity. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ArtNJ]

They make tip proof bowls, and you could even get the ones meant for dogs like this one: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...FGNsjTKMOMO993maIdsaAuEPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

If your cat is going to tip something meant to be tip proof for dogs...I dunno what the next step is. I know that when I was younger and coudln't afford a cat sitter, we left our cat with a giant basin of water when we went away for a week. (I know, I know, ok?) With all of the water in that basin, you would have needed a strong and determined 18+ pound cat to have a prayer of tipping it if it was possible at all, although splashing and/or jumping in was possible. If something like that doesn't work, maybe you need to do something crazy like super glue a bowl to a cinder block or iron plate or something. I'm sure there is guidance on dog forums!

 

[susanm9006]

Had a girl like that once. I finally set the water dispenser, the kind with a jug on top, next to a piece of furniture and then used a removable strap across the jug and fastened to the furniture on both sides.

 

[CatladyJan]

Tip proofs bowls with a boot tray underneath. If mine can’t tip them the pull them and play in them

 

[Caspers Human]

I agree on the tip proof bowl and tray but, also, give him some other place where he can play in the water.

Not all cats hate water. In fact, most cats don't "hate" water. They just don't like it when the water is bigger than they are. Some cats even like to swim in water. Take the Turkish Van cat. Legend has it that they like to swim in water. That's why they sometimes call Van cats "swimming cats."

Maybe you've got a cat that just likes to play in water. Make a place where he can play with water that won't make a mess and see if he likes it. That way, you can distract him from messing up the floor.

Your cat probably knows that he can get a rise out of you when he flips his water bowl. Maybe, if you stop reacting when he does it, he'll stop the behavior. He might just be teasing you.

Our cat, Casper, likes to drink from the dripping bathtub faucet so much that we let it drip a little bit, just for him. We always know when he's been playing in the tub because he has a wet head when he comes to get petting and attention.

Finally, you might try moving his water bowl to another place. Cats don't normally drink from the same place where they eat. In the wild, a cat's food and water almost always come from different places. It's just a human convention to place the food and water bowls next to each other in a corner of the kitchen.

Casper has three watering places in the house and none of them are near his food.
One is a fish bowl by the kitchen window. The second is a watering can under the plant stand by the patio door. The third is the above-mentioned bathtub. He drinks from all three places, alternately, throughout the days.

What if you gave him an ice cube to play with? I used to have a cat that loved ice cubes. He would bat them around kitchen like hockey pucks and they would shoot across the floor at 100 MPH, sliding on the linoleum. It was one of his favorite sports!
An ice cube only contains a couple of tablespoons full of water, at most. They don't leave much of a puddle when they melt. You can quickly wipe it up with a paper towel.

That would give him some water to play with and it wouldn't allow him to tease you just for sport.

Since it's going to start getting hot outside, soon if not already, an ice cube might be a good way to keep your cat cool during the hot summer.

 

[daftcat75]

My cat is a little over 2 years old and he's had this issue for a while. It doesn't matter if its a single bowl, a large heavy dispenser, or a fountain, he will knock it over. Its getting to the point where I am afraid to leave him home for more then a few hours because he started doing it on an hourly basis. If I am not checking it constantly, it will end up knocked over. He knows this gets him in trouble and that he's not supposed to be doing it. I've been consistant in disciplining him but the behavior remains unchanged. He has no underling health issues, according to the vet, that would make him do this. I need to get him to stop for both his safety when I have to leave my house to work again and my own sanity. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Good suggestions from the others. I just wanted to add do not ever discipline a cat. It never works the way you think it should. Cats don't respond to discipline like dogs do. You're far more likely to create new problem behaviors than solve the one you are attempting to correct. I always say it's much easier to be trained by a cat than to train a cat. Figure out the appeal of tipping the water bowl and either roll with it in a way you both find acceptable (like placing his water fountain in the bathtub) or frustrate it (a tip-proof dog bowl or a heavy fountain.) For a dozen years, I tried to teach, scare, or discipline (before I knew better) my cat out of counter surfing. In her senior years when I often had to give her medicine, I relented on the counters. I found it much easier to wipe down my counters and keep my dishes and stovetop clean than to teach that cat not to be a cat.

This is a whole separate issue you may not want to or be able to take up at this time. But if you get him on an all wet food diet, he won't need a water source as much you think he does. He can tip away if that's his thing and you can set him up again at meal times. You can always leave a faucet dripping if you think he will need water but can't resist tipping what he has.

 

[DreamerRose]

This is instinctive behavior. Wild cats will sweep across the surface of the water with a paw in a pond or waterhole to clear the surface of debris. It is very difficult to get rid of this behavior. Mingo did this for years and still does a little. First, he discovered the toilets, and would splash merrily in them before drinking. I also added water to his wet food so that he never felt thirsty. (We had an episode of crystals.) Then I got Lily, who calmly drank from our fountain. Mingo would drink from the spout of the fountain. He also watched Lily drink from the pool and tried it himself. I now have a bowl of water on the floor, which they both drink from. Mingo, however, will often push the bowl around before drinking.

So I would suggest that you try a fountain and add a tablespoon of water to his wet food. Punishment isn't going to help.

 

[hurricanemix100]

I bought a fountain, put it on a mat, pushed thumbtacks in the mat around the outside and put clamps on the top to prevent her from pulling off the lid. Basically made the thing fort knox for cats and the behavior finally stopped. Pics below from another thread.

Glue the water bowl to the floor

 

[LTS3]

Suction cup bottomed bowl

Maybe something here has tips: Why Do Cats Paw At The Water Dish? – TheCatSite Articles

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