Paw Drinking

whittwhitt

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Howdy guys!

So I adopted my kitten, Cooper, about 4-5 months ago and JUST noticed that he doesn't drink water like normal cats... he dips his paw into the bowl and then licks the water off. I've seen him do this before, but the more that I think about it, I've never seen him drink water normally. I know cats and kittens do this sometimes to see where the water level is so they don't get water in their nose, so I just thought he was doing that.

Any tips on how to fix this? It's not a huge deal but I imagine he doesn't drink nearly as much water as he should.

Also, completely unrelated, but if anyone has tips on how to teach a kitten to fetch I believe Coop could learn! He actually picks things up and carries it around - toys, bottle caps, napkins, contact lens cases, etc (it's hilarious). So I believe he could learn to fetch fairly easily and I'd love to teach him! Also when he grabs something off the counter, like a pen, I could actually convince him to bring it back, it's a win-win :lol: Pic of my adorable little weirdo below:

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Maurey

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Is his bowl wide enough for him to comfortably drink from without his whiskers touching the sides? How often do you change the water? You may find that getting him a pet fountain may help, as most paw drinkers will do it because they dislike stagnant water.
 
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whittwhitt

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Is his bowl wide enough for him to comfortably drink from without his whiskers touching the sides? How often do you change the water? You may find that getting him a pet fountain may help, as most paw drinkers will do it because they dislike stagnant water.
So I bought him a huge dog bowl for this reason - I noticed he wasn't drinking the water in his room (out of a regular sized cat bowl) but he was drinking the dog's water out of her huge bowl. So no problem with whisker touching! I could change his water more out of his dog bowl upstairs and try a fountain! Thanks!
 

artiemom

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Artie used to do that( but it was occasional. Kind of “testing the waters” 😆

Artie would also eat dry food that way—- one piece at a time from a flat saucer. You could hear the plop on the food mat as he ate.. it really freaked out a home care nurse I had, when I broke my arm. 😆
 

minish

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My friends' late cat princess used to drink that way. She had her own beer mugs around the house in addition to standard bowls. She usually preferred the mugs. She was a well adjusted healthy cat. Based on this, I don't think there is any need to stop the habit. If there is no harm, let Cooper enjoy.
I wish minish played fetch. Instead, she makes me fetch :)
 

catmom2wires

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My Brillo did it her entire 15 years of life, up until the last couple of days when she was too weak. ☹ Her mom and sister did it too, along with some of her other relatives. I had never heard of any other kitties doing it and there is no reason to make him stop.
 

LTS3

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Just one of those odd quirks. No need to worry about it or try to discourage the behavior.

What are you feeding the cat? If you're feeding mainly / only canned food, that is enough to keep your cat hydrated. You can add extra water to the food if you want. If you're feeding mainly dry food, try to include some / more canned food in the diet. Cats have a natural low thirst drive and just don't drink much. It's easiest for them to get their water needs directly from the food.

 

susanm9006

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Except for a couple that learned on their own, I have taught all my cats to play fetch. Some caught on quickly and some were super super slow but did get the game eventually.
First step is to figure out their favorite pick toy, one that has a bit of weight to it, like a mouse or a cat spring. You want something you can toss a distance and that preferably will roll or bounce just a little when it lands and that is small enough for them to carry in their mouths.
Step 2 is to take the toy away from your kitten when it is playing with it and then toss it a few feet away. If kitten runs to it that’s great but whether they do or don’t, go pick up the toy, return to your original position and toss it again. You keep doing this until the kitten signals with their excitement that they know you are going to throw something to them and then plays with the toy.
Step 3. When they seem to be enjoying this game, then instead of going to pick the toy up yourself, you wait to see if the kitten will bring it closer to you. Even if they bring it a few inches closer it’s good. You then go fetch it, go back to your spot and repeat, waiting a little longer to see if the kitten starts to bring it to you or closer to you.
Some where during this process the lightbulb goes off and the kitten realizes what the game is and that they need to bring the toy back to you if they want you to toss it.

The last step is where the cat on its own brings you a toy when they want to play fetch. They seem to love this because they can actually communicate to you that they want you to play with them. The negative is that some cats want to play fetch for way longer than you want to play and a cat dropping a toy in your lap can be very hard to ignore.
 

danteshuman

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Besides putting him on wet food only that you add some water to as needed and or floating a jumbo straw or something safe in it (a blade of grass) so that he knows how deep the water is or giving him a water fountain with a spout..... I really don’t have any other ideas.
 
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