Putting things in the water dish

[tuxedokitties]

One of our 2 cats digs around and in the water bowl before drinking. I know that's pretty common, we just keep the floor clean and change the water frequently to keep it clean.

The problem is that she also will seek out a towel, washcloth, or even an item of clothing and put it in the water bowl, soiling and soaking up their drinking water.

They are highly active young adult cats. We keep them in the bathroom at night so we can sleep. I don't feel like a fountain would be a safe option because they are so rowdy and because the water digger also chews on cords.

We try to keep towels and clothes mostly out of reach, but with a child in the house and needing them handy for hand washing, she always manages to find something to put in there.

I'm wondering if there's a solution I'm missing, and also curious about why she does this.

 

[kittypa]

I have two who leave toys in the water. One will dunk his toy then pull it out sometimes. I guess it’s not an isolated thing. I actually have a kitty toy drying area in the kitchen.

 

[jcat]

It's definitely not an isolated behavior. Mowgli rarely does it, but his predecessor often drowned his toy mice in his water bowls. Many cats at the shelter put their toys in the water bowls, and sometimes food bowls, every night. Other than picking the toys up in the evening, which nobody was in favor of, there wasn't any way to stop them. It's nowhere near as bad as finding towels and blankets in the litter boxes, which is something you see pretty often.

 

[Furballsmom]

The problem is that she also will seek out a towel, washcloth, or even an item of clothing and put it in the water bowl, soiling and soaking up their drinking water.

Can you add a couple of extra water bowls so that they have clean water?

Have you been able to find cord covers/protectors, and bitter apple spray?

About the bathroom, I was just wondering if there's no other larger room that you could give to them?

This might help, and also Mamanyt1953 often suggests museum putty to help keep breakables intact
How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats) – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Lari]

My cat used to drown her toys, but eventually grew out of it, so there's a possibility it could happen for you, too!

 

[jcat]

I wonder if changing your laundry detergent or fabric softener would help? I've noticed that toys with valerian root or catnip are the first to end up in water bowls, so certain scents might trigger the behavior.

 

[susanm9006]

Willow is ten and there are still toys in her water dish on a regular basis but the towels or cloths is something new. Multiple water dishes or a fountain might help. And keeping the bathroom or closet doors shut so she can’t get to the towels too.

 

[tarasgirl06]

It's a pretty harmless behavior. Other posters have good ideas. All of those would probably help! This has happened a lot over the years in our furmily. I just take the dunked object out, squeeze it out and let it dry. But yes, multiple water bowls are always good to have.

 

[cmsandford]

Perhaps an elevated water bowl would help. I vote for extra water bowls too.

 

[Cat Grrl]

As others have said, this is probably just cat behaviour. My 17 yo girl still “catches” pipe-cleaner rolled up balls and takes them in her mouth to drown them in her water dish, then on to drop them in her food bowl. She has done this since she was a kitten.

 

[Caspers Human]

Can you add a couple of extra water bowls so that they have clean water?

Multiple water dishes or a fountain might help.

But yes, multiple water bowls are always good to have.

I vote for extra water bowls too.

+1!

I think it's odd that humans seem to think that a cat's water dish belongs next to the food dish when, in the wild, cat's rarely get their water from a source that's near their food.

Casper has three sources of water all around the house but none of them are in the kitchen, anywhere near his food.

We used to have a fish in a fish bowl for Casper's entertainment. He used to play and drink from it fairly often. When the fish went belly up, we cleaned the bowl, refilled it with fresh water and put it on a table, near the front window. He hops up on the table and drinks from the fish bowl, almost every day.

There is a watering can on the shelf under the plant stand in the living room. One day, we saw Casper take a drink from it so, now, we make sure that the water is always fresh and we don't put any plant fertilizer in it, either. He, pretty much, alternates between the watering can and the fish bowl as his two main water sources.

One night, Casper came to bed with us and we were surprised to find that his head was all wet. It took us a while to figure out that he was hopping into the bathtub, drinking and playing under the dripping faucet. I had been planning to have the faucet fixed but decided to hold off so that Casper could have a makeshift water fountain. Whenever he comes to bed with wet fur, we know exactly what Casper's been up to!

My suggestion is to add at least one more water source for your cat to drink from, in a different place than the kitchen or near his food bowl. It doesn't have to be a bowl, either. Casper has to stick his head into that watering can to drink. He seems to like it so, we just let him. If your cat gravitates to the new water source, you should be able to pick up or move his original water bowl to a new place.

There's no reason why your cat can't have a couple-three drinking spots and, fingers crossed, she might stop dunking things, after a while.

However, to be honest, I don't see any harm in letting her play in the water if she wants to. I know it's a pain to clean up spilled water but you could put an absorbent mat underneath.

They say that cats aren't supposed to like to play in water but that's not exactly true.

Cats DO like to play in water but only when the water isn't bigger than they are!

 

[Furballsmom]

Me too, Poppy's water fountain is in another room, away from his food

 

[tarasgirl06]

Our solution to spilled water and food is IKEA trays. They're affordable, attractive, and they WORK.

 

[pmv]

My kittens drown their toys a lot. They particularly love to drop catnip mice into the water and make "catnip tea" (which bugs me a bit as I am afraid that, given it has dried plant matter in it, there's a greater risk of mold or mildew in catnip-filled toys, so these toys tend to get thrown out and replaced much faster than I'd like).

As to spilling water, my kittens do that, too. What I did was actually buy a very large, low-lipped litter box, and rather than ever use it for its intended purpose, I use it to hold their water bowls and contain any spilled water. It was easy to find and works well.

 

[Jwa]

My Spencer “drowns” his toy mice in his water bowls. He also loves to put his food in the water with hi paw and splashes it everywhere...he just turned 2. Maybe they’ll grow out of eventually!?

 

[JoeMary]

So we have a deaf Turkish white long hair cat ,,,and he would rather use his hand to get the food out of the dish and when hes done , he uses the water to clean up his little hands , and at least 4 times a day we clean out the water dish

 

[misty8723]

Yesterday I was playing with Austin with a wand toy and he dragged it off. Nothing dangerous on it so I let him have it and went back to what I was doing. A few minutes later I noticed that it was in the litter box, partially buried. Not the first time I've seen him do that, but he doesn't do it often. He also spills his water, grabs the bowl in his mouth and drags it so it sloshes over the sides. I once cleaned it up with paper towels, left some down, and put the bowl on top of it. He fussed around and managed to pull the paper towel out from under the bowl.

 

[British Girls]

One of our 2 cats digs around and in the water bowl before drinking. I know that's pretty common, we just keep the floor clean and change the water frequently to keep it clean.

The problem is that she also will seek out a towel, washcloth, or even an item of clothing and put it in the water bowl, soiling and soaking up their drinking water.

They are highly active young adult cats. We keep them in the bathroom at night so we can sleep. I don't feel like a fountain would be a safe option because they are so rowdy and because the water digger also chews on cords.

We try to keep towels and clothes mostly out of reach, but with a child in the house and needing them handy for hand washing, she always manages to find something to put in there.

I'm wondering if there's a solution I'm missing, and also curious about why she does this.

Maybe it's just boredom? My kitty will splash in her water too when things get a little boring for her. Hopefully, she'll grow out of it.

 

[tarasgirl06]

IKEA trays, people! They have "lips" all the way around so that anything spilled is contained, and they're plastic, so they're washable.

 

[moxiewild]

One of our 2 cats digs around and in the water bowl before drinking. I know that's pretty common, we just keep the floor clean and change the water frequently to keep it clean.

The problem is that she also will seek out a towel, washcloth, or even an item of clothing and put it in the water bowl, soiling and soaking up their drinking water.

They are highly active young adult cats. We keep them in the bathroom at night so we can sleep. I don't feel like a fountain would be a safe option because they are so rowdy and because the water digger also chews on cords.

We try to keep towels and clothes mostly out of reach, but with a child in the house and needing them handy for hand washing, she always manages to find something to put in there.

I'm wondering if there's a solution I'm missing, and also curious about why she does this.

I haven’t read the comments, so sorry for any repeats!

We have several kittens that do this. Paws in the water, and using items to “bury” their water, food, and litterboxes every day.

The best solution for food and water that we found, was putting the bowls up on an elevated surface. The cats now own our dining room table But a smaller table or cat shelf could work just as well.

If we leave so much as a paper towel up on the table, they will still cover the bowls. But they apparently aren’t motivated enough to bring something from the floor up to the table with them to do it.

We also have fountains on the ground, as we have seniors (one of which was also blind) who cannot reach elevated surfaces.

For whatever reason, the cats don’t mess with the fountains nearly as much. Not a single blanket, bed, or sock, just a small toy once in a very great while, hardly even worthy of note.

All of our food and water bowls and fountains (and litter boxes) are placed on crate trays/pans of varying sizes to decrease any mess. It also looks more organized as a bonus.

We have a lot of cats, so crate trays/pans were more economical for us, but there are other various trays with lips that are more aesthetically appealing out there if that’s a concern for you!

There are also a lot of different cord protectors on the market. We have them for our cord chewers, as well. Amazon has a whole bunch and they’re relatively inexpensive and easy to use!