Water Dish Dilemma

kookoo4kitties

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For months or cat,Trix, refused to drink out of a dish, preferring to drink out of the bathtub faucet. We put a stop to that because we are sometimes away all day. Yet she turned up her nose at water in a bowl. Or water doesn't taste the best so we got her a water dispenser with a filter. She took to it right away and we thought the problem was solved. Not so much. Now she has taken to tipping the dispenser over. She gets her paw around it and pulls until it tops. A+ for ingenuity, F for behavior. We've tried everything, tapping it inside a box with the front cut off, wrapping a cloth around the bottom, we even put it in the space between the toilet and the wall.
Out of ideas. She drinks the water fine, but tips it. Help!
 

rickr

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Hmmmmm....you didn't mention what model of water fountain you have.  If it is a tower design, like the DrinkWell you might try a model like the Pioneer Pet, which features a low profile.  I suspect a low profile design would be more difficult to pull over.

For what it's worth.... my black cat, Lucy, prefers to drink out of the faucet or the toilet.  She's trained me to turn on the faucet when she is thirsty.  Lucy waits by the bathroom door until I walk by and then jumps on to the ledge of the sink.  She also drinks from her fountain, but prefers the faucet. I don't worry about her when I'm out of town, because I know she will drink from the fountain if she has to.

I wish you the best of luck.
 

DreamerRose

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Mingo likes to drink out of the toilet, but I keep the lids down. I also have a DrinkWell, which I love because I can fill it with so much water. He drinks out of that, but prefers the toilet. I really don't think it matters as long as the toilet is clean, and when I went away for the weekend, I left the lid up for him. It's just the idea of it.  He eats dry food, so it's important for him to get all the water he wants.
 

detroitcatlady

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I would recommend finding a fountain dish that is either heavier or lower to the ground so it is less easy to tip. I also heard of a water dish that fits onto the sink faucet for cats. I'm not sure how it works or if the water must be running for it to work though. I've never tried it. My cats like drinking from the faucet but I've never had trouble getting them to drink from a dish. They do like to play in the fountain dish and regular water bowl and sometimes they will try to wash their paws in it, splash each other and spill it on the floor. They have never managed to tip the fountain over completely so it works ok for me when I am not home to put the faucet on.

This is one of the water fountain dishes I have used

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/harmony-white-automatic-pet-water-fountain
 

Mamanyt1953

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Mingo likes to drink out of the toilet, but I keep the lids down. I also have a DrinkWell, which I love because I can fill it with so much water. He drinks out of that, but prefers the toilet. I really don't think it matters as long as the toilet is clean, and when I went away for the weekend, I left the lid up for him. It's just the idea of it.  He eats dry food, so it's important for him to get all the water he wants.
I am laughing so hard...I tried putting the lid down, but Hekitty just pushed her way under it, then backed out when she had her fill.  Even misjudging and falling in twice didn't deter her from toilet drinking.  Now the lid stays up, and I clean the toilet daily.  My water bill went up $5 a month from flushing all those extra times to be sure the water was clear and clean again! 

But as for the problem at hand,  try one of the low profile fountains.  They are pretty much tip-proof.  Also, cats can be very, very picky about water bowls.  Hekitty will drink out of them occasionally, but ONLY a ceramic bowl with a low, wide profile that doesn't cramp her whiskers.  There are four of these around the house, and she STILL heads to the bathroom 4 times out of 5!
 
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kookoo4kitties

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Hi again. What we have isn't a fountain, but a dispenser. The kind with the bottle that tips into a bowl, but it is a high end microban bottle and it comes with a filter that attaches to the bottom of the bottle.  As horrible as it sounds, I wish she was drinking out of the toilet! Then she could do it and I could pretend that I don't see her doing it- then we could both be happy! Lol  I seriously think she might be doing this to get back at us for refusing to give her water out of the bathtub.

I don't know,. shortly after she turned two she turned into a different kitty. Where she was never interested in the table or counter tops, we were having to constantly chase her off the table and we would come home to find her sleeping in some seriously weird places - like on top of the fridge. One day I looked for her for over an hour only to find her sleeping atop by bedroom door. She never went near the Christmas tree, this past Christmas was a nightmare trying to keep her out of it!  I honestly think she is going through the kitty version of the terrible twos!
 

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​Both of the fountains/water dispensers  in the above links are made of plastic and plastic is not good for food or water because it harbors bacteria. If you are looking for something that is 'spill proof', I suggest getting a ceramic dish. Ceramic is heavy and would be pretty darn difficult for a cat to tip over.

My Boys love their water fountain but, unfortunately, it is also made of plastic. I have to scrub it every 2 days because of the quick accumulation of 'slime' in the water - even though it has a charcoal filter that gets changed every week or two. I have been looking at stainless fountains, but they are bit pricey, and most of the affordable ceramic fountains have plastic parts, so I have been looking at different stainless, ceramic and glass dishes and aquarium pumps/filters to make my own at a reasonable cost. I know what I want; I just haven't found the right dish(es) that I want. Their Birthday is April 22nd, so I hope I have one by then! 

In the meantime, they drink a LOT of water from their fountain and, yes, they also have access to the toilet. *sigh* I tried preventing that habit, but when I leave the lid down, they will get together and left the lid! One night (morning?) at about 3:00 A.M., I heard a noise and got up to investigate and found Kricket pushing the toilet seat up and Keeker sticking his head under it and climbing onto the seat - then Kricket jumped up on the seat and pushed the lid back and they took turns drinking from the toilet! Why? I have no clue!

One thing I DO do is to be sure the toilet is kept clean! I don't use any chemicals in it at all; instead, I use apple cider vinegar and then I flush it a couple times to make sure it's well rinsed. 
 

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Someone suggested to me they like the water in the toilet or faucet better because it's cold, but I'm not sure. Mingo likes to "scrape" the surface of the water several times before he drinks. That's primordial behavior to clear the surface of leaves and debris. He did that with his water bowl, too, until I got the fountain. He drinks that right at the mouth where the water comes out.
 

misterwhiskers

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As crazy as it sounds, you might want to use wire and loop it around your waterer to nails out if the wall. My other suggestion is to simply buy several very heavy bowls. I had to do that for Robin. Thankfully he outgrew it. But if he sees a glass of wine, he still wants to knock it over. [emoji]128527[/emoji] Cats...
 

rickr

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Someone suggested to me they like the water in the toilet or faucet better because it's cold, but I'm not sure. Mingo likes to "scrape" the surface of the water several times before he drinks. That's primordial behavior to clear the surface of leaves and debris. He did that with his water bowl, too, until I got the fountain. He drinks that right at the mouth where the water comes out.
Archie and Lucy love cold water.  Whenever I go into the freezer, I pull out ice cubes to put in their fountain.  Lucy knows the sound of the ice cubes hitting the water; often she will come running into the kitchen when she hears the familiar splash. 
 

SeventhHeaven

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Having a water fountain was the only way I could win, cats had me SOoooo trained to run to washroom on command turning on specific taps for them at certain times 
  Ice cold water is what they crave, the electric fountains aren't that costly I'm sure you would notice a huge difference in your cat with a fountain, that circulates the water/ filter included. Changed washed it out once a week no problems added water as needed.   
 
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kookoo4kitties

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Yes, the waterer was kind of our last hope before giving in and buying a fountain. We live in an apt so modifications aren't possible. She's been a picky drinker since we adopted her. IAny advice on reasonably priced, well working fountains? I live on a fixed income so cost is an issue
 
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kookoo4kitties

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​Both of the fountains/water dispensers in the above links are made of plastic and plastic is not good for food or water because it harbors bacteria.


Not all plastic is bad. This is a specially treated bottle that prevents bacteria. We wash it out every other day and we've never had a bit of slime.
 

plan

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Never had a problem with my cat drinking out of the toilet, but he did tip over his water bowl and "play" with the water, which was a problem. It was easily solved by buying a wide-base, low profile water bowl that's pretty much impossible to tip.
 

SeventhHeaven

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Yes, the waterer was kind of our last hope before giving in and buying a fountain. We live in an apt so modifications aren't possible. She's been a picky drinker since we adopted her. IAny advice on reasonably priced, well working fountains? I live on a fixed income so cost is an issue
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Foun...fault&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n

Good deal comes with filter.   *some stores will price match with others... surprised how much fountains have gone up, just for the plastic ones...Drinkwell's start at 50.00.  Have an old fresh flow.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fres...tOVQt2V9M:&usg=__ceZroGL5WA_JH97h4yNSxOAMwh8=
 
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