The Watering Hole

Admin

Do you ever wonder why your cat insists on pawing water out of your glass or lapping up the trickle from the kitchen sink instead of drinking from his own perfectly clean and full bowl? The answer may be in it's location.

Cats are great survivors, and drinking water that is not contaminated with bacteria is an important part of survival. When you place your cat's food (which he will consider to be "dead prey", store bought or not) next to his water bowl, his wildcat instincts tell him that the water could be contaminated with bacteria from the food. He will then search out what he believes to be a cleaner water source.

Create a designated watering hole for your cat by placing his water bowl in a completely different location than where he is fed (or from where his litter box resides, for that matter). This separate location could be in an entirely different room that is easily accessible to your cat 24/7, or simply on the opposite side of the kitchen where you currently feed him. If you're unsure of the best placement, introduce several locations and watch your cat's behavior. He will show you which area(s) he prefers.

If you haven't yet tried a cat water fountain, you may be in for a treat. Not only can the shimmering and flowing water entertain your cat, but he may be encouraged to drink more water than he did from his stagnant water bowl.

f you have a multi-cat household, creating several watering holes can help ensure that all of your cats are drinking a healthy amount of water, particularly if one cat is intimidated by other cats in the household and is fearful to visit the water bowl as often as he'd like. In fact, having only one watering hole for multiple cats often causes territorial tension, which leads to chasing and fighting.

Remember, a well-hydrated cat is a healthy cat. Urinary tract issues in cats continue to be one of the leading reasons for veterinarian visits each year. Cat fountains and water bowls located away from food sources and litter boxes can encourage cats to drink more water, which in turn will help contribute to a healthy urinary system. A "watering hole" makes sense when we look at the environment through our cat's eyes!

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http://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ars/article/The-Watering-Hole328

Top Cat

I have tried putting water for Specs in a completely different location from her food and she still wouldn't touch it.

We have a manhole cover on our path with "depressions" where the "handles" are located and these obviously fill with water when it rains but there is a lot of other muck in them as well. It always used to amaze us when our neighbour's cat used to turn her nose up at the bowl of clean water by their back door and lap from our manhole.

Moderator

Our cats alllove the water fountain. We do have a water bowl out too but that is ignored in favour of the fountain. Perhaps you could try one of those Hamster?

Top Cat

Thanks for posting that Flower Girl, I knew there was a reason, but didn't know what it was!

have ours a few feet away from the their food and one in our upstairs bathroom. They drink a fair amount but love the idea of a water fountain.

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Admin

I have a drinkwell water fountain and the pump's been running continuously since I bought it - November 2004 - and still going strong!

The cats always drink more when the fountains on. The only time it's turned off is when it's taken up for cleaning. When that happens, they prefer not to drink from a temporary bowl and wait for the fountain to come back!

I thoroughly recommend them. The Watering Hole 670478

Moderator

We had this one but found it difficult to clean.
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So, at Christmas we replaced it with this one, which is much easier to clean and very quiet.
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Oh, and Alfie drinks from it too!

Top Cat

Great thanks Gemini, will check them out online now. The Watering Hole 99128