Hi All

My Cat - Lola has taken to drinking water out of my mugs and glasses instead of her water bowl these last two days. She has had the same water bowl for a year and a half, I put fresh water in it ever day and clean it out regularly for her.

I have been off work the last couple of days because I have a bad cold and am not worried that she will catch anything off me but am wondering what has caused her to start doing this as she has never done it before?

Also because I have been ill, I have been finding it difficult to sleep for long periods of time and whenever, I am about to drop off during the day, she goes crazy, running around and meowing. Normally she lets me sleep whenever I am asleep but not at the moment, the lack of sleep coupled with not feeling well is starting to get to me a bit now. But I haven't punished her as I don't feel that she is doing anything naughty, just acting a bit strange!

Does any one have any advice on getting her to start drinking from her bowl again and why she has started acting up when I try to sleep?

p.s I don't drink out of the cups when she has had her fill!

Cats are weired where they get their water from.
My two have always had water down, yet I've never seen one of them drink from it.
Yet the other day I caught one of them drinking dirty water from the sink.

Cats dont really drink much water, and when they do, a lot of them seem to prefer stagnent water rather than fresh. They'll go outside and drink from puddles.

Im not sure why your cat has stopped drinking from his bowl, as obviously she was happy doing that before. Have you done anything to the bowl? Like given it a thorough wash with detergent or anything that may have changed the scent of it? Maybe she sences your scent on your stuff and feels better drinking from that. Cats love having drinks out of your glasses of water, they all do it if you leave a glass out!

Not sure why she's suddenly going mad about you sleeping. Cats are also good at sensing illness in people. I wonder if she's being over sensitive and scared that if you fall asleep you might not wake up again!

Or, the whole thing could just be a change in attitudes. Cats do that. Something they liked to do for months and years, and wham, they dont like that anymore for no apparant reason. I've been feeding mine a certain brand of food for the last 4 months and suddenly both have them dont seem too fussed about it anymore.

Capricious , that what cats are

I haven't done anything different with the bowl. I saw her drinking from her bowl earlier, so maybe she is drinking from my "bowl" to let me know who is boss, as if I didn't know!

Capricious - Fab definition of cat behaviour!

I wonder if she is feeling a bit insecure? Drinking from the communal water 'cos it must be safe. Not wanting you to sleep . Any new cats in the neighbourhood?

No - sounds a bit far fetched - she's just being a cat. Picky and unpredictable.

Our siamese always drinks out of my girlfriend's bedside glass.

Could be she is behaving differently because you are, by being home and unwell.
I wonder if she is posting on a cat forum somewhere asking if anyone knows why an owner might suddenly smell odd, be home a lot and generally behave oddly?

If she refuses to go back to the bowl I would suggest a fountain , they are very healthy , vets reccommend them and cats love them

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...s=cat+fountain

My cat would always drink out of my glass / cup (fruit juices, water, tea -- he isn't fussed). He got away with it for years until one day he brazenly did it right in front of me! I have to remember to cover drinks when I'm out of the room.

I change his water up to 4 times a day, because he looks at his water bowl forlornly until it's filled to the brim ... What's that you say? Me? A slave?

It's true....

Hahaaaa love this!

Thread on DM (Digital Meow)

Help!! Slave home (why??)

My slave is hanging around and keeps looking at me and my bowl, must be poisoned so I'm going to drink from her glass instead and make sure she doesn't sleep to wind her up!!

Amber has never had water from a bowl (well unless the toilet bowl counts )

She is much happier to drink out of glasses, vases, dripping taps, puddles and the lav!!

That was about to be my suggestion. From my limited experience of cats it's amazing the difference a freshly cleaned bowl and fresh water makes to a cats interest in drinking from it.

I would just check the obvious.. taste the water you're putting in the bowl, check it's not got a strange colour or anything etc just to make sure the water is ok.

The sleep thing may just be her trying to keep your attention, especially if you're not normally at home in the day and it's a new routine.

this is one of the rather disgusting areas of cat ownership, I've learned to keep the lid firmly down!!!

[quote=RAINBOWGIRL22;47703355]Amber has never had water from a bowl (well unless the toilet bowl counts )

Amber - what a beautiful name

Sorry to hijack the thread but I so love that name.

ruby

I got fed up of mine sitting in the bathroom and wailing if the lid was down. It's easier not to clean it with detergents and leave the lid up. Disgusting, but what do you do???

She also won't drink fresh water out of the bowl- I mix a bit in with her food (but don't tell her!)

My cat has whims concerning his water bowl and the water in it.

If he starts ignoring his china one, then I get out a plastic bowl and he will drink from that. After a while he starts ignoring the plastic bowl and I put the original one back in use and he drinks from it happily.

Sometimes he will only drink very cold water as soon as it is poured, other times he avoids the fresh water and only seems to want it if its "old".

Strange creatures, cats.

My cats both Maine Coons will only drink running water from the tap. Very annoying.

I give mine bottled water. Now before you all go I put tap water into a bottle and use that in her bowl. I would certainly never use real shop bought bottled water unless it was an emergency! I think mine prefers her water 'old'. Until I started bottling the water, the bowl in the kitchen would remain largely untouched and she would drink from a couple of dirty pots in the garden. I leave fresh water in the kitchen for her and take the bottled to my bedroom where she has another bowl and she is now drinking far more from that than anywhere else.

I thought my Winnie was the only one. I can't remember the last time she had a drink from her bowl.

i don't think cats are bossy like that with the people they live with, they're not like dogs, i think she just wants to share. That and the whole "if it's good for her then it's good for me"

Before I moved my cat would never drink tap water from a bowl in the kitchen, but I found if i moved the bowl into the back garden he would drink it from there

Now in my new house he does drink from his bowl in the kitchen. Perhaps the tap water is different depending on where in the county I live.

The cat who moved in with me simply wouldn`t drink from his water bowl, and always tried to get it out of the kitchen tap.

Which was quite annoying at times....but when I placed an additional, identical bowl onto the kitchen sink that was fine...

so, got him a Cat-Mate water fountain.....he didn`t use that either until it was put on the edge of the kitchen unit, which totally defeated the object of the exercise

but at least he`s drinking enough water now....might be something to think of if you think she`s not getting enough.

I tried a water fountain but they were not interested. Prefer the tap.

ha ha ha! I really have laughed at this thread, what is it about cats wrapping their owners around their little fingers!! (so to speak!)

My two sleep in the bath during the day, no idea why but they both curl up in there every morning and refuse to budge until I get home in the evening!

Well, I have to agree cats do the strangest things.. I tend to find mine with her head stuck down the toilet drinking out of the toilet bowl if I forget to put the seat down.. never done it before.. total random toilet drinking..