You may have heard the myth that cats hate water but by now you’ll probably know that this isn’t entirely true.  Cat do like water, in fact they love running cold water that they get to drink. So you might find that they prefer to drink from other sources instead of the water you pour in their bowl such as from the toilet or puddles outside.

There are a few theories why cats prefer to do this, but no one is 100% sure.  It maybe because instinctively they know not to drink from still water as there is a risk of this making them sick, however this theory doesn’t hold true if your cat likes to drink from puddles.

Another reason is that running water tends to be colder than water that’s been in a bowl for an hour or two.  They may also be using running water as a toy.  Many cats like to run their paws through the water that comes from the tap or see if they can make it drip when it’s been turned off.

You can encourage your cat to drink more from a bowl with a bit of effort.  They can be fussy creatures so move their bowl to a different area from their food and see if this makes a difference.  Also if they do prefer really cold water add an odd ice cube throughout the day just to keep the temperature really cold.

Sometimes the material that the bowl us created from leaves a taste in the water so try changing it and see if this has an influence on your cats drinking habits.

It’s important that your cat has constant access to water, so it might be worth having 2 water bowls in different areas of the house.  Wider shallow bowls are better as they’re less likely to tip over and the wideness allows your cat to reach the water without irritating their whiskers.

If you want to spoil your cat (and why shouldn’t you) buy a drinking fountain, this really does encourage your cat to drink more water.  You can get them for under £50 and they tend to hold enough water for a week. They contain a filter which helps cool, oxygenate and filter the water making it much more attractive to cats.

However your cat gets their water it’s important that they get enough, those on wet food diets will need less water than those on dry food.  But drinking enough water will help flush out toxins and help prevent illnesses such as urinary track infections.


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