I have a small outdoor fountain with rocks in my living room. My cat LOVES to drink out of it. I think it is nasty and shoo her away. She can have fresh water in her bowl but prefers this nasty algae stale water. I have to fill my fountain every couple of days because she's in it. I finally got fed up and just shut the fountain off. It has been off for about a week and she ended up drinking what she could from the bottom of the fountain. Why is she doing this? Wouldn't her fresh water in her bowl taste better than fountain water? I don't want her to get sick. I'm also tired of filling it up so often.

Any suggestions (besides getting rid of the fountain)?
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01-29-07, 07:06 PM
FredPuli

quote:
Originally posted by clarebear:
She can have fresh water in her bowl but prefers this nasty algae stale water. ..... Why is she doing this? Wouldn't her fresh water in her bowl taste better than fountain water? ?


No.
The water she drinks is just like the water she, or her ancestors, would drink in the wild.It has not got that unnatural clean, fluoridated, chemical taste of our clean water.Nowhere in their evolution did they encounter such stuff. Indeed it's highly unlikely that they were then drinking water that had just been right through another's body and excreted (unlike us with our water processing in cities ) Big Grin Every day I watch while my dogs divert to drink out of puddles and standing water outside the house, after I have just left clean, 'fresh' water in their bowls inside it . Roll Eyes So strong is this preference that they will leave fresh house water in the bowls for days until it starts to turn a bit .

The only answer is not to worry but, if you must, then you'll have to fix some net somehow to stop her reaching it.

01-29-07, 07:13 PM
clarebear
Thanks Fred. Smile

I always wondered how dogs could drink out of puddles. Some things I will never understand. LOL

01-29-07, 08:52 PM
Sherasi
Why not put a safe nasty tasting, clear something into the water.. like vinegar or something to make it unpalatable to the cat.

01-29-07, 09:11 PM
clarebear
I have lucky bamboo plants in there. It may kill it.

01-30-07, 07:33 AM
Elexina
Fred’s right, she drinks what tastes right to her. And probably does it to annoy you. If you can’t put something in the water to dissuade her (an herbal infusion with garlic or pepper or onion? that shouldn’t harm the plant), why not get her her own fountain? We got this for my cat and she kept out of the sink and water glasses (mostly) after that. You could also try putting your fountain on a pedestal or stand where she can’t reach it.

01-30-07, 09:41 AM
clarebear
She probably is trying to annoy me. I knew it! LOL

I think I will try the spices. That sounds like a good idea.

01-30-07, 10:47 AM
babthrower
Yes, Fred has the right take, I think. MrNogood will not drink out of a water dish. He had a plastic dish, and I thought it had probably absorbed food or detergent odors and they were repulsive to him, and that's why he'd go drink out of the toilet. So I double-washed a crystal bowl, rinsed it thoroughly and dried it with paper towel, and poured clean filtered water in it. He sniffed it and walked away. Soon after, he's back at the big china bowl in the bathroom. Grossed my husband out, so he made a new 'house rule' - toilet seat DOWN, please, at all times when not in use.

It didn't gross me out, because I've seen what that cat licks sometimes. So I said, "Well I'd rather be grossed out than see him with bladder or kidney infection from not having enough water." But he says the cat will drink clean water if he gets thirsty enough.

So the toilet lid is up or down, depending on who last used it.

01-30-07, 11:57 AM
clarebear

quote:
'house rule' - toilet seat DOWN, please, at all times when not in use.



That is the rule in my house. Closed when not in use.

01-30-07, 02:25 PM
Sherasi
Well, I still think there can be SOMETHING that will keep plants alive and taste crappy (if you will excuse the pun based on previous posts Roll Eyes) enough she won't drink it. I will see if there is any mention of anything online anywhere.

01-30-07, 02:39 PM
clarebear
Elexina already suggested an herbal infusion with garlic or pepper or onion. I will try it.

01-31-07, 08:15 AM
Elexina
You might want to try it with a small sample of the plant first, before using the whole thing. It should be okay, but I’m not familiar with the sensitivities of bamboo. Smile

01-31-07, 08:30 AM
MrsS
Well, kitty drinking from the fountain won't hurt her and may be providing important minerals but if you don't want her doing it, try putting a kitty repellant on the outside of the fountain... I use a product called "No Scratch", which uses garlic and citrus oils to deter the kitties. Cats don't dig the smell, humans can barely smell it at all.
Other repellent products are available at pet supply stores, so I suggest you take your problem to PetSmart and ask one of their surprisingly well informed clerks for advice.

02-01-07, 04:57 AM
piggins
I am going to echo fred’s post a bit

A week or so ago the temperatures really dropped overnight and the pipes leading to the automatic water bowls for the horses froze and split. After two days of this we went and got a couple of water tubs.

Both horses are drinking more water. But how can that be. . .the automatic waterer’s provided fresh water instantly as the horses drank. The answer lies in that the water is treated heavily with chlorine and as the water sits for a day or so in these tubs the chlorine has a chance to dissipate

If your water source is city water, it’s a good chance it is treated with a certain amount of chlorine. Most animals find the odor unpleasant as well as taste. Like the horse’s water tubs, as the water sits in your fountain for an extended time. . .the chlorine or other has a chance to dissipate out of the water.

My cats will not drink our tap water, so I give them bottled water. Try giving your kitty bottled water and see if that changes anything. Drinking water or spring water is what you want to aim for. Distilled water has too much needed minerals removed and is not appropriate to give pets.


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02-01-07, 08:59 AM
Elexina

quote:
Originally posted by MrsS: I use a product called "No Scratch", which uses garlic and citrus oils to deter the kitties. Cats don't dig the smell, humans can barely smell it at all.

Heh, I used a citrus repellant to try to keep the little one away from my husbands' drums. She rolled in it. But for normal cats, it must work fine. Smile

02-01-07, 12:28 PM
FredPuli
Yes, piggins: Your post reminded me of this .We have a horse trough about 300 metres away, across a field. It is run from the mains and controlled by a ballcock valve but the topping up is only slow and at all times the great bulk of the water has been standing a long while. As soon as the gate is opened the dogs rush across the field and drink from the trough ! The smallest ones have to stand on their hind legs to reach but they are not deterred by that inconvenience Smile

02-03-07, 09:42 AM
soaringhorse
In response to the cat drinking out of the fountain, I have had the same thing occur. The only true resolution was to remove the fountain.
You see, they are very fascinated by the sound of the dripping noise. I have one cat that sits in my bathtub every morning and meows her head off for me to turn on the faucet just at a slow drip. It doesn't matter if it's tap water, she just loves that slow drip. The other goes to the sink in the bathroom and will do the same, meow his head off until you give him a sip. They will even play with it. I think it is just bred in them, their animal instinct, obviously. So Good Luck! If you still see that they play in it, you may want to rethink putting your plant in something safer. Also, some plants are poisonous to animals, so you may want to check into that.

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