My cat drinks only running tap water.How can I train her to drink from the bowl?

Nina: My cat drinks only running tap water.How can I train her to drink from the bowl?
My cat likes to drink water from the running faucet. But I’ve NEVER seen her drink from her water bowls (and I have 2 for her – one next to her food bowl and another one in a corner where she likes to hang out).

I’m worried that she doesn’t drink enough water. Should I be? Can cats get dehydrated?

Does anyone know how I could train her to drink from her bowls?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Li’l Laura
Get a Drinkwell water dish. It runs like a faucet. My cats love it! PetsMart carries it. You can also get an extra tank to attach to it. It’s really cool.

Answer by Killertiel
Get one of those bowls that constantly circulates water. They are a little spendy, but many cats prefer to drink running water. This may help wean her away from drinking exclusively from the tap.

Answer by JMC
put it’swater bowl in the sink where it likes to drink from!

Answer by onetime3354
Pets can get anything humans get. So yes, she can get dehydrated. Try forcing her. Maybe she is uneasy about it, but once she does it she wont mind drinking from it. Until then, run your faucet for her atleast 5-6 times a day IMO.

Answer by flamemaster_lang
whoa, thats kinda weird. ask a vet if there is a way. or you could get one of those indoor foutains that continuously recycle their own water. maybe you can get it to drink more like that.

Answer by Liz _lo
dont worry, MANY cats prefer running water. You know, they do sell water dish kits for cats that make a litte waterfall so they can drink fresh flowing water when they please. They cost around…um…$ 30 or so I think, but it may be a good fix to your problem! I cant say a brand to hunt for, but they do make these, so just hunt around online 🙂 Im sure you could find them on Ebay very easy!

Answer by crct2004
It will never happen. I have a 12 year old cat that only wants to drink fresh water, from the tap or my cup. What is really cool is of my, uh, few cats, the two that are like this are the sweetest and most affectionate ones. I am guessing you have a great cat there, just run the tap when you can and keep fresh water available, and all should be fine.

Answer by drdrakesr
How unique and cute would it be to get her a “water fountain” bowl.

Answer by rjaandset
Hi,

My cat dosnt drink from her bowls either. She gets in the shower after I get out and has a huge drink.

This is common. I took Lizzy to the vet becasue I was worried like you. They said it is normal. Cats don’t drink alot of water. The will maily drink from puddles, dripping or running taps or off glass surfices. I changed her bowl to a glass bowl and she sometimes drinks from it.

Dont stress as cats get there liquid from grass, wet food and showers, kithcen sinks and anywere that is wet.

You cat is fine. Try a glass bowl (not ceramic or china) and if that dosnt work take it to the vet for a check up.

Answer by ooohlala
look at this!!!
im sure you could make your own just get a small water pump (like for ponds)

Answer by torskie
Buy one of those bowls with the water faucet running into it.

Answer by ambage
Cats can get dehydrated. I would suggest getting a bowl that has a fountain of water filtered through it continuously. Also once my cat was really dehydrated and the vet suggested placing many bowls of water out–like 6 or so. He was back to normal in no time. There is a way to test for dehydration by pulling on the fur but I would ask a vet for assistance before doing this.

Answer by kiya12bc
If water is not there…”she will seek” it out…My cats (I have 3…2 like the faucet also)…but I won’t leave them running for them..and they eventually will go to their water bowls..however..if we are in the bathroom with the water running that is where these 2 want to be….but that’s just an “interesting” “different” thing for them I think…because they WILL drink from their bowls if the faucets aren’t running….But like I said..they will seek water out when ever the “need” arises…..DON’T worry as long as there is fresh water available……..

Answer by kyle.keyes
I have 2 cats. One of them will drink from
a mud puddle. The other demands fresh
water constantly.
Train a cat ?
That’s like trying to get a mule to back up.

Answer by Wheaties
Cats are a little finicky about the freshness of their water and food. Could it be that your cat thinks you aren’t keeping her water bowl updated? Make sure you change it in front of her, preferably when she is attempting to drink from the faucet.

Answer by unstablegramy
My sisters cat does the same thing. Since he won’t drink out of a bowl she leave a short glass of water on the sink for him and he drinks from it when the faucet is not on. Good Luck.

Answer by ANGELA S
I have had the same problem and I purchased a cat water fountain from SkyMall.com, my cat purrfers aerated water because it’s always fresh-tasting like the facet. It has a bowl at the bottom and after a while she would drink out of any bowl of water that was changed everyday.

Answer by ineeddonothing
Some cats just will not drink from the bowl. So if she isn’t, it might very well be that she does not get enough liquid. Its definetely a cat quirk and yours is not alone. You will probably need to invest in a water fountain designed especially for cats. They run around $ 50 and are a good investment for cats that wont drink stagnant water. Get one with a quiet motor if you can. Another trick I try with my cats, although they do drink from the bowl, is to mix their wet food with a certain amount of water enough to make a soupy mixture out of it. They always drink the liquid out first. Its worth a shot.

Answer by Tigger
One of my cats does that. We thought it was so cute how he wanted to drink from the tub faucet. Now he constantly hops in the tub meowing for us to turn the water on. We are training him to drink from his bowl now. This is what you do. First, don’t turn on the faucet for her. Next, when she is meowing next to the faucet or you happen to see her there, pick her up and put her by her water bowls. Eventually she will get the idea that she won’t get any more water from the faucet and she will drink from her bowls. This is working for our cat!

Answer by Bloop
My cat is the same , but I let him edrink from the faucet. If you want your cat to stop doing this here is what you have to do . Show your cat the water and tell the cat it needs to drink from the bowl . The cat will probably walk away in disgust…. But then when she jumps up on the counter to drink from the faucet , don’t let her drink from the faucet. She knows she has a bowl with water in it . So after a while she will get thirsty and want to have some water so she will use the bowl. Also make sure to wash the water bowl alot. My water bwol and a plastic ring around it and I just cleaned it recently and I found inside the plastic ring there was some mildew. I thought maybe my cat didn’t like the smell of the mildew so thats why he wasn’t drinking the water.

Answer by mommycaleb
a cat will drink form the faucet because it is constantly moving and fresh water. i would look into a cat fountain. eg. the cat it. most cats will refuse to drink from a bowl.

Answer by Sandy
Good luck in trying to get her to drink out of a bowl. My cat is 12 years old and has never drank out of a bowl. I tried I don’t know how many times too. I’d put a bowl of water down for her. She wouldn’t even as much as look at it. Instead, she would sit in the bathtub staring at the faucet waiting for water to come out. I had to give in and let her have her own way. I leave the faucet on a trickle all of the time. Saves me from having to fight with my cat to drink out of a bow. Hope this helps!