Posted on 09/05/2012 5:18:50 PM PDT by Focault's Pendulum
I have two tuxedos. Momma and Lady. Both about five years old. Momma is a finicky eater. Lady eats anything put in front of her. They're both rescues a year apart, as I took them in from the woods. They had to have been abandoned. They took to the house and proceeded to take it over.
That's Okay I enjoy their company except when they wake me up at four in the morning and say "feed us"!
Now the question:
Momma used to drink from my aquarium and indoor fountain. no problems. I finally got her to drink from a drinking bowl. She now touches the drinking bowl with her front paw on the surface water several times before she drinks. It's like she is testing the surface tension.
What sort of behavior is this? It's not bad, but I'm curious.
Her previous water sources were moving and she could see the ripples. Now, it’s still water in a bowl and she’s checking to see if there’s any there.
My dog does the same thing with his water bowl. She lightly taps the dish first...
Ping
HER bowl...scuse me!
My tuxedo cat does this too! Sometimes I think she can’t see if there is water in there or not.
Bad eyesight?
It is normal for cats to drink from running water, which is why they like fountains.
Posting #2 is correct.
Hmmm. I never thought about that.
My cat sticks his paw in various water bowls to clean his paw. He’ll dip his paw; then lick it clean.
Our cat wakes us at 4:00 to 5:00 whenever he hears the birds or sees a bit of sunlight. He’ll come up between us and purr and rest for awhile. (Purr machines keep us both awake. And then he’ll take to tackling feet under covers, at which point I get up and close him out until we get up around 7:30.
Cats are very territorial. People always touch their plates before eating — it is instinct (and most people don’t realize they do it).
Your cat is establishing territory.
You remind me how much I miss my babies, gone for 10+/3+ years now.
Typical cat behavior. By creating ripples in they water they can tell where the surface is so they don’t stick their face in too far.
My 17-yr old male rescue cat has done that since day one as a kitten, but he ***mandates*** me - dogs have masters; cats have staff - put him up to the kitchen or bathroom faucets at all hours, to drink. He’ll drink from the bowl (fresh 2x every day) if I’m gone, but otherwise it’s from the sinks. He k-ind of pats the bowl’s water w/ paw to “test” it; I’ve walked in on him drinking from it, and seen his “testing” pattern, prior to drinking. Don’t know exactly why he does it, either, FP.
You can get bowls that mimic water running at pet stores, if it will help.
I believe some of it’s in their instinct too as they prefer running water to still water when they were in the wild as still water could become stagnant which could lead to sickness. I don’t know where I read that but remember I did and found it interesting as my cats do the same thing with their paw as you do and if they see a dripping faucet, they drink from it.
My Shih Tzu Maxie does the same thing. We bought him a silver water bowl and every time he goes to the water bowl, he touches it first, sniffs the water than drinks it, its like he’s making sure that everything is OK before he goes ahead and drinks
happy to have helped solve a dilemma !
Congratulations on the two rescues. We have 2 rescued cats, and one rescued dog. They are the love of our lives, well, until the 4 am call by the cats. We have learned to keep the bedroom door closed so that we’re not awakened (as much) by the beckons. Of course, now they try to turn the doorknob. We are doomed if they ever figure that out!
To get to your question, one of our cats does the same thing, and it’s usually to see how the water reacts. He especially loves to watch water running out of the faucet in the kitchen sink when I do the dishes. I think water is an optical illusion of sorts for cats, hence the pawing at it. That’s my best guess.
go get a larger drinking fountain for both. Moving water encourages drinking which cats usually don’t do enough. Most have filters to keep the flowing water clean, again a good thing. More pissing, less kidney troubles.
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