Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Mark on June 12, 2007, 08:59:32 AM
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Clapton was drinking water outside earlier. Its the upturned lid of my old birdseed bin. Obviously I want him to drink as much as possible and he seems to prefer this to drinking from his bowl. I just noticed the water is full of tiny tadpole type things that sort of "flick around" in the water. Is this dangerous for him to drink?. He always used to drink from the pond in the old house and I'm sure the water was far worse in that. He even did it straight after having teeth out once.
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Hi Mark Mine always drink from bowls and the pond outside. I have moved the bowl next to their food bowl now as they never used to use it anyway. I have a tumbler in the bedroom and they use that too. They have never had a prob drinking the water outside and it is natural for them do to that. If their is any "scum" or such on top they naturally paw it to push it away.
Here a bit from Vicky Hall re the water
Water
The majority of owners always provide water in the same location as the food bowl. We like to have a glass of water with our meal so why wouldn't Tigger? It doesn't work that way for cats, who naturally hunt for food and search for water on separate occasions to satisfy either hunger or thirst.
The presence of water near the food can actually deter some cats from drinking sufficient fluid and this could be dangerous on a dry diet. Finding water elsewhere can be extremely rewarding; how many times has your cat drunk from the glass by your bedside table?
There should be at least one water container per cat in the household plus one' in various locations completely away from the food.
Some cats object to the chemical smell from tap water so filtered or boiled water can be used.
There are various ways to provide water:
- Pet water fountains. There are an increasing number of these available, some of which filter the water.
- Feng shui water features. Whilst these are not designed specifically for cats they can be just as entertaining as the genuine pet fountains if you stick to the simple `water running over pebbles' type.
- Tumblers. As many cats like to steal from our glasses why not provide them with one of their own? Heavy resin tumblers are now available that are non-breakable and these will be safer than glass. Ceramic, plastic or stainless-steel bowls.
There will still be a place for these in your home to ensure there is plenty of choice. If you have a large bowl available it can be fun to float a ping-pong ball in the water. This attracts the cat to play with the ball and the movement of the water may encourage him to drink.
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I have a bowl of water at the back door, because my youngest tom seems to prefer his water from there! (Odd little man!) As well as four bowls inside dotted around!
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Its the "extras" I'm a bit concerned about :evillaugh:
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Hmmm, I guess it's possible that the "tadpoley" things will go straight to his digestive system and get broken down by his stomach acids anyway!
I honestly couldn't tell you. It's one of those things that whatever you put down for your cat, they'll be a million times more interested in something they aren't supposed to be!
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Well its fresh rainwater - I think keeping him hydrated is more important than him consuming the odd "tadpole" :evillaugh:
He seems attracted to it and keeps going back so can't be a bad thing.
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the insects would do no more harm than the flys or spiders they eat mark
Cody seems to hardly drink his own water now and uses the dog bowl (which is normally full of dropped dog food crumbs :sick: no matter how often i change it)
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bit of extra quality protein? :evillaugh:
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i'd prefer to get my protein from a nice steak not the dregs at the bottom of dogs water bowl, however cody seems to like it so as long as he's happy ;D
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I give mine a water bowl by the dry food and one about halfway down the garden and they do seem to prefer the one in the garden but I go and change the water every day - twice if the weather's hot.
I don't think I'd let them have water with things doing the backstroke in it though ;). Rainwater I don't mind.
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Dinah drinks loads as her kidney function is a bit ropey - her favourite tipple is minging water from a waterlogged planter. Lord knows what lives in there, but she likes the taste. I'm sure anything wriggly will just get digested :sick:
The Proot also drank from it, even though he wouldn't drink water inside. Yum! ;D
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They sound like gnat larvae
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Well they are going for a swim down the drain then - I hate gnats! :evillaugh:
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All my cats cept Ducha prefer finding rain water outside. Misa likes to drink by sticking his paw in a watering can and they scrounge from plates under pots. Anywhere but from the bowls in the house :rofl:
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Who knows what the little darlings eat and drink when out of our sight ! doesn't bear thinking about. Peanut isn't too fussy but Lardass has to have it sparling fresh so drinks from the loo bowl yuk :Crazy: and the sink washing up bowl in fact anywhere except the fresh water I put down for her. !
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Harry likes to drink from anywhere there is water, Ive even seen him drinking out of the wheelbarrow in the garden :-:
When I have a glass of milk on the floor Ive been noticing its been going down rather quick, the cats have been drinking it!
I caught Macey having a drink of my blackcurrent juice the other night too :shy:
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Lexy is indoors so she drinks fromher bowl.. however... if water comes from kitchen tap she turns her nose at it.. must come from tap in bathroom...
mm
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Oh kitty that Lexy is great :rofl:
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Lexy is indoors so she drinks fromher bowl.. however... if water comes from kitchen tap she turns her nose at it.. must come from tap in bathroom...
mm
Mine are just as fussy, but if I leave the kitchen tap running, they'll happily drink from that. I think they're just testing to make sure you are properly trained!
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:Luv: yes Gill I do love the madam with her little mood swings. She's worse than I am.
Dave since her surgeries to her legs she can't jump high so she doesn't like strange places.. like kitchen sinks :rofl: Would be nice though.. would be sure she drank something!
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Cats are just so contrary and brilliant ;D. Imogen won't entertain the idea of old water - fresh out of the tap is how she likes it...she must like the smell of chlorine or fluoride or whatever else is in it!
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Actually, mine don't drink from the tap much any more, since I got a Petmate fountain. That might be a good way to encourage Lexy to drink more water. An indoor water feature might be just as good, so long as the water's moving.
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She's not fond of fountains. Have had two and she just is not interested. When I say she's a moo.. I really do mean it ! :rofl:
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Having had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Lexy I would describe her as spirited :rofl:
Hope you are both feeling better this evening :hug:
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My lovely last cat would not drink out of a bowl , accept the toilet. We also had to keep the manhole cover topped up as that was his favourite place to drink. Archie also likes drinking out of the toilet so we have to be very careful with toilet cleaners. He also likes drinking from the tap. Our visiting cats enjoy drinking out of a little pond we have. None of them have come to any harm.
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Biscuit likes drinking from taps aswell and similar to Lexy her favorite tap is the bathroom sink tap - no chance me going to the loo on my own when shes around. I have also seen her drink from puddles on the patio and I also keep a small dish on the kitchen windowsill which looks out onto the front. She likes to observe the world go by while having a drink - very cosmopolitan don't you think :rofl: