Hello, I’m Dr. Karyn! Learn my introduction to study extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
Zelda has a very annoying behavior, and I’m embarrassed to confess how lengthy it took me to comprehend she was attempting to inform me one thing.
A number of instances a day I’d hear the tell-tale ‘clink clink clink’ of her paw raking over the ceramic water bowl. She would do that 10-20 instances earlier than settling right down to have a drink, leaving traces of black fur and cat litter in her wake. The sound wasn’t annoying, it was the water contamination she would depart behind, which means that I must change the water a number of instances all through the day.
It wasn’t till I used to be speaking to a shopper about why her cat most well-liked to drink from her bathroom quite than her water bowl, that I spotted what Zelda has been attempting to inform me.
![Zelda is underwhelmed by her water bowl](https://www.catster.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Zelda-is-underwhelmed-by-her-water-bowl_Dr-Karyn-800x591.jpg)
The Message Was Clear
Okay, so I may be anthropomorphising a bit by saying that Zelda has been attempting to ship me a message, however I ought to have been ready to determine why she insisted on paddling in her bowl, loads earlier than I did.
When folks ask “How Can I Get My Cat To Drink Extra Water?”, or “Why Gained’t My Cat Drink From The Bowl?”, there are some fundamentals to think about:
1. A Good View:
A cat likes to have the ability to control their environment after they’re having a drink, so a spot with a superb side shall be appreciated.
![Good location but a boring water bowl.](https://www.catster.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Good-location-but-a-boring-water-bowl._Dr-Karyn-800x615.jpg)
2. A Quiet Place:
Cats don’t need to quench their thirst in a heavy-traffic space.
3. The Proper Stuff:
Ceramic and stainless-steel are in, plastic is out.
4. Proximity to Meals and Bathroom:
Nobody desires to eat and drink the place they poop, and whilst you need their water bowl to be close to the meals, you don’t need to place them side-by-side. Why? All of it comes right down to their wild ancestry.
Within the wild, an outdated carcass mendacity in or close to the water might point out contamination, so a wild feline will search for one other supply. Within the home world, water that sits too near the meals bowl can turn into contaminated with meals, making it a lot much less fascinating.
5. Movement = Freshness:
As a common rule, a transferring physique of water is a recent one, free from stagnation and fewer more likely to be contaminated, which is the place water fountains can actually assist, and in addition what I spotted I used to be lacking.
![Cyril assesses the new fountain like he assesses most things; lying down.](https://www.catster.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Cyril-assesses-the-new-fountain-like-he-assesses-most-things-lying-down._Dr-Karyn-800x453.jpg)
I Shortly Corrected My Mistake
As soon as the preliminary embarrassment of realizing I had fully dropped the ball on my feline water provisions, I went straight on-line to search for a high-capacity ingesting fountain, and was fortunate sufficient to search out one which was fairly as nicely!
Along with the assorted water bowls already situated all through the home, I now have one which ticks each field:
Earlier Bowl | New Fountain | ||
A Good View | ✅ | ✅ | It doesn’t get significantly better than this! |
A Quiet Place | ✅ | ✅ | The workplace is a low site visitors, dog-free zone. |
The Proper Stuff | ✅ | ✅ | The fountain is ceramic. |
Proximity to Meals & Bathroom | ✅ | ✅ | Meals and litter containers are on the bottom. |
Movement = Freshness | ❌ | ✅ | A number of ranges retains the water always transferring. |
Issues to Hold In Thoughts
- Be sure you’re shopping for a water fountain designed for pets: decorative and backyard fountains is probably not constructed from supplies applicable for ingesting from.
- Hold energy cords protected: That is significantly essential when you have a cat that likes to chew issues. You would possibly need to take into consideration investing in a energy twine protector.
- Hold them topped up: if the water degree drops beneath a sure degree, the motor can burn out. That is additionally one thing to bear in mind for those who’re going away.
- They nonetheless must be cleaned: though the transferring water means which you could usually get away with simply topping them up, you’ll nonetheless want to provide them a correct clear no less than as soon as every week.
So now I’ve a stunning, ornamental fountain that the cats all get pleasure from ingesting from, Zelda is not swirling her paw round within the bowl, and I do know that each one the cats are ingesting sufficient recent water.
The one drawback now could be that the mild trickling sound makes me have to pee!
This text is part of Dr. Karyn’s sequence together with her 5 hilarious cats.