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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

wiping a paw in front of the water bowl - why?

19 replies

BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 20:52

my cat gently swipes a paw in front of her before settling down to drink

it's a stainless steel bowl - she doesn't touch anything, just a one paw slightly hesitant movement sideways in front of her, kind of round the outside of the bowl. Then she's face in, drinking happily.

is she having problems seeing the water in the bowl? It's v odd.

OP posts:
Sunshinewithshowers · 29/01/2013 20:57

Try her with a ceramic bowl one time.

I wonder if its her reflection making her do it?

Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 20:58

well we gave her her food in a ceramic bowl once because the other was in the dishwasher and she behaved even more oddly - she kept charging at it!

maybe she's just bonkers

OP posts:
Ponders · 29/01/2013 20:59

could it be the reflection of her paw in the side of the bowl she's swiping at?

our 2 were hilarious last night - sitting on the table Blush either side of a tall empty water glass - cat 1 spotted cat 2's paws as she looked into the top of the glass, & started swiping at them, repeatedly, using the glass as a kind of distorting viewfinder Confused

(fwiw cat 1 always accidentally dunks her face into their water & sneezes before she gets the level right. it's in a pot dish a few inches off the floor in a stand)

(prob no help at all Grin)

HestonsFatCock · 29/01/2013 20:59

Ours does this with food he does not yet want to eat. My sister reckons thye are covering it/burying it for later.

discrete · 29/01/2013 21:03

is she maine coon/part maine coon?

Maine coons do this, it is apparently an evolved response from having been bred in a very cold place.

Basically, they are breaking the ice so that they can reach the water to drink.

Even when it's 30 degrees centigrade outside....

Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 21:04

i'll try a diff bowl again and see what she does.

maybe she can see herself and it throws her off a bit.

DH had never seen her do it and i think he thought i was making it up so when she went over for a drink the other day i said to watch her - sure as hell she did the swipe thing and he was totally open mouthed - was v funny

OP posts:
Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 21:05

no she's a bog standard tabby as far as i know - BUT we live in Canada....maybe it's not so evolved!

she was adopted by us at two yrs old so we don't know what her life was like before then

OP posts:
Fuchzia · 29/01/2013 21:17

My Aunt had a couple of ex-strays that used to do this. Used to pushing fallen leaves out of puddles before drinking I think. The 'house' cats never did it. Could she have spent some time in the wild?

Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 21:21

well, maybe - she was two when we got her from the spca and used to live somewhere a bit rural i think

she's none too cuddly - loves company but not being handled and uses her weapons freely.

oh it makes me a bit sad that she might have been badly looked after. I'll have to give her a big cuddle when i get in which she'll hate

OP posts:
fackinell · 29/01/2013 21:23

My late cat did that and often rippled the water and drank from his paw. No idea why but it was very endearing. Our new kitten does it too which made me Shock and Grin.

ArtexMonkey · 29/01/2013 21:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

monsterchild · 29/01/2013 21:37

My cat shakes his paws, as though they are wet, but only when he drinks cold water.

I think they are all bonkers, myself...

monsterchild · 29/01/2013 21:38

He also likes to paddle in the toilet water. he gets wet up to his elbows! So the lid is always down now. Dh instigated that rule.

LittleMissStupid · 29/01/2013 21:41

our dogs and cat share a big 'bucket' of water. My cat will go over to water bucket and dip his paw into the bucket.

I always thought it was to test how high the water was so that he didn't get his face wet by dipping it in too far!

crazynanna · 29/01/2013 21:44

My cat has a double plastic water/food bowl. She does the paw scraping thing with the water,but not the food.

She literally drags the bowl around before she drinks. My vet says she is trying to hide the water for later...Confused

Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 23:46

yes the water and the food are next to each other - she drinks lots so it doesn't really bother her..she just does the swipe and in she goes...

i might just have to go with the bonkers theory Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
BadgersRetreat · 29/01/2013 23:47

thanks for the theories - glad she's not the only one that does it

OP posts:
tipsytrifle · 31/01/2013 19:41

My cats do this too! Maybe it's a dust-sweep? I have a large ceramic bowl that I must confess only gets changed every other day. I agree with LMS who suggested it might be a depth-check.Overall I prefer the bonkers theory, but then my darlings would greatly prefer to drink from glasses - ha!

BertieBotts · 31/01/2013 19:45

I never knew that ArtexMonkey! None of our cats have ever been fond of drinking from their bowls, they'd drink from anywhere else - we used to leave bowls outside to collect rainwater from them and they'd drink that happily.

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