Cat refusing to drink from water bowl

[PixieFairy]

I'm not sure if this is anything to worry about or not but my 2 year old cat has suddenly refused to drink from his water bowl - instead preferring to drink from my bathroom sink. I either have to run the tap or fill the sink for him to drink from it.

His water bowl is changed twice a day.

try not changing the water as generally cats preffer water that has stood for a while as the chlorine in it has disapated if he likes running water might be worth looking at something like a catlit fountain

Mine does that in spells. In the summer, it's the rainwater butt. Through Christmas we have a real tree and he drinks from the waterpot.
If your cat is drinking, then I wouldn't worry.
Do you have a coldwater tank in the loft that feeds your bathroom tap?
It might be that, it might be that he's just keeping staff on their toes.
Our cat has a drinking fountain now, and he's been happy with that.
Except it's still Christmas, and I'm having to top up the tree daily.

Cats can be weird and wonderful in the different variety of things they like to drink from - eg have you got any human type stubby glasses that you can try on him. (Not tall stemmed ones he can knock over easily but shorter ones that you can fill up for him. I'd try a few varieties - glass, pottery and (probably) preferably wide and flat.

(One of mine loved pint mugs and Seniorboy has, for years, drunk from a soup bowl with a handle.)

Mine's never approved of still tap water. She'll accept it if there's nothing else, but usually follows you into the loo, leaps into the basin and waits for you to turn the cold tap on for her! Luckily we all find this funny She also quite likes puddles outside.

Our cats a bit like this. Refuses to drink from his bowl & instead prefers a glass of water. He kept sneaking sips of mine so he now has his own glass which we change out twice a day.

Maybe try leaving different bowls/cups/glasses around & seeing if he prefers any of those. Hopefully he'll find one he likes & you won't have to keep leaving the tap on.

Cats are weird

Thanks for the replies. I haven't been too worried as at least he is drinking.

I've not heard of a catlit fountain. Thanks I'll look up those now. :)

This is our one
www.amazon.co.uk/Petmate-06039-Cat-Mate-Fountain/dp/B001NYGB8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388667792&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+fountain

Curiously, our cat likes to drink the water in the goldfish bowl. Weirdo.

Mine has a cat fountain too as he just wouldn't drink from a bowl. He does still use the kitchen tap sometimes too. Like a pp said - they just like to keep the staff on their toes!

Somewhere I have a cat fountain if you would like it? Will hunt it out if you want it.

www.amazon.co.uk/PetSafe-Drinkwell-Platinum-Pet-Fountain/dp/B004ZPARQ8/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1388669043&sr=8-8&keywords=cat+fountain

This one is the one we used.

Mine has her own glass, she won't drink from a bowl but will from a glass a human has used, puddles, standing water in the garden - just not from her bowl.

Mine likes to drink from a freshly flushed toilet.

I got a new kitten a couple of weeks back and I had a little leaflet from Petplan with some tips, including one that says to make sure you don't put water bowl too near food. bowl as cats don't like to drink near where they eat. New one on me, but maybe something in it??

I don't think our cat can see the water bowl very well. We have a plastic jug of water standing in the kitchen sink and in the bath for her. She did prefer bathroom water but unfortunately our bathroom water has now been rerouted via the mains. Cue a drinking strike where cat threatened to eat our bunnies and drink their blood unless supply was restored - she has got used to the inferior supply now. DH quite seriously suggested buying her bottled water!

I bought a fountain for my cats and they totally ignored it. Luckily it only cost £20 but there are pricier ones on the market. I'm now sadly down to one cat and he has taken to drinking out of a bowl placed in the bath, just like his brother, who died, preferred. He also drinks out of icky puddles too.

I've caught him drinking from a freshly flushed toilet too! He also likes to sit on the seat - he can be there for hours.

The sink is also a place he likes to take a nap in the afternoons.

Mine prefers cups to bowls - but having tried a couple of different types that I wasn't using, she vastly prefers one to the other.

Mine likes a toilet too. Gross.

Plus dangerous if there's any trace of bleach in it.

If we use bleach, we don't let it lie. We clean the loo, then use a full powered flush to clear any chemicals away. If we do need to leave some down there, the lid gets shut.

My old cat would only drink from a pint pot kept under the bathroom sink. WhatAKitten likes the bathroom sink or bath.

Oddly enough, I really like the taste of our bathroom water as well, it is lovely!

Cats like to hunt for water.

Girl cat likes the glass from my side of the bed, both cats will drink from the water filter but complain if it hasn't been completely washed out for a few days. Both would love to drink out of the kitchen tap on demand but we ignore the begging. Quite happy with rain water or condensation off the windows too.