Cat Deliberately Dropping Food in Water Bowl...

[RockinHippy]

I'm a seasoned cat mum, have had many over the years & not come across this behaviour before & if it were human, I would say it's looking like spiteful behaviour but surely not

We have 2 cats, birth rescue cats, both we've had a number of years, Roxi is a tiny feisty, clever girl, who dotes on DH & treats the rest if us with distain She was here first by a year & very much rules the roost over Johnny who is a big soppy, very loveable boy to us all, who arrived as a rejected hand reared runt of a kitten

Roxi is very weird with her water, wants only running tap water & demands we turn taps on for her - she will only drink distiller water otherwise - or filthy muddy water gathered on top of a plant pot after rain - she's happy to sit in the sink with running water, enjoys rain etc.

Johnny is simply normal & easy to please

We put a large wide chrome bowl of fresh water down daily in the kitchen near to, but not next the their food - Johnny drinks this.

It's going bad & smelly really quickly - thanks to Roxi drinking a bit - if it's distilled of course & then filling her mouth with food, carrying it to the bowl & dropping it in there - in this heat it quickly goes off, leaving Johnny coming & telling me he's upset & wants fresh water again.

Why??

Autocorrect gone nuts - home this makes sense

Just because we all love a kitty photo .a Johnny & Roxi :)

She looks like a bit off a madam right enough!

How long has this been going on for - and is it dried food or wet food?

Oh she is a real madam that's for sure you feel very honoured when she does decide you are good enough for a rare cuddle - with me that's pretty much only when she's due a fit (she's epileptic)

It's quite a recent thing, started this year, though took us a while to work out what was going on, just had water going slimy, murky & off - until I saw her do it & suddenly it all made sense why the water was going bad

It's both dry & wet food - though wet goes off quickest & that seems to be her favourite at the moment.

They do get on okay, but she can be mean to him, when she feels like it - she's a very bright cat too, quite gobsmacking lay so at times :)

It mostly beats me - but two things however.

You said that food and water bowls are near but not next to each other? I'm wondering whether you could do either (or both of) separate bowls for each cat - and position the water much further away so that she can't just trail stuff across.

When were her teeth last checked at the vets? (I'm also wondering whether her mouth might just be sore when she eats so that she's diving for water quicker than she otherwise might after eating.)