Help, I have messed up my cat’s drinking...

[LadyButton]

Dcat has never obviously drunk much water. We have always had a bowl available for her, but hardly ever seen her use it. With the weather changing she has been inside so much more and I worried she wasn’t drinking enough so I bought a filter fountain thingy. I’m not sure she has been anywhere near it.

I put the bowl back but today I spotted her drinking out of a bucket on our back doorstep that has collected rainwater, and leaves etc.

I have now cleaned out the bucket and refilled it (only a few inches, just to where it was when she was drinking from it).

What can I do to encourage her to drink in the house? The kitchen has underfloor heating so it’s possible the water gets warm which she might not like, the water outside in the bucket was definitely cold!

Cats are weird about drinking. I had a cat that would only drink from a trickling tap in the bathroom. My mum's cat will only drink from a mug on the kitchen worktop. If she's happy and looks well then she's probably getting the fluids she needs from somewhere - does she have wet food? If so, that alone gives them a lot of their daily fluid intake I think.

I rarely see my outdoor (rural) cats drink, unless it's milk "leftover" from humans eating cereal. (I know some cats are intolerant of milk, but mine are absolutely fine.) I guess they mainly drink water outdoors, from puddles, ditches, or a wee burn we have up the road. They are in good health.

I wouldn't worry as long as the cat doesn't seem dehydrated, and always has access to water should they need it.

Cats don't need perfect tap water, most prefer leafy, bug-laden water collected outdoors, just leave her to drink what she likes, but keep a bowl of water indoors for just in case (and if her outdoor water freezes), and don't change the water too often.

Cats have a low thirst drive, they are designed to get all of their fluids from their food, thats why they need to eat wet food.

Think of their sense of smell as well, a cat can smell the chlorine etc in tap water.

Mine have an insulated double-walled bowl to stop it getting warm, perhaps you could try one of those? I see ours using it all the time, but then I also change it at least twice a day to keep it fresh.

Mine walks past.the water bowl to a plant pot in the garden. It's his preferred tipple.

Only one of my cats drinks out the bowl. They both drink out the pond in the back garden

One of my cats thinks the water bowl is for washing his paws. Sigh.

Mine have never ever once touched their bowls of fresh water but happily drink regularly from the garden pond. I thought perhaps the taste of chlorine in tap water put them off but both will regularly drink from a plastic jug of tap water if I put it down beside me when I'm ironing.

Cats.

You could raise the water bowl off the floor - small box or an old book and put some ice cubes in the bowl.

They like to hunt for water, rain water has fewer chemicals in it.

One of mine will only drink from the kitchen tap when it's running.

The other one finds the freshest water including your glass and will obviously be happy with kitchen tap turned on too

They liked the water fountain but only if I rinsed it all and put fresh water in every day so ditched that.

Mines exactly the same. I never ever see him drinking out of his water bowl but have to trickle the tap for him every time he follows me to the bathroom.
I've also found him drinking rainwater from pots in the garden.
I read somewhere that cars don't like their water near their food....that said, I've periodically dotted water bowls all over the place, he won't go near them.

Again, cats.

My cat only drinks out of things in the garden that have filled up with rainwater, never from his bowl inside.

I did fill one of DS' buckets up with water and just left it in the summer and he did drink from there, at least I knew the water was clean.

Nutty though it sounds, try mineral water from a glass bottle or filtered water and put it into a well rinsed bowl.

Cats can smell chlorine and they will cheerfully drink from brackish, bug loaded trays and pots in the garden, rather than fresh, clean tap water.

It's infuriating.

Given the choice, one of mine would only drink from the toilet... If cat prefers rainwater I'd maybe leave a shallow dish out and empty it every couple of days(?) so it doesn't go green.

You could try a cat fountain indoors? Some prefer running water.

One of my nan's cats used to enjoy drinking the water that dripped off the flowers after we'd watered them... They do seem to enjoy foraging for a suitable water source.

Mine also prefers my neighbour's cat biscuits (even though we use the same ones).

Our cat does not drink at all! I have mentioned it to the vet and they said not to worry as long as he eats wet food as a lot of the food is water anyway

It’s a well know phenomenon that cats prefer murky outside water, I think it’s called bracken water.

My neighbours cat drinks from muddy puddles outside or the drips from the guttering
My cat is a freak who will only drink from his bowl and refuses to wee outside, he will come back in to use his litter tray
I'm not sure which cat is more weird

Haribo is obviously wired wrong, he drinks out of his Pet Mate bowl but I've taken the pump out. He has his food, then a drink, sometimes he swirls it with his paw first.

Sometimes if I don't think my cats have drank enough I put a bit of water in their wet food bowl, they are none the wiser

When I had a cat I always gave it the same filtered fridge water I prefer as I reckoned if I didn't like the taste or smell then a cat definitely wouldn't! If you don't have your fridge plumbed in to a filter then those filter jugs you can get would do just fine.

Ah, I feel bad for pouring away her lovely bucket of brackish rainwater now...

She does have some wet food, and is still going out at some point everyday, so I guess I shouldn’t worry.

Would the filter in the fountain be getting rid of the chlorine? Maybe I should just chuck a few ice cubes in and see if she prefers it cold.

I have a pond in my garden and both of mine, plus every neighbourhood cat, drink out of it. Another one of my cats favourites is the rainwater that collects in the indentations of a brick wall in the garden.

I wouldn't worry about it. If she knows her bowl is there, she won't dehydrate. My cat will drink from anything (toilet, bath, taps, bird bath, puddles) rather than her actual bowl, but she will if there's no other options.

I go mad when the toilet seat is left up because I don't want her drinking sodding bleach, obviously, yet certain members of my household can't grasp that.

Mine drinks from the bath, plant pots outside, his own water bowl, mugs . . . I think he likes variety.