Cat has started drinking from the bird bath, how to stop him? (edited by MNHQ at request of the OP)

[WildFlowerBees]

This is a new thing, bird bath is cleaned daily and fresh water added twice a day.

He has a filtered water fountain and we’ve also put fresh water upstairs for him.

He’s only started doing this since his sister died a few weeks ago. I’m wondering if I should put a ‘bird bath’ in the kitchen and remove the current fountain.

I'm sorry for the loss of your other cat x

Does your cat need to stop drinking from the bird bath? Are you worried about infection, or that the birds won't drink if he is there/ him catching birds that come to drink?

I'm not sure that you can stop him of he's an outdoor cat, but also I would think it's fine for him to drink from a bird bath anyway. They drink from puddles and catch birds and rodents, so I wouldn't be worried about infection risk, personally.

Cats love drinking out of muddy puddles and the like, rather than their own clean dishes.
It's one of the wonderful quirks of cat ownership, like when you buy a jumbo box of their favourite food and then they never eat it again.

Let him crack on, if he’s happy it’s not going any harm to him!

Thank you, I was a bit worried he might be ill. I have a copper disk in the bottom of the bath and I wondered if it was anything to do with that. He’s a very different cat since we said goodbye to his sister, it’s been rough on him. So I’ll let him be.

I got a very amusing image in my head upon reading this thread title.

All the neighbours cats drink from my birdbaths

A bird bath that a cat can easily access surely puts birds in danger, whether he drinks from it or not?

Cats are animals and will presumably drink any water that is convenient.

Our last cat we only ever saw drink from the bird bath. (Or occasionally rainwater pooled on the top of the brown wheelie bin.) The vet said she got all the fluid she needed from her wet food. We now have a little boy cat who prefers dry food to wet, and he has a fountain but prefers to drink from a bowl in the living room which one of us kicks over, cursing, regularly.

We have a few bird baths in the garden, he’s never been a bird hunter doesn’t seem bothered by them. He’ll happily sun himself in the garden while the birds do their thing I’m quite surprised how well they coexist. We have a large garden that’s cat proofed so he’s free to roam and lies happily under the trees watching the world go by.

Me too. I was going to suggest an exorcism!

My cat sometimes drinks from our 'birdbath' which is actually a deep plastic tray which the birds decided to use when it filled with rainwater, and I now keep it topped up for them. It has not resulted in him killing any birds.

One of the cats that comes in my garden will stand on its back legs to drink out of the raised birdbath. We also have ones on the floor for hedgehogs but obviously the birds use it too.

I'm sorry you lost your other cat. I wouldn't worry about your little guy drinking out of the birdbath though. We call it "water with character" and it won't do him any harm. In this hot weather they often go for whatever water source appeals.

One of ours likes to "share" glasses of water with her favourite human. He's less keen on this.

My cat happily drinks from my outdoor water feature. I dont clean it. This is why we keep up with regular worming treatments.

Actually, the fact that you clean your birdbath daily stood out to me. We don't clean ours at all - maybe twice a year at the most to clear out leaves, etc. Is this a thing? Should I be cleaning it?

Yes, "bird-flavoured water" here. All our cats have done it, regardless of availability of other water sources!

One was more fluffy than smart, and used to sit hoping for a bird to fly into his mouth I think.

Our cat drinks from her water bowl indoors since we moved it away from her food bowl. Her bowls are about 4m apart in different rooms. We were concerned that she didn’t drink much and my son did a bit of research and came up with this solution- I can’t remember the reasoning behind it. I don’t see her drinking out of other water sources. Perhaps move the fountain away from the food bowl.

I did know they don’t like food and water near each other so they aren’t, he’s only just started doing this but as long as he’s fine and healthy I feel better letting him crack on. Think I’m a bit more protective since my lovely girl died, don’t think I could handle another death just yet.

Glad to know it’s not just mine who’s decided his lovely clean filtered fountain water isn’t as good.

Take the car to the fuel station for a drink that should sort it 🙈

My cats have access to perfectly clean supply of water in the house but the boy cat will only drink out of dirty puddles. We suspect he prefers the flavour and he is an idiot

our cats have fresh water on every floor of our house. Yet persist in drinking out of the fishpond. I always just assumed it was a throwback to Days of Yore when they had to hunt and they are cosplaying Lions at the waterhole.

They all do things like that. At least your birdbath water is clean.

I am sorry about your other cat.

I was talking to my partner about this just a few days back as mine ignores bowls and loves the bird bath and fountain.
Partner has had multiple cats all his life and he once asked the vet whether it was OK that his cats drank from puddles and grotty pools.
The Vet said to let the cat drink from them, the bacteria in the water is actually good for them and not to worry or try to stop them.

A lot of ours have drunk from the bird bath especially if it needs cleaning they stand on two legs to back it more difficult. I had guests in the garden cat gets on the garden table leans across and drinks from the bird bath. He had a bowl in the kitchen plus a water fountain but no they show us up by drinking dirty water.

Our cat drinks from
The toilet
My glass
The watering can
Any water caught in a crack in the patio
Puddles
Doesn't touch it in the four bowls sitting around the house. Knobster.