Cat Keeps Drinking Unattended Drinks

Question

My ~4 year old cat (uncertain breed) has always had the habit of drinking out of water cups instead of his own bowl. Considering that we let him outdoors where he hunts rodents and birds, this makes said beverages unpleasant.

I allowed him to drink out of a near empty glass of water as a kitten, but I'd really like him to stop.

Every time I get water, I have to drink the entire container, lest my cat jump up on the table and stick his head inside. If the glass is empty, he'll come over to sniff it. He likes sniffing things in general, but that's a non-issue. He doesn't smell anything except tap water, but I almost exclusively drink that!

I tried putting things on top of cups. Coasters, screwdriver kits, books... Coasters are easy to fit and they discourage this behavior slightly, but I commonly see him push them away with his nose. Heavier items seem more effective, but also make it easier for me to knock the glass over, and I'd rather he not jump up on my table and desk at all.

The water bowl I want him to drink from is a used, plastic tin of Celebrations chocolates that we empty, clean and fill whenever it's running low. We take our cat for regular checkups and the vet never mentioned anything about him being dehydrated. When there are no water cups around, he'll drink out of the bowl, usually after taking a bite of food first.

How can I stop him stealing drinks?

Answer 1

I propose replacing his assigned water bowl with something he likes drinking from, like a dessert glass bowl or a drinking glass with a low rim.

Different containers can add their own smell and taste to the water in them, especially containers that aren't supposed to hold liquids for a long time. The main reason why water bottles have a use before date is not that the water somehow goes bad, but that the bottle itself slowly breaks down and releases weird chemicals into the water.

To make him unlearn that he can find drinkable water in your glass, you should always put a lid on your glass. There are different types available online or in stores for kitchenware. I think it would be best to find a lid that fits your usual drinking glass as best as possible, or maybe buy a new glass with a lid included.

Answer 2

I presume you're changing it very regularly already, but if not: make sure your cat's water is fresh, and keep the water and food bowls away from the litter box.

If the water in the glass is fresh but the one in the bowl is from hours ago or worse, one can hardly blame the cat for preferring to drink from a glass than from its bowl.

Cats sometimes prefer running water if given the opportunity to drink it. See for instance what happens if you leave a faucet slightly open. (If your cat is one of them, consider investing in a cat fountain.)

Answer 3

I have found that some cats seem to dislike getting their whiskers wet, and these cats generally prefer drinking from glasses instead of bowls since the whiskers are pushed back by the rim of the glass.

It's just a theory and I'm in no way a professional, but it might be worth a shot to replace the wide bowl with something a little narrower so he doesn't dip his whiskers in the water when he drinks.

Answer 4

Add a bit of lemon or lime juice to your water. Cats generally dislike citrus and that may discourage the behavior. Of course, that's assuming you like lemon or lime flavored water.

Answer 5

Cats instinctively dislike standing water, which in nature is a breeding ground for disease. He may be drinking your water because he can smell it's fresher than what's in his bowl.

A water fountain provides the running water that cats prefer, plus most have filters and a large reservoir that means you don't need to refill or clean them daily. When I switched, my cats lost interest in drinking anything else, plus they drink every time they pass the fountain.

Dehydration is the leading cause of fatal kidney failure in housecats, especially if you give them dry food, so anything that gets them drinking more water is a good thing.

Answer 6

With my cat it was a matter of the specific water glass I was currently using. She just liked hanging out by me and using my stuff. I could take a water glass of mine she enjoyed drinking from, put it anywhere else, like by her water bowl, and she lost interest. For a while I poured 2 glasses and drank a little from each. She was happy picking one. My particular cat hated wobbly surfaces, so if one was on a flimsy table she'd gladly drink from the other.

Pouring an extra glass and checking is less work than a normal cat, which climbs all over your lap, and bats at your pen. Plus it's adorable. If you train yours to stop, you'll miss the little stretched out body and lapping sounds.

But I accidentally trained her to stop, anyway. A 1-handed lift-and-dump is easy, with practice. Being dropped from 3 feet is apparently a huge insult to some cats. She eventually learned to only go for food, including water, that I placed on the floor. For a while, I tried putting the second water glass for her down next to me, but it wasn't used much and I always ended-up kicking it over.

Also, as I write this, I'm drinking water out of a soft-drink bottle which seems less stable, but my current cat has never knocked it over.

Answer 7

I have had cats my entire life. I have 6 cats at the moment and most of my cats have lived past 20 years old so trust me when I tell you that cats crave fresh water. I don't think you need to change YOUR behavior too much but getting a cup with a lid won't hurt.

What you need to focus on is what the cat needs and you are not providing. Sometimes cats develop kidney disease slowly over time because cat owners only give them dry food and they start showing signs that their kidneys are not functioning fully by constantly seeking out fresh water from sinks, your drink etc. Dry food is not natural for them as in the wild if they were hunting, they'd be eating wet meat regularly and not a dehydrated kibble. Please consider giving your cat wet canned food daily. We do that and since it is more expensive, we give them wet in the morning and then a combination of wet and dry at night.

Also, we have seven water bowls throughout the house(we even keep one outside in the patio and it's so many because we have 6 cats. If you only have 1 cat, you might try getting 2 bowls) and we change them out with fresh water 2 times a day, morning and afternoon. Also, plastic will start to harbor bacteria even if you wash it. I suggest tossing any plastic food or water bowls and getting ceramic for the food and a few water stainless steel or stainless steel lined dishes as this keeps the water freshest. Put the bowls in different places in the house.

Good luck!