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Our cat has never really liked to drink out of his water bowl. He has a large one -- technically a dog water bowl -- but he doesn't seem to like it. I don't think it's anything to do with the relatively high sides, because he absolutely LOVES to stick his head as far as he can get it into people's water glasses and drink out of them. Or the actual dog's water dish, which is even larger. I wondered if maybe it wasn't clean enough, even though he drinks out of driveway puddles, so I made sure to keep the water frequently changed and fresh. Nope.
A few months ago, I came across a small dish, which I think was his old food bowl. I decided to see if he wanted to drink out of that, so I filled it and put it beside the other one.
HE LOVES IT. And now he will only drink out of it. (Well, and water glasses and the dog's dish and the dishwater and the sink drain and puddles in the driveway. Etc. But not the large bowl.) When the water in the little bowl runs out, he acts like a pathetic tragic animal who is DYING OF THIRST, RIGHT HERE, DYING ON THE FLOOR, ~LOUDLY~, until I refill his bowl. Which I usually do by pouring out of the big bowl. And he can sit right there and watch me do it, and then he's all, "Thank you, human! Water now. Hooray. I was so very thirsty!" (He'll rub on my hands so energetically while I'm pouring it that he'll make me spill it. He's never acted like this about water before. He doesn't even usually act that way about FOOD.)
IT'S THE EXACT SAME WATER. LITERALLY. THE VERY SAME.
Weirdo.
(On the other hand, I run my perfectly fresh and drinkable water through a Brita filter and keep it in the 'fridge to make it that few degrees cooler than it comes out of the tap, so maybe I am not one to talk.)
A few months ago, I came across a small dish, which I think was his old food bowl. I decided to see if he wanted to drink out of that, so I filled it and put it beside the other one.
HE LOVES IT. And now he will only drink out of it. (Well, and water glasses and the dog's dish and the dishwater and the sink drain and puddles in the driveway. Etc. But not the large bowl.) When the water in the little bowl runs out, he acts like a pathetic tragic animal who is DYING OF THIRST, RIGHT HERE, DYING ON THE FLOOR, ~LOUDLY~, until I refill his bowl. Which I usually do by pouring out of the big bowl. And he can sit right there and watch me do it, and then he's all, "Thank you, human! Water now. Hooray. I was so very thirsty!" (He'll rub on my hands so energetically while I'm pouring it that he'll make me spill it. He's never acted like this about water before. He doesn't even usually act that way about FOOD.)
IT'S THE EXACT SAME WATER. LITERALLY. THE VERY SAME.
Weirdo.
(On the other hand, I run my perfectly fresh and drinkable water through a Brita filter and keep it in the 'fridge to make it that few degrees cooler than it comes out of the tap, so maybe I am not one to talk.)
