Paige Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 We have a sweet little kitten who is about 5 months old and has been with us since late Sept. He is driving us crazy with his water dish and we have no idea what to do. He "digs" in it. He splashes it everywhere and we cannot contain it and so far haven't been able to stop it. It's so bad that I took away his personal water dish and he has to use the dogs' now. He was ruining our carpet. I had put a roasting pan under his dish to collect the water but it was really hard to keep clean and he'd just splash out of that one once he splashed it out of his dish. How can we make him stop? He's an inside only kitten or I'd put his water outside. I wonder too if he's not trying to pee in the water, or at least the dogs'. After I pushed him away from splashing the water out (picture a child digging and hauling a fist full!) he hopped into the dogs' food and tried to pee in their food!! :eek: We love this little guy and are committed to him but we have to get this to stop. He's going to ruin our floors and could dehydrate the other pets by splashing their water out if we leave them alone, not to mention it's just nasty to have wet kitten feet everywhere all day. And the peeing in their food....He's not fixed yet because the humane society we got him from won't do it for him until the end of January. They won't do it on younger kittens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in MS Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Can you move the water dish to the kitchen where there is no carpet? Not sure about the dog's bowl, though, sorry. Cats love to play in water. Make sure to shut the toilet lids in all your bathrooms because if she likes water, she'll go there next. :lol: Ask me how I know. Enjoy your new kitty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Can you move the water dish to the kitchen where there is no carpet? Not sure about the dog's bowl, though, sorry. Cats love to play in water. Make sure to shut the toilet lids in all your bathrooms because if she likes water, she'll go there next. :lol: Ask me how I know. Enjoy your new kitty. The kitchen is where the dogs' water dish is and why he now has to drink out of it. But he splashes it everywhere and makes a mess. Maybe I'll give him a water dish in the bathtub. The kids have already complained that he got into the toilet water! I think maybe we could teach him to use the potty for real and maybe that would discourage the playing in it? He seems so abnormal to me with his water obsession. We've had cats before and none of them have acted like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I have a kitten that jumps into a 6 inch filled tub. Repeatedly. What is it with the kittens these days? Is no one teaching them they should hate water??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 LOL - my cat hates water, so I can't imagine this!!! I would think it is something they grow out of eventually. Our Great Dane puppy did the same thing - what a mess.... but she eventually just stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I have a full grown cat who has to move his water dish daily. He sloshes it all over the place to remove as much water from the bowl as possible! I have no idea why. He just likes to. He gets fresh water every day, but still...I have tried every type of splash-free bowl, gravity fed waterers, trays, you name it! The bottom line is that some cats are just difficult pains in the tooshie. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Good luck with that :lol: Our late kitty was part Maine Coon, (SPCA only said Domestic Shorthair, but he had several markers) and in 16+ years, we never did get him to quit paying in his water dish! It's one of the many memories that make us laugh now. I know you are distressed, but your pist brought a smile to my face. Just put out plenty of extra water, and use a heavy bowl with a rubber bottom on a waterproof, absorbent mat if it mst be on a carpet. Pet smart makes a nice heavy steel bowl that cleans really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Cats like to drink from running water. (perhaps this is an instinct, and running water is safer to drink from than standing water?) So we got ours a "pet fountain" from Amazon. There are many different prices/styles, but it's best to read the reviews and see what people say about them. Ours cost about $20. They don't splash out of their bowls any more. (we have 2 cats) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Is it possible your kitten is bored? Distract him by setting a dribble of water in the bath tub faucet and let him go to town. I still have 2 cats that hang out in DH's walk in shower because they love to chase the drips. And I have one cat that stretches out and lays down in the sink for his bath. He flipping loves baths. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 You might run a urine sample to the vet or take him down to have them 'squeeze' one out of him. When our uti (crystals) kitty was having his problems, one of the things he did was try to pee in the water dish. The water is cooling and makes peeing less painful. If you feed him dry food he will be at risk for crystals. Males in particular should be on wet food because their ureter is longer than in the female. We went though all this with our boy and were lucky to have caught it in time. He could be just playing but the peeing part makes me really wonder. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 You might run a urine sample to the vet or take him down to have them 'squeeze' one out of him. When our uti (crystals) kitty was having his problems, one of the things he did was try to pee in the water dish. The water is cooling and makes peeing less painful. If you feed him dry food he will be at risk for crystals. Males in particular should be on wet food because their ureter is longer than in the female. We went though all this with our boy and were lucky to have caught it in time. He could be just playing but the peeing part makes me really wonder. :) Thanks for this. We took him in today and he has a UTI. He should be better soon. I've been sitting by him when he drinks to help discourage putting his paws in but still allow him to drink and that has helped a little, but when he kept trying to pee in the water- the same water he drinks- we decided to take him to the vet. He's probably been sick for a while and has just gotten a lot worse in the past week. I think the full on digging in the water instead of the mild splashing he used to do may be because he was scratching to cover or find a place to pee. Poor little baby. :( He also jumped into my DDs very full bath the other day. I don't know if kitty or DD was more freaked out about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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