Merlin the kitten, Bad Boy extraordinaire, is obsessed with flowing or dripping water. He hangs out in damp showers, for Og’s sake! And he’s realized that hey, the nozzles on the water cooler drip a bit after the human uses them, and he’s developed the disgusting habit of licking them.
I’m not sure how to get him to stop. He’s not an easily discouraged cat when ~water~ is involved. Push him away or cover the nozzles with your hand, and he pops right back up again when you leave. Plus, even if we stood guard every time we filled a glass, he sometimes licks it just because. because it’s there and he’s passing by, I guess.
Any ideas on what I can do here?
Cats generally prefer running water to standing water (no matter how fresh). They sell recirculators that keep a constant flowing stream available for cats. You might try one of those, or just leave one particular faucet a little open.
Come to think of it, humans aren’t that different. If you walk into the kitchen and see a glass of water on the counter next to the sink that you filled a few hours ago, what do you do? Nine out of ten people pour the water out and refill the glass from the faucet.
He’d probably love a fountain or two! I haven’t used one, but I know people whose cats have loved them.
You can try the cat fountains, but he might still lick faucets even then. Try to comfort yourself that if Merlin is an indoor cat, you probably already have whatever germs he might possess.
In addition to a dedicated cat fountain, maybe smear a little bad-tasting something or other on the faucets a few times until starts to learn that faucets aren’t as wonderful as he had previously thought?
For myself, that’s what I’ve been doing, but the other people in my house are less sanguine.
My bad boy Bear is fascinated with running water as well. If I open a faucet in the kitchen both cats come running. Bear will put a paw in the stream. Meeko doesn’t want any part of getting wet. But she holds rapt attention on the water flowing. When I turn it off they watch. Bear paws at the lever. He’s gonna figure it out one day. Matter of time.
I was told by the breeder of these two. She says if I was to give them a bath in that sink I would never have to worry about water curiosity again.
So many, many reasons why I havn’t done it. Most of them include me bleeding.
You could try that. Or maybe splashing him good. Mind you, I wouldn’t do it. But you could, if you dare.
Obey your feline master. If he demands water, provide. Your life could be hell otherwise.
I read on the Dope somewhere “Don’t ever try to out-stubborn a cat.”
We havn’t heard back from the OP. I wonder if he tried my bath suggestion?
I fear for him.
:eek:
that doesn’t work all the time … i have a cat who loves water because we had to give her a bath a few times because she rolled on a sticky glue mouse trap …
She’s been a water cat like the ops every sense, in fact, she’s been known to get in the shower with you if she can …
My cat became obsessed with drinking out of the faucet to the point where she wouldn’t drink anything else. I bought her a fountain, but she sniffed it once and then went back to the faucet.
My solution: put the fountain inside her favorite sink. At first, run the water directly over the fountain (I had to manually empty it to keep it from overfilling). Gradually reduce this until she drinks from the fountain alone. Then, move the fountain slowly away from the sink (it’s still on the bathroom counter, which is fine by me).
Now she loves the fountain and doesn’t care about the faucet.
Update: Merlin- the kitty who’s not smart enough to figure out doors- has taught himself how to operate the water cooler.
I give up.
The Ballerina (no-nonsense tabby) preferred to join The Dork (retriever-rottweiler mix) at the outdoor faucet. He was about 10x her size but she pushed him around… except to share water. And she slept on his head.