Tuesday, May 17, 2016

No Tipping, Please

The water-bowl is a necessity in most cat-households. In some cases, it is replaced by a fountain, and in others by a dripping tap. Sometimes, one will find a combination of these sources of essential sustenance. But in my apartment, there is the bowl - three, actually. And periodically, I will discover one of them has been emptied, and the little food mat on which it stands, damp.

In the old house, cats pursued by others, or simply feeling high spirits, would crash into a bowl now and then, spilling its contents. That hasn’t happened in the new apartment, as the bowls are more out of the way. Yet, I have found, albeit infrequently, one bowl in particular devoid of its hitherto copious contents. I have been wondering how this occurred. Now, I think I have my answer.

One evening recently, I caught Renn in the midst of one of his studies. Renn has, as readers may be aware, rather a scientific bent, and water seems to be a special interest. He watches how it ripples and shimmers, catching the light. He stirs it delicately with a paw, and observes the effects. He will peer at it from different angles. I think he has taken his experiments a step further, to determine what happens when water spills.

This series of photographs doesn’t show the moment when his paw rested on the rim of the bowl. It does depict what I think is a mildly guilty expression afterward, however.





I am not upset with my big boy. I may have to buy a sturdier bowl, one less easily tipped. But Renn’s experiments are not conducted often, and there is an absorbent mat under the bowl for when they are. I will await events. Renn is a well-behaved cat with good manners, but now and then his curiosity triumphs over his restraint. I don’t mind waiting on him, and serving another, re-filled bowl of water.

But please, no tipping.

7 comments:

  1. Renn, we can't imagine for one moment that you would tip your water bowl(s) over. Innocent until caught on video, is what we say!

    Purrs and peace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful post! I loved the photos. I'm always amazed that as much as cats supposedly don't like water, many of them will come running as soon as you start to fill up the bath tub.

    ReplyDelete
  3. adorable. we switched to large heavy ceramic dog bowls cause some cat used to tip them over. now we just have to deal with certain cats that like to play in the dishes (but that is better than finding a lake in the kitchen)

    ReplyDelete
  4. dood.....ewe knead a bigger bowl !

    letz think oh de pawz a bill a teez...

    bigger bowl = mor water, lezz like lee two tip, mor ripplez, ewe can stand in it if ya want...

    AND...goldfish dood....thatz rite....it will houz....

    goldfish !! ♥♥♥

    ReplyDelete
  5. Professor Renn is doing research on the properties of water in small bowls. I have a little table for Holly but she managed to knock her water bowl over a few times so now it is on the floor. Unlike Renn Holly is rather clumsy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Goodness, I've missed a lot of posts! Just catching up.

    I have the same problem with Saku, not that he is scientific in the least, but that he tips the bowls. What I have done is put the smaller inside a larger one. He still attempts to knock the smaller bowl about, but it spashes into the bigger bowl (some over spill occurs sometimes but I can live with a splash not a flood!)

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a good idea. Saku's probably disappointed in the new results.

      Delete