Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Hector's Drinking Problem

I think I’ve discovered one of the reasons why any bowl from which Hector drinks water is emptied of its contents and, sometimes, pulled half-way across a room.


I watched this weekend while the little fellow went to a water-bowl to quench a thirst. A first, he drank from it as most animals do. Then he sat up and started pounding the water with a paw. Water flew everywhere; he also struck the edge of the bowl several times. After this, he licked his paw until, I assume, all the water was removed.



Certainly, some cats will drink by dipping a paw into the water and licking the moisture from their fur. Portia does that. But to soak a paw entirely by slapping the water is new to me. Perhaps it’s a remnant of Hector’s outsider-days, when he sometimes drank from puddles (if he did).


I will be buying a different bowl for the library, where Hec drinks - and spills - most of his water. I intend for a heavily-bottomed, broad and shallow bowl. This won’t prevent him from throwing water about, but should reduce the tipping and dragging that produces most of the fugitive liquid. After that, we’ll see what we can do about the splashing.


19 comments:

  1. Maybe Hector is part Turkish Van Cat. They love playing in water. :-) My Danni does the same thing - She'll move her water bowl until the water spills out. What I've done is place the the bowl in the lid of a large food storage container. The water splashes into the lid and Danni drinks the water from the lid.

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  2. I guess you don't have room for a kiddie pool. It sounds like that would suit Hec perfectly.

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  3. dood....haz fun while ya can....yur water fun timez bout two come two an end me thinkz....eye noe mine did !!

    mackerull boomer junior butter feeld ~~~~~~ ♥♥

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  4. Aww, Hec...you are such a cutie kitty!
    Play in the water, baby...at least you'll get drops on your fur that you'll have to lick off.
    Our Manny and CB will NOT drink water, no matter what bowl, fountain or added tuna juice I've tried.
    So, I mix a goodly amount of water into their canned food; sometimes, it's a slurry, but they lap it up, and I find plenty of peeballs in the litter boxes.

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  5. Sometimes our Simon likes to smack the water, it must have been misbehaving!

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  6. Pipo was a water nymph also! I had to do away with our fountain on his account...

    Hector is a rascal!!
    A Heavy glass/ceramic bowl may be too hard for him to move, esp if its on a silicone mat...perhaps on a bigger waterproof surface so the mat can adhere to that and the bowl's underside.

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  7. Our Angel Moosey used to sometimes move the water bowl around. We ended up getting mats with a lip/rim, and bowls with a wide base/low center of gravity.

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  8. I had a self-refilling water bowl once. Well, I had to refill it sometimes, but it was the kind with a large container that kept the bowl filled for weeks.

    When the water level dropped, it refilled, but it caused bubbles in the reservoir. Iza hunted those bubbles! I'm not sure whether she hated them or loved them, but she would deliberately scoop water out of the bowl to make them appear. I had to put it in the shower stall to avoid water all over the kitchen floor each morning.

    It became an obsession of hers. It got to where she could empty the reservoir in a night. I happily filled it up each day. So little effort to keep her happy...

    But one day she just stopped doing it. Chose to lay down on a nice little heated mat most of the day. She still loved being lifted on my lap (I'm a good heaty mat too). But it was her last month.

    I would give a lot to have a reason to refill that water-bubbler daily...

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    1. Yes, the trouble they cause isn't really much trouble, after all.

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  9. My dog sister likes to play in da water like that.

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  10. Maybe he wants to go for a swim. :-P

    None of my cats has ever dunked a paw into water and licked it, though angel Chumley would lick any plastic glass he could get at.

    I don't know where you intend to look for a heavy-based bowl that will suit him, but a few years ago I bought a very heavy ceramic dog bowl on sale (great price) at PetSmart. So a "dog" bowl could be an option, if you find the right one!

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  11. Funny cat habits. Now that you started this at a young age he'll probably do it forever. I guess that's why Precious

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  12. As I was saying and hit the wrong button that's why my kitty drinks from about six different glasses all over the house. Good thing is that Hector is getting his water.

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  13. Our Admiral used to have her hooligan furriends over while mom was on midnights and they moved the water dish in their revels..spilled water, and warped the wooden kitchen floor. When mom got home 16 hours later, she tried to clean up. (she worked a LOT of OT).

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  14. I agree with Kea's comment. My Ozzy loves to dunk his paw in his water bowl. I have a very heavy, flat ceramic bowl, from our dogs in the past. Ozzy still plays in the water but can't tip or knock it around. I'm sure you will find the right one for your duck (Hec)!!

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  15. I had to laugh when I read this because it is exactly what Eric did. From reading the comments he was far from the only one to do it. I had to turn the fountain off at night so the motor didn't burn out when he had dug all the water out across the kitchen floor. I tried putting the fountain in a very large litter box which was actually the bottom of a parrot's cage. That didn't work though because once he had emptied the fountain he started on the container and emptied that as well.

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  16. My Shady was a splasher, but she left the bowl in place. Saku, however has been known to tip bowls and drag them around. Since I've had the fountain it doesn't happen often. He prefers to drink from a dripping tap instead.

    What we don't do to make our cats happy. :)

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  17. Sounds like Hector gets a lot of fun out of a drink. Buddy and Rumpy both loved to splash when they came and it seemed to fade once keeping things dry was worked out. What fun friends to live with.
    John thank you for that comment you left. The family is so important and keeps the motor running. If I do need of the group surely I shall ask

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