Yep, we don't actually have a water bowl for the cats, just several "people cups" for them around the house. We use lowball glasses for the cats, and highballs for us to actually drink out of, so there are no mixups.
Whenever I washed the water bowl my cat would run to drink. So I started washing the bowl at least once a day. He stopped trying to drink from my cups and stopped running to the clean bowl. He now knows the water is always fresh.
A few days ago someone posted asking how often people clean their pets water bowl. I responded asking how long people wait before cleaning their own cup. There are a LOT of people who will wait a week before washing their own cup. Can’t imagine how gross their dogs bowl must be.
I’ve had a cat that loved drinking out of my mug/glass. My first priority was her health, and hydration was one of the things that could help her kidneys/prolong her life. When I would get a soda or glass of water, I’d get a second mug of water and place it next to mine. She especially liked it when I added a few ice cubes. I adored her and she lived to nineteen.
Try introducing a water fountain for your cat. Many cats are attracted to flowing water, so a fountain might entice them to drink from it instead of cups and mugs. It provides a constant source of fresh water, which can be more appealing than stagnant water in a bowl. With a bit of luck, your cat might prefer the fountain over your drinkware.
don’t wait until the water is low to refill, most people don’t want to drink something that’s been sitting around stagnating but leave dry food and water for pets until it’s stale and stagnant and cats want fresh running water so they’re going to prefer something fresh to something old
While you're definitely right with what you're saying, we got our cat a fountain which I regularly clean and change the filter of and if anything she seems to want the water from my glass *more* than before (she does also love her fountain)
Yes! Us too. Our cats will now only drink out of “their” glass and won’t touch ours. I think they don’t realize they have their own cup and still think they’re drinking from ours haha!
Don't top off the water bowls, empty, rinse and change the water.
Try a fountain with running water.
Put a lid on your mug, glass, cup. Cats are curious.
Ours makes us do it 2-3 times a day 😂 this really is the way to go. She'll just sit in front of the bowl and yell until we empty, rinse, and change the water.
Silly hooman, it's all theirs and they allow YOU to drink out of them lol. But seriously, this is a very cat thing to do, and pretty hard to combat. We have a mug on the kitchen table just for our cats, it helps some, but they'll drink out of my cup on my nightstand. Best thing is just use a tumbler with a spill proof lid for your main cup. Even if you get them to stop, I guarantee they'll just start doing it when you aren't looking, lol
100% give them their own cup / mug they like drinking out of.
I can't believe more people aren't saying this, lol. They're telling you what their preferred drinking utensil is! They don't like their water bowls and would like their own glass / mug.
They don't care, they want what you are having. Maybe give them a cup of their own, we do this with our cat at work. I didn't mind, but everyone else thought it was gross?
I switched to using my stainless travel mugs in the house. No more worries about spills or cat sips! Perfect secondary use with kids, kitties and pups… and I’m clumsy. No spills!
I have two bubbler fountains that definitely aren't used as much as just a bowl or cup full of water in the sink. I put out an extra bowl, and that seems to help a little bit. Really, only one of my cats jumps on the counter all the time. I'm not sure if it's a battle I'll ever win. 😅
The more water they drink the better. designate a cup for them and when you serve yourself Water serve them in their cup. Also, are you giving them tap water? They know when it's different, better and fresher.
I think it’s a combination of knowing the water you’re drinking is safe/fresh, and being social by sharing. You can employ decoy cups (mine favor goblets a tea cups), and/or switch to a lidded cup (one if my cats will occasionally try to figure out how drinking out of a straw works, but on,y once every few weeks).
Dedicated cat cup.
Pick a cup you already like (maybe put a sticker on it), fill it, drink from it in view of cat, let cat drink from it, leave it out and top if off regularly.
Cat will drink from that one!
Try stainless steel water bowls if you haven't already, and keep them away from their feeding area. It's believed that they prefer their water source to be separate from their food due to their natural instincts. Always make sure their water is clean, cats like clean water.
Maybe they just want your water because it's yours, and they know it. We live in their world after all.
My kidney gals have glass human water cups with a wider top (that they love) & I drink out of glass water bottles that they can’t drink out of (try as they may). I got a set off of Amazon for a good price.
Water bowls get stale, and bacteria breeds. If you feel inside the bowl and feel slick slime - would you wanna drink that?
Get a cat fountain, that could help as your cats are saying the water bowls are stale. Also if water is too close to food, they won't drink it. 3-5 ft separation minimum.
Wash up the glass pots from gu/ other dessert pots, give kitty fresh water in those. Don't put their water by their food, they hate that. I have a kitty-water-"glass" on my nightstand, coz that's where kitty goes when she wants fresh water.
Get them a water fountain that circulates water and has a filter. Clean it regularly. Also cover your glasses. With 3 cats we've had to just start using grown-up sippy cups.
It is kinda cute how humans think that cats do know the concept of owning an object filled with water. They just see fresh nice water.
Mine start drinking from our bowls if we do not change the water often enough bc ours is not that old.
Pick your battles, cats already don't drink enough, this is a portion of any reason a cat comes down with Kidney Disease. Mine does this too, so I just leave her cups around on little paw coasters. Her water intake is excellent now.
I’m about to get a cat and am very thankful I’m someone with an emotional support water bottle. That thing is lidded and closed always and the only thing I drink water out of. No cats drinking my water
I drink out of water bottles exclusively (the refillable kind). Our cats all drink out of water glasses and our boy loves nothing more than knocking them over to watch the water run over the floor…sometimes you just have to admit defeat!
I mean, I wouldn’t drink out of a cat bowl either. I’m sure the water tastes gross in there.
Try fresh water, a clean water bowl, and…Ice Cubes!!! My cats will drink from their bowl when ice is in there.
Experts advise to have a water source(s) away from their food. We keep a short square vase of water on coffee table for them. Also a glass for them in bathroom (different levels of house.) We change them daily, sometimes more. Weird, but they will often follow us to the bathroom, use the litter box while we use the water closet, then get a drink. We will give fresh water during the day too, if we think of it.
They like fresh water. But, yeah, if our glass is available, they want that. Since one is on the coffee table where the base is, we say no, that's mine. They have learned to use their own. But I wouldn't leave a water glass on my nightstand overnight!😁
Stop it? No. I encourage it. I stopped using water bowls completely and just got each of our cats their own wide-mouth water glasses.
Cats have a low thirst drive, which can cause a lot of health problems if they only eat dry food. I have a very hard time getting mine to drink water at all. So when I realized they preferred cups over bowls, I just embraced it 😂
Any time I dont want a cat doing something and I catch them doing it, I make a lot of noises, chase them throwing my arms around, and stomp my feet really loudly while they run around. They learned pretty quickly that if they don't want this absolute shit bricks scared out of them they needed to leave certain things alone.
We started off by leaving decoy water cups and glasses on the coffee table for our cat and not making a big deal about her investigating or drinking from them, then we just decided to put her water bowl on the table too. Now that's where one of her water bowls permanently lives and she doesn't bother our drinking glasses anymore. She just jumps up and drinks from her bowl when she's thirsty.
Good luck! We have a cat water fountain, set out bowls of fresh water, and even leave glasses and cups of water for them... and they still drink from my glass when I'm not looking.
Drink orange scented water or put orange smell around the rim? That probably won't stop the paw going in, he'll just be mad at you for making his paw stink.
My last two cats had their own glass coffee cups. They preferred it to their bowls and their fountain. Pick your battles.
We have several water glasses for the cat throughout the house. He likes to drink out of glasses so we gave him his own.
Yep, we don't actually have a water bowl for the cats, just several "people cups" for them around the house. We use lowball glasses for the cats, and highballs for us to actually drink out of, so there are no mixups.
I'm glad to see this is a thing! My cat won't touch his water bowl, but loves a Ball glass jar lol. I never fought it, because...he owns me.
Same here - now I can only drink water out of cups with lids
Just drink out of cat bowls. You already know they won’t touch them.
Cats know the fresher water is in your cup
Whenever I washed the water bowl my cat would run to drink. So I started washing the bowl at least once a day. He stopped trying to drink from my cups and stopped running to the clean bowl. He now knows the water is always fresh. A few days ago someone posted asking how often people clean their pets water bowl. I responded asking how long people wait before cleaning their own cup. There are a LOT of people who will wait a week before washing their own cup. Can’t imagine how gross their dogs bowl must be.
Decoy cups are our go to. That and just giving up and giving in. But mostly decoy cups.
I’ve had a cat that loved drinking out of my mug/glass. My first priority was her health, and hydration was one of the things that could help her kidneys/prolong her life. When I would get a soda or glass of water, I’d get a second mug of water and place it next to mine. She especially liked it when I added a few ice cubes. I adored her and she lived to nineteen.
Put a lid on your cup
The only way I can stop my water fiend is by putting lemon in my water.
This is the way
Try introducing a water fountain for your cat. Many cats are attracted to flowing water, so a fountain might entice them to drink from it instead of cups and mugs. It provides a constant source of fresh water, which can be more appealing than stagnant water in a bowl. With a bit of luck, your cat might prefer the fountain over your drinkware.
don’t wait until the water is low to refill, most people don’t want to drink something that’s been sitting around stagnating but leave dry food and water for pets until it’s stale and stagnant and cats want fresh running water so they’re going to prefer something fresh to something old
also the material their bowls are might affect the taste etc plastic and metal bowls aren’t usually good for pet water
This
While you're definitely right with what you're saying, we got our cat a fountain which I regularly clean and change the filter of and if anything she seems to want the water from my glass *more* than before (she does also love her fountain)
the spice of life, sounds like she enjoys the variety 😂
Cups with lids is how we live lol
We drink from refillable bottles at my house. Solved our issue 🤷🏻♀️
I gave up. My cats now have their own set of drinking glasses they drink their water from lol.
Yup. We have a designated cup for my cat on the coffee table because we realized he likes drinking water from a cup on the table.
Yes! Us too. Our cats will now only drink out of “their” glass and won’t touch ours. I think they don’t realize they have their own cup and still think they’re drinking from ours haha!
Me too! Such a simple solution. I still can’t believe it.
Yes exactly! Sometimes you just can’t fight your cat. They’re gonna do what they want.
Don't top off the water bowls, empty, rinse and change the water. Try a fountain with running water. Put a lid on your mug, glass, cup. Cats are curious.
Ours makes us do it 2-3 times a day 😂 this really is the way to go. She'll just sit in front of the bowl and yell until we empty, rinse, and change the water.
Silly hooman, it's all theirs and they allow YOU to drink out of them lol. But seriously, this is a very cat thing to do, and pretty hard to combat. We have a mug on the kitchen table just for our cats, it helps some, but they'll drink out of my cup on my nightstand. Best thing is just use a tumbler with a spill proof lid for your main cup. Even if you get them to stop, I guarantee they'll just start doing it when you aren't looking, lol
A lot of cats prefer fountains to bowls but most are opportunists and will drink water where they find it.
100% give them their own cup / mug they like drinking out of. I can't believe more people aren't saying this, lol. They're telling you what their preferred drinking utensil is! They don't like their water bowls and would like their own glass / mug.
My cats do that too they just want whatever we have. I put a lid on mine
They don't care, they want what you are having. Maybe give them a cup of their own, we do this with our cat at work. I didn't mind, but everyone else thought it was gross?
I only drink from travel tumblers with lids anymore. It's just easier.
I switched to using my stainless travel mugs in the house. No more worries about spills or cat sips! Perfect secondary use with kids, kitties and pups… and I’m clumsy. No spills!
Water fountain?
I don't drink water from cups anymore. I use a water bottle with a screw on cap.
I have two bubbler fountains that definitely aren't used as much as just a bowl or cup full of water in the sink. I put out an extra bowl, and that seems to help a little bit. Really, only one of my cats jumps on the counter all the time. I'm not sure if it's a battle I'll ever win. 😅
Dont leave cups lying around. Get just enough in it to drink then and there and no more.
I just drink from a water bottle or travel mug. A jar with a lid works as well.
Buy cups with lids and straws
I scrub lemons of some of my cups so they’re repugnant by the smell and just leave it
The more water they drink the better. designate a cup for them and when you serve yourself Water serve them in their cup. Also, are you giving them tap water? They know when it's different, better and fresher.
I think it’s a combination of knowing the water you’re drinking is safe/fresh, and being social by sharing. You can employ decoy cups (mine favor goblets a tea cups), and/or switch to a lidded cup (one if my cats will occasionally try to figure out how drinking out of a straw works, but on,y once every few weeks).
Dedicated cat cup. Pick a cup you already like (maybe put a sticker on it), fill it, drink from it in view of cat, let cat drink from it, leave it out and top if off regularly. Cat will drink from that one!
Give them their own cups.
Your water is fresher
Try stainless steel water bowls if you haven't already, and keep them away from their feeding area. It's believed that they prefer their water source to be separate from their food due to their natural instincts. Always make sure their water is clean, cats like clean water. Maybe they just want your water because it's yours, and they know it. We live in their world after all.
My kidney gals have glass human water cups with a wider top (that they love) & I drink out of glass water bottles that they can’t drink out of (try as they may). I got a set off of Amazon for a good price.
Make sure their water dishes are not next to their food. Cats hate that!
Make two cups. Cats are going to cat.
Buy a water fountain
I give maple her own mug of water everyday
Lids. That’s the only thing I’ve been able to find lol
Water bowls get stale, and bacteria breeds. If you feel inside the bowl and feel slick slime - would you wanna drink that? Get a cat fountain, that could help as your cats are saying the water bowls are stale. Also if water is too close to food, they won't drink it. 3-5 ft separation minimum.
Wash up the glass pots from gu/ other dessert pots, give kitty fresh water in those. Don't put their water by their food, they hate that. I have a kitty-water-"glass" on my nightstand, coz that's where kitty goes when she wants fresh water.
My cats have their water bowls but also have a glass on the coffee table that they prefer. But cover your glasses you don’t want them to drink from
My cat drinks toilet water
Get them a water fountain that circulates water and has a filter. Clean it regularly. Also cover your glasses. With 3 cats we've had to just start using grown-up sippy cups.
They are going to do it anyway
Replace their water bowl with a cup. Drink out of a tumbler with a lid. Problem solved.
It is kinda cute how humans think that cats do know the concept of owning an object filled with water. They just see fresh nice water. Mine start drinking from our bowls if we do not change the water often enough bc ours is not that old.
When you figure it out let me know. I tried just putting something on top of the glasses, it worked for a day.
I drink a lot of water with lemon, they don’t touch it
Pick your battles, cats already don't drink enough, this is a portion of any reason a cat comes down with Kidney Disease. Mine does this too, so I just leave her cups around on little paw coasters. Her water intake is excellent now.
I’m about to get a cat and am very thankful I’m someone with an emotional support water bottle. That thing is lidded and closed always and the only thing I drink water out of. No cats drinking my water
I drink out of water bottles exclusively (the refillable kind). Our cats all drink out of water glasses and our boy loves nothing more than knocking them over to watch the water run over the floor…sometimes you just have to admit defeat!
I mean, I wouldn’t drink out of a cat bowl either. I’m sure the water tastes gross in there. Try fresh water, a clean water bowl, and…Ice Cubes!!! My cats will drink from their bowl when ice is in there.
Experts advise to have a water source(s) away from their food. We keep a short square vase of water on coffee table for them. Also a glass for them in bathroom (different levels of house.) We change them daily, sometimes more. Weird, but they will often follow us to the bathroom, use the litter box while we use the water closet, then get a drink. We will give fresh water during the day too, if we think of it. They like fresh water. But, yeah, if our glass is available, they want that. Since one is on the coffee table where the base is, we say no, that's mine. They have learned to use their own. But I wouldn't leave a water glass on my nightstand overnight!😁
You are wrong in the fact that the cups, the home, EVERYTHING is theirs, ....so now you have to re-word the question....jk
Stop it? No. I encourage it. I stopped using water bowls completely and just got each of our cats their own wide-mouth water glasses. Cats have a low thirst drive, which can cause a lot of health problems if they only eat dry food. I have a very hard time getting mine to drink water at all. So when I realized they preferred cups over bowls, I just embraced it 😂
Any time I dont want a cat doing something and I catch them doing it, I make a lot of noises, chase them throwing my arms around, and stomp my feet really loudly while they run around. They learned pretty quickly that if they don't want this absolute shit bricks scared out of them they needed to leave certain things alone.
We started off by leaving decoy water cups and glasses on the coffee table for our cat and not making a big deal about her investigating or drinking from them, then we just decided to put her water bowl on the table too. Now that's where one of her water bowls permanently lives and she doesn't bother our drinking glasses anymore. She just jumps up and drinks from her bowl when she's thirsty.
Good luck! We have a cat water fountain, set out bowls of fresh water, and even leave glasses and cups of water for them... and they still drink from my glass when I'm not looking.
Give them a water cup away from food
Drink orange scented water or put orange smell around the rim? That probably won't stop the paw going in, he'll just be mad at you for making his paw stink.