Cats and Water Fountains: Miki, Minnie & Nara Test the Waters

Hi, I'm Dr. Maja! Read my introduction to learn more about me and Miki, the kitten who made me a cat person.

Cats are weirdos, whichever way you look at it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore them and can’t imagine my life without them now, but they can be so strange when dealing with new and strange objects and changes. And drinking. They are just terrible at drinking, and unfortunately one of mine, Miki, is a fan of dry food and an “avoider” of all things wet. Trying to think ahead and plan for the future, and doing all I can on my end to encourage my cats to drink plenty and try to keep their kidneys healthy, especially Miki’s, I have decided to invest in water fountains. And their reactions to it were pretty fun to observe and anything but expected.

Minnie Leads the Way to Change

I placed the first water fountain downstairs, and as soon as I turned it on, there was Minnie, looking at it in a puzzled way, like only she can. Then she approached it and tried to paw at it because if you don’t know what to do with something, get your “paws dirty.” And within 30 minutes, she realized this was actually a pretty decent water source and not all that bad. Her openness to new things and lack of fear in general, or maybe just lack of common sense in many things, helps the other two cats cope with change more quickly. Minnie seems to prefer this particular water fountain to the water bowl that is placed right next to it, and the more choice there is, the better.

Nara Is the Cautious One

Nara took a bit longer to accept the strange new object squirting water from the top. She approached it cautiously and did her best to stay at the safest possible distance while trying to sniff at it. It took her a few days to work up enough courage to try drinking from it. However, she still prefers to drink from the dogs’ bowl. With her being such a scaredy cat, that doesn't surprise me at all, and she may have been drinking from the other two fountains placed on the other floors when no one is looking. And to make things more interesting, I added a water fountain that is battery-powered and motion sensor activated, and that one seemed to provoke the most interest from the kittens. It’s placed in the loft, so it’s difficult to know how much they use it, but the water level is slowly reducing on a daily basis, which is a good sign.

Miki Took the Longest

And finally, Miki. He does like to drink his water, and will sometimes drink for a few minutes at a time, taking little breaks, sitting next to the water bowl. He’s done this since kittenhood. Then I usually know he’s had a big meal outside, of origins I’d rather not guess. He sniffed at the fountains and looked at the water flowing, but it wasn’t until several days passed that I saw him drinking from it. And he will choose a fountain over a water bowl anytime, which makes me very happy.

It’s All About the Water

By placing water bowls and water fountains on each floor, I’m hoping to entice the cats to have a drink anytime they are passing up and down, playing and chasing each other around, and running up the stairs. The kittens are less of a worry when it comes to drinking, as they love their wet food and it’s impossible to keep them fed sufficiently; they can eat all the time. On the other hand, Miki is a “dry food kind of guy,” and will rarely eat some wet food when he feels like it, so it seems he will benefit the most from the water fountains. And the dogs, of course. From their perspective, it just makes more sense to drink from a small water fountain with moving water than from a large dog water bowl.  Lucky for the dogs, the cats don’t mind sharing their water.

All in all, it seems all three cats have accepted the presence of water fountains as something entirely normal in our house now, and even if it only encourages them to drink marginally more than they have been so far, I find the goal has been accomplished. Kidneys do come first, after all.