Glug, glug, glug.
I looked up from my computer to see my cat, Sydney, with his face shoved in my water glass.
He's been there for a while.
Every few minutes, he pulls his face out, looks at me, licks his lips, and back in his head goes.
I know his water bowl is full - I can hear it bubbling from the other room.
I can't imagine this way of drinking water is more comfortable than drinking out of a bowl.
He doesn't have to travel very far - his water bowl is only ten feet away.
I'd say this is just an eccentricity of Sydney's - but his sister, Skittles, does it too. And so does every other cat I've ever met.
So, of course, I asked Google - because the Internet can answer a lot of questions.
But -
No, he doesn't dislike his water bowl - I see him drink out of it all the time.
No, he isn't dehydrated.
No, my cats don't fight over the water bowl, making him uncomfortable drinking out of it.
No, he isn't sick.
No, I'm not going to train him. I couldn't train him not to scratch the furniture - I doubt this would go any better.
An interesting theory is that cats, in the wild, keep their resources separate - meaning they don't want their water near their "kill."
My consensus?
Sydney,
along with every other cat in the world,
is just a bit odd.
I would agree. I can't keep either of my cats out of my glass. They will drink from the water bowl, but they much prefer mine. I liken it to my children when they were little. They always wanted a taste, a bite, a sip of whatever was mine. Cats are so independent. I think they just want to show us, "I can do whatever I want to do" and really, can we do anything about it? Nope.
ReplyDeleteAnd we love them anyway :-)
DeleteI like to say they are "special" :-) My niece's cat does the same thing! It's so cute!
ReplyDeleteIt is, unless you wanted to drink that water! :-)
DeleteI watch a friend's dog, and when we go, Cubbie the cat always insists on a drink from the sink before we leave. So yes, I turn the faucet on a for a bit and he gulps and drinks from there as much as he can until I turn it off. They are entertaining and fascinating creatures!
ReplyDeleteMy cat growing up, Samantha, loved our kitchen sink and would lap at the faucet. Sydney, the one in the picture, loves sticking his face in glasses. His sister, Skittles, doesn't have any weird water eccentricities, but she LOVES to eat off of forks and spoons! :-)
DeleteI love it that you Googled this particular behavior! We have six cats (!!) and only one of them sticks her face in the glass, but she does it every time she thinks she's unsupervised. We have another one who loves to drink from a glass too--only she dips her foot in and drinks water off her foot. Super efficient! I definitely love the Internet's advice to train our cats. Did the person writing that ever meet a cat??? Thanks for this fun post this morning!
ReplyDeleteI Google everything! There is always someone out there smarter than me.
DeleteWhen we first got our cats, my husband was hell bent on training them. That lasted about a day. :-) Glad you enjoyed!
I love pondering the wonderful qualities that make cats cats! No open cup of water is safe in our home! I read somewhere that cats prefer running water and one of ours loves to drink out of the running sink water. My son's cat splashes its water all over the place. Not sure what that's about but it's a bit annoying. Thanks for indulging my love of all things feline--including slices!
ReplyDeleteNo open cup of water OR glass placed anywhere near the edge of tables/counters, or off they go! I could tell a cat story a day, that's for sure! Thanks for commenting!
DeleteMy parents' cat, Moe, does this, too! Moe is legitimately a bit funny in the head--he believes he is ACTUALLY the world's first, 12 pound, tiger-striped Golden Retriever...
ReplyDeleteSydney, the cat above, is perfectly happy being a cat. His sister, Skittles, believes she's a dog - the fetching, drooling, scratch my belly variety. She's even more of a knucklehead than he is - and I love them both! <3
DeleteMaybe he likes to drink out of your glass because he thinks you want to share! That's such a funny picture; and I love all your musings about Sydney!
ReplyDeleteHe's a character for sure!
DeleteYup, this is what people do: "So, of course, I asked Google - because the Internet can answer a lot of questions." And yup, they are odd.
ReplyDeleteI ask Google all the time - I know what I don't know :-)
DeleteCats are quirky, that is for sure. I am pretty sure it's a territorial thing- what's your's is mine! Yeah, training cats- been there not done that too. Thanks for sharing your cat!
ReplyDeleteI love their quirkiness! People are always amazed at how friendly and sweet Sydney is - everyone seems to have a crazy cat story from their childhood!
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