Can somebody 'splain me a behavior?

[badgerpup]

Esme drops food into the water dish.
I'VE CAUGHT HER DOING IT.
At first I thought the water dish was too close to the food, and food was getting accidently kicked in somehow, so I moved it about two feet away. Then I SAW the little rat take a piece of food in her mouth, WALK over to the water dish, and crunch it up, dropping bits into the freshly placed bowl. :grr:

I've changed the water bowl three times because I thought she was protesting about the type...
we've had a self-refilling kind (with a gallon bottle of water), a plastic dish, and an aluminium dish. All of them, she drops food in them, makes the water all disgusting and cloudy.
:nuke:
I don't know if she's trying to tell me something, or this is just a 'behavior'...but she's the only one doing it and it's really annoying.
It's gotten to where the other cats will come and get me because the water in the dish is all fouled and disgusting and they'd like a DRINK, please...
and I'd put fresh water down just that morning and it's only afternoon. :banghead:

[elleng]

1. FUNNY!!!

(to me, anyway!)

YOU think its 'disgusting and cloudy,' but she doesn't! Maybe she's doing it 'cause her 'friends' don't like it?

I have NO experience with cats. Have fun!

[japple]

2. Maybe she's trying to tell you she wants wet food! My cats put

their toys in their water bowls every so often, but none have ever put dry cat food in their water. Funny Esme.

[Warpy]

6. That's my take on it. She's tired of all that damned kibble

In any case, swapping over to tinned food for a few weeks might break her of the habit. In any case, going to water dishes set out fresh every morning is a better idea than those self filling jobbies anyway unless you're going on vacation. Water in the tank gets stagnant and foul after a while and trust me, the cats notice these things.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. My cats put thier toys in the water bowl..and also in their food dishes when they are done eating.

The only thing that comes to mind immediately is that the cat is trying to wet the food....
I think it is some kind of instinctual behavior.

Try giving her some wet food and see what happens with it.

[badgerpup]

4. They do get wet food every so now and then as a treat...

...and depending upon what it is, Esme will eat some of it.
It's usually Fancy Feast or Temptations or something really ritzy I can get for a very good price at the local bargain store, and one small can or little fancy container can be divided between two of them quite nicely.
Regular Friskies et al of just about any flavor doesn't interest her (or any of them) as much as plain ol' TUNA WATER! :bounce: :9

They all seem to prefer the fish flavors above everything else. Chicken is acceptable, but the turkey gets a LOOK...
and then it gets 'buried' and ignored until the resident housekeeper (me) gets the message and removes the offending material. :puke:

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I just did a google on t hat question, and the consensus is that the cat is

actually trying to hide the food....perhaps for later consumption. They do the same thing with toys they drop in the water. They also hide unfinished food by putting toys on their food dishes. I have seen this with my own cats.

One suggestion was to move the water dish away from the food dish....not sure it is worth the effort to bother.
I just dump the water and refill the bowl.

PS Stainless steel or enamel are supposed to be the best dishes for food and water. Plastic gets scratches...and the scratches
holds onto the dirt and create bacteria colonies that can lead to feline acne. Even if you have a dishwasher, plastic is not recommended.
Aluminum can leach into water. Not healthy.

Also make sure the bowls are low and wide so the cat's whiskers do not touch the side of the dish.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=37E30981-B826-41B9-8D16-CB41BD168335&click=124&9gtype=search&
Great bowl. Could not get image to show

This is a very interesting concept....
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Wetnoz-Urban-Pet-Bowls/313040.aspx

The unique 'pill' shaped Urban dish conforms ergonomically to a dog's mouth. The dish placed inline with a dog's body conforms ergonomically to their mouth and allows ears to fall outside of the bowl. The Urban Dish can also provide relief to cats with hyper-sensitive whiskers. The dish is placed perpendicular to a cat's body reducing sensitive whisker contact.Wetnoz Urban Dish



http://www.petco.com/product/104569/PETCO-Stainless-Steel-Striped-Cat-Bowl.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Cat-_-PETCO-_-1060155&mr:trackingCode=B0E8EB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA


http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3436973&utm_source=googleproductad&utm_campaign=3436973&utm_medium=cse&GANTrackingID=pets_59992629




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOUND THIS_
DUNKING FAVORITE TOYS IN FOOD OR WATER BOWL

Has your cat ever dropped his favorite catnip mouse or rubber fetching ball in his water bowl? Or, have you gone to re-fill his food bowl, only to find a special toy of his right in the middle? It just might be that your cat is trying to find a "safe" place for his favorite things. It often happens that the toy that ends up in the water or food bowl is often a toy that has recently been enjoyed by your cat, or even by your cat with you. In the wild, cats often take their prey back to their "nest" area, and hide it from predators. Indoor cats don't really have a "nest" per se, so they often consider their food and water dishes as the "safest" areas within their "territory".

[badgerpup]

9. Well, let's see how THIS works...

I've gotten rid of the fancy Sparkletts^TM drinking bowl (only got it when D'Artagnan joined us because I thought a plain dish would NOT be sufficient for 5 cats) and replaced it with a large aluminium one...she dropped food in the plastic one as well.

It's not just that it messes up the water and the other cats come and complain about it- no, they really do...they come and MEOW at me until I go into the kitchen, check out the water bowl, say a few bad words, clean it out*, put fresh water down...and only THEN do they deign to delicately drink.
The food on the floor attracts ants and I'm getting really tired of that particular battle as well. Ants belong OUTSIDE. :banghead:


*I'd clean it out anyway...water dishes get slimy on the bottom from drool-drip.
Got some people for whom I work who think all they need to do is fill up their cat's water dish...
I've cleaned it out a time or two and it wasn't pretty. :yoiks::puke:

[Walk away]

7. My Robbie drops food and treats in the big kitchen water bowl...then digs out all the water...

with his front paws (all over the floor) and then eats the soggy morsel. I always thought he figured out it was fun. I learned to put a big fluffy bath towel under the water dish. Good pet owner!

[spooky3]

8. All the cats I've ever had like the water dish in the bathroom and the food dish in the kitchen.

I always figured it is some type of kitty religion.