Waterworld

Boy, I tell you. It is always something with cats.

In the last couple of months Willow decided that the water bowl is her personal plaything. I'd fill it up in the mornings, and she would respond by sitting by it, pawing in the water until the bowl was mostly emptied all over the floor. I kept the bowl on the tile floor downstairs, but still.

A huge lake of water on the way to the couch was not a good situation. I skidded through puddles several times and nearly killed myself.

To say nothing of the fact that the other cats never got a chance to take a drink. The bowl was usually empty by the time they got to it, unless they wised up and ran down there to drink first. Percy usually got to it first, but after him, Willow would take over.

She didn't just paw and aerate the water. She would swipe her paw through the water with such force that it would arc out of the bowl and splash across the floor. And she would sit there and watch it, so I know she knew exactly what she was doing.

She eventually lost interest in her own bowl and started seeking out Tess' water bowl upstairs as it is bigger and metal, and I don't know, maybe she liked to look at her reflection while she was soaking my carpet.

Two instances of a completely soaked carpet prompted me to either keep Tess' bowl outside, or on top of the dresser. I'd put it down periodically in the evenings so Tess could drink.

Willow managed to get up on the dresser, despite the obstacles I set up to block the bowl and still ended up drenching the books sitting on my dresser.

Boy, was I mad.

And also, she's not allowed up there in the first place. The placement of a water bowl does not change the rules just because she is so damn spoiled that she thinks a water bowl means she can play in it, no matter what.

After I managed to keep Tess' bowl completely out of range, she went back to the smaller bowl. Day after day of wet tile was starting to get on my nerves. Then she started doing it at night too. As soon as I went to bed. I'd turn out the light, close my eyes, and like clockwork, I'd hear bloop, bloop, bloop! SPLASH!

She earned her nights in her kennel after that.

Needless to say I was getting super frustrated. I started supervising the water drinking, and removing the bowls when I wasn't home. Or if I didn't feel like watching the bowls, I'd stuff Willow in her cage. It wasn't a good situation. The cats couldn't drink whenever they wanted, and really, I couldn't just keep Willow in her cage indefinitely. Plus, making sure everyone got enough water was a full time job.

Who's codependent, me or the cats?

So finally I went online, looking for a solution. I typed into my friend Google, "How to stop cat from playing in the water bowl."

There were a ton of sites addressing this apparently very common issue.

Sheesh, if there is an issue out there, one of my cats has it or will develop it. As soon as I solve one issue, they develop another stupid habit.

Every site suggested purchasing a kitty water fountain, and one site went so far as to tell me that if I'm not currently using a fountain, I'm severely endangering my cats' health because only a fountain can ensure they ingest enough water. Cats like their water fresh, aerated, and moving, and how dare I still use a bowl which infringes on their ability to drink properly?

Well, I was really more concerned with the fact that I really don't have the time to sit around monitoring water drinking, and if I don't monitor it, Willow will empty the entire bowl on the floor and everyone will go thirsty anyway.

So I took a chance and went out to purchase a fountain. It's really cute. It's a little bucket with a water pump attached to the bottom that pushes the water up through a filter and a plastic daisy to form four streams of water, and a pool bubbling out the middle. It wasn't overly expensive, and I didn't want one of those fountains that cascades into a bowl. I think that would just exacerbate the issue. Then not only would Willow have moving water to flick around, she would still have a pool that she could swish her paw through, splattering water to the other side of the room. Plus there would be twice as much water, and she could do it all day long before the stupid thing would finally be empty.

I shuddered at the thought of that mess.

I brought the fountain home, assembled it, plugged it in, and stood back to gauge everyone's reaction.

Percy was immediately in love. He marched right over and began to suck down water like he hadn't seen any in a week. Which he probably hadn't. That poor cat drinks a gallon of water a day. People ask me if he's diabetic, but he's not. He drinks a gallon, pees a gallon, and then starts all over again. And with the recent issue of not having water constantly available to him, thanks to Willow, he probably wasn't getting enough.

So Percy was thrilled.

Willow, on the other hand, was terrified of the thing. Go figure. She wouldn't go near it. And Puckett was just too fat and lazy to haul her ass up to the kitchen where I had the fountain plugged in, so I still had to leave a water bowl out for the girls over the weekend. I figured it was fine, as I was home all weekend and could watch.

Willow doused the floor twice in the two seconds my back was turned, and I decided, "You know what? You can either get used to the fountain, or die of dehydration." It's not like she's drinking the water out of the bowl anyway. She just wants to make a mess.

I removed the bowl and ignored the irritated looks I got from both Puckett and Willow. Puckett eventually gave the cat equivalent of a shrug and gave the fountain a try. She seemed to be fine with it and went on with her life. It took Willow a day longer to finally resign herself to the fact that she is now going to have to live without a water bowl and drink from a fresh stream of aerated water.

The horror.

You'd think I was asking her to actually get in the fountain and take a bath. The drama involved when anything tiny changes around these cats. It's like the world has ended and things will never be the same.

When I last left them, all three had happily partaken in the water of the fountain and seemed quite content with it. Plus, no one has to take turns anymore. They can all drink at the same time. So I'm hoping this will solve the latest issue.

Until Willow comes up with something else stupid.

And don't worry, she will.