I need a spillproof Kitty bowl!

[lovetoscrap]

Frick and Frack (not their real names) in my signature LOVE to play in their water bowl. The gray one will instantly tip the bowl over as soon as it is filled, flooding the floor and leaving them without water. If any is left they gather around and splash each other with it.

I switched yesterday to one of those pet fountains that recirculates the water. It is much heavier so impossible to knock over, right? WRONG. The still splash each other so I put a towel under it. Frack figured out if she grabs the towel with her claws or teeth and pulls it makes all the water spill. Then the tank with the extra water makes noise and bubbles and they LOVE that. They emptied that fountain twice and soaked through 3 towels this morning. When I removed the towels they just discovered that they can paw the center part of the fountain and make it rock, and spill.

So on to plan C. I put down a heavy glass pie dish-- wide and flat and harder to flip. First I put the towel under it but Frack just started pulling on the towel again to get it to spill. I removed the towel and she is currently experimenting to see how hard she has to step on the edge of it to get it to tip.



Anyone have any recommendations on a spill proof bowl? DH is an engineer so I emailed him for suggestions and all I got back from him was . Lot of help he was.

 

[izzy]

I have a cat who LOVES water. No matter what I did, she would get water all over the floor and it was even turning my linoleum yellow. I finally resorted to putting her water bowl in the bathtub of my second bathroom. This way she can play to her heart's content and the water is contained in one area. We're both happy.

 

[lovetoscrap]

That is a GREAT idea! I hadn't thought of that. I have a shower downstairs that we don't use and they love to go in there. Of course I will be filling it every few hours!

 

[HelenePA]

My upstairs bathtub has a slow drip.. its the only place/way they will drink water. I dont even put a water dish down anymore I got tired of them spilling it for fun. they never drank out of it anyway..

 

[scrapquitler]

I have a kitty who likes to flip the water dish. I used to use one of those plastic dishes with a 1.5 liter square reservoir that sits in it...works great for all my cats except the water dish flipper...once he flipped that thing over once, I got rid of it. Now I use a 2 quart squarish casserole dish for water...its heavy enough that he can't flip it over and spill it. Now he just uses his paw to swat the water out of the dish and onto the floor , but at least it doesn't all get spilled.

 

[Silent1CB]

I use a Corning French White casserole dish. 2 actually. She stands in them & scratches or swims. Strange cat. I have towels too & she does same thing with spilling the water.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have two really large dog bowls....they are much wider on the bottom than on the top, and they have a nice rubberized gripper on the bottom of the bowl. My three cats used to be bowl tippers, but no longer. And even though they still like to 'play' a bit, it doesn't make much mess simply because the bowl is so large.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I thought that cats hated water! Our last kitty was so well behaved. She never did stuff like these get into. These two are making a room full of toddlers look easy to handle .

The light colored one LOVES to get in the shower when we are done and will play in there forever. They both want to get their paws wet and play in the water all the time. It just cracks us up, but I have had it with the water all over the floor, and I really worry about them not getting enough water to drink.

They will also knock over any water glasses left around. My kids are terrible about leaving a glass of water on the counter or the table. They knock it off, and play in the water and bat the glass around if it didn't break.

 

[momrek06]

Found this on the internet when my DS was having this same problem with his cat.

Why do some cats insist on tipping over their water dish, or take food out of the dish and drop it on the floor to eat?
Most cats do not like to eat or drink out of bowls if the sides touch their whiskers. Also, if a bowl is too deep, the cat may take the food out for convenience. A wider, shallower bowl will probably eliminate this behavior.

Why do some cats insist on drinking from a dripping faucet?
Cats - like most other animals - prefer their food and water fresh, and running water is most appealing for that reason. Too, the motion of water coming out of a faucet is probably appealing to their sense of hearing and sight. Some cats will even put their paw into their water dish and "swirl" it around so they can drinking "running" water.

 

[tiggger1]

I switched yesterday to one of those pet fountains that recirculates the water.

Sorry to be off topic but which one did you use? My male cat will not drink water from a regular bowl, he has to drink from the running water from the sink, he is meow loudly for you to go in and turn on the water or run into the bathroom when he thinks you are going in... Of course I cannot find one anywhere that is not super expensive!

 

[lovetoscrap]

We had this one for our last kitty, we got it when she developed Kidney disease. It is a PetMate. I don't remember how much it cost but I am pretty sure it was under $100. We actually have 2 so I know we didn't pay too much! We got it at the pet store.

They LOVE the running water from the fountain, but they love it so much they do more playing than drinking. Thanks for finding that information momrek06--that is all very interesting.

Now can you tell mw why they follow me around mewing all day long? They have food, water, a clean litter box, and lots of play time. Yet they act like they have been neglected for weeks the way they mew so pitifully!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I'm a dog person and cats absolutely crack me up ! They are so silly.

 

[Imzadi]

(Sorry OP. )

My upstairs bathtub has a slow drip.. its the only place/way they will drink water. I dont even put a water dish down anymore I got tired of them spilling it for fun. they never drank out of it anyway..

Yes, my bathroom faucet has a slow drip too. Luckily, I don't live in a drought area and have to fix it. Kitty is under there quite a bit drinking. She absolutely loves it.


OP, they do make heavy, weighted dog bowls.

 

[TOTALLYGOOFY]

Sounds like you need to build a small water park in the bathroom for our cat. Don't forget a water slide and lazy river !

We placed a ball in the tub for entertainment for our cat. You would hear the ball bouncing around at all hours of the day. Once our tub faucet had a drip and the drain stopper was closed. There she was standing in the water over her paws trying to play. She looked up to say "What?"
Priceless !

 

[TnTsParty]

I also have 2 cats who are bowl tippers. The older one likes to reach out and pull it closer to him therefore spilling the water out and the kitten (well his now 10 months old so not so much a kitten anymore) well he likes to put his foot on the edge of bowl and tip it over and then drink the water off the floor. So I sympathize with tipped water bowls.

 

[flying_babyb]

they make weighted dog bowls. They work great. I had to have one for awile since my cat used to be sassy! Then we moved to a aparment with a drip, funny thing is, the bowl stays full longer (and the bathroom sink is useless around the big ball of black fur!)

 

[mckryan]

I use these bowls for my dogs - http://www.petoria.com/catalog.aspx?CategoryID=130. Of couse, if kitties don't like their wiskers to touch the sides, they might not like these. But, they are great because it keeps my dogs from dunking their beards and sloshing water everywhere.

 

[Jockaroo]

I use these bowls for my dogs - http://www.petoria.com/catalog.aspx?CategoryID=130. Of couse, if kitties don't like their wiskers to touch the sides, they might not like these. But, they are great because it keeps my dogs from dunking their beards and sloshing water everywhere.

Christa, thanks for that link. I swear I think my Scottie's beard is part "Shamwow" and can absorb 100 times its own weight--then let loose a flowing river across the living room.

I was going to sugest one of the rubber-based shallow stainless dog bowls. I do know that with cats, you do want to avoid using plastic bowls since it can cause kitty chin acne. My dog has the Corning French White bowls for her water. Just an idea, but could you get a rubber-backed bath mat to put under the water bowls instead of a bath towel? This might be harder for the cat to reposition.

FYI: my childhood cat would only drink from the drippy faucets.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I have corning bowls also for the cats! I tried some non skid stuff but that didn't help. I also got a tray to put under the bowls but they just tip them so that it goes everywhere.

I will look in the dog section next time I am at the pet store. I never go down those aisles! All the cat bowls are small and dainty so I didn't think about looking at dog bowls.

 

[MIGrandma]

My cat will no longer drink water from a bowl on the floor.

No, she prefers fresh water in the bathroom sink several times a day.

In the morning she's in there, on the counter by the sink, meowing for DH or myself to plug the sink and run a bit of water for her. She'll drink, then leave. We do this probably 4-5 times throughout the day (mostly in the morning - she's probably thirsty since we don't get up in the night to give her fresh water!).

I think it's odd because she used to drink from her bowl on the floor, then one day she started begging for water in the sink.