Water Snob
Earlier today, while relaxing, I watched an episode of the Dog Whisperer. I don’t even own a dog but I enjoy watching this show. This particular episode featured a dog owner who was concerned about the fact that he couldn’t get his dog to eat very much or drink water. Maybe this dog owner should move to Arizona because living in the desert everyone appreciates having water to drink.
I’ve never seen an animal who wouldn’t drink water*, but I do have two cats who are quite particular about the water they drink. Maybe they get that from me? I consider myself a water connoisseur, but some people might think of me as a water snob. I prefer my water to have a particular taste. If it doesn’t taste right or smell right I don’t like drinking it. Here in Arizona we have hard water so it helps to have a water softener.
My cats are not so much concerned about the taste of their water, they are more concerned about its location and proximity to other things. For instance, Miss Ellie, my 17-year-old cat, prefers to drink water outdoors. She comes in the back door and there is food and water right there waiting for her inside. She will eat the food and then want to go back to outdoors. I opened the door for her and the first thing she does upon exiting the house is to drink the water outside on the back patio. She won’t drink from the water next to her food dish in the house, even though it’s the same water that’s in her dish outside. My other cat, GG, the six-year-old fraidy-cat, gets very upset if there is no water available for her in the bathroom. She has access to the food dish and a water dish in the kitchen, but she will only drink the water that’s in the dish we keep for her in the hall bathroom. Again, it’s the same water in both containers. Go figure!
*I once rescued a baby rabbit from the hillside where I lived in San Diego. It was a wild rabbit and I soon discovered that they do not drink water at all. They get all the moisture they need from the plants they eat.
I think that cats are extra strange when it comes to water. My late Max cat was convinced that any water in my glass was the absolutely best in the whole wide world. And periodically, he would insist on water from the bathroom basin. Only if desperate would he drink out of his own water bowl.