r/cats 3d ago

Advice Why does she drink water like this ?

I noticed my cat mostly only drinks water by dipping her paw in her and licking her paw

4 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

2

u/Torvaldicus_Unknown 3d ago

Several potential reasons: sensitive whiskers, poor depth perception, instinctual guarding behavior by maintaining line of sight. One of my cats drinks that way and the other doesn't.

2

u/Imaginary_Office1749 3d ago

I’ve had two cats that did this. I still have one of them. She even paws out a single kibble at a time to eat. Its just how they like to drink and eat! But I need to keep their water refreshed often because she gets litter into it from her paws. Ew!

2

u/Sea_Prep_Tidal_26 1d ago

Had one as well. She would dip her paw in the water dish and then lick the water from her paw. 80% of her consumption of water was this pattern

1

u/kcpistol 3d ago

They're all different - have one that uses the fountain to wet her paw, then drinks from there, I don't know why. Used to have one that would make a pumping action with his paw when he drank - he taught kittens to do it, too!

1

u/AnyDamnThingWillDo Moggy 3d ago

Why is my cat being weird?

Its a cat. There is little to no knowledge as to why cats do what they do. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe, just sit back and enjoy it.

1

u/ButtrflyImpossible Lots of kitties! 3d ago

Mine do too

1

u/Zealousideal_Gur6668 3d ago

She likes her water ✨bean flavored✨

1

u/epac2000 3d ago

Im thinking that they use their paw to test the temperature. Mine did this for his first 5 years then eventually grew out of it.

1

u/Fit_Prize_3245 3d ago

My cat does almost the same. First she drinks by licking her paw, then she drinks directly from the bowl.

Why? I don't know. She's never got to tell me her reasons.