Kitty OCD
cats November 14th, 2009Meet Shadow. She’s a sweetheart, but she’s got a problem.
She only wants to drink water directly from the faucet.
Since she developed this little habit, it’s become near impossible to function in the kitchen.
Whenever my husband or I walks into the kitchen, she follows.
Whenever we’re washing our hands or rinsing a dish, she’s there.
Whenever she hears the garage door open, she’s on the counter. Waiting.
At 5:00AM, like clockwork, she’s nudging us out of bed. When I get up, she runs downstairs to sit in the sink.
I oblige her. Again.
We figured it’d be easy to break her of the habit if we never turned the water on for her. Or so we thought.
All that does is make her smash her face, over and over, into the spigot and give us that wanting look. And so we give in. She once got an eye infection, we assume because of this smashing behavior. The tip of the faucet can’t be that clean.
I know they make pet water dishes that produce a steady stream of water, but we don’t think that’ll be good enough for her. When she does decide to drink from a bowl, she pushes it all over the floor and dumps half of it.
Must go. I feel eyes burning a hole through the back of my head. She’s in the sink again.
So let’s hear it. In what ways do your pets rule your household?
Stumble it!
November 15th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Right now, there is a lizard in my house (uninvited and not a pet!) and that lizard is ruling my every movement.
.-= Sherry @ EX Marks the Spot´s last blog ..PH: It’s About Music! =-.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Toby is our cat. Toby drinks from the toilet. Toby sleeps next to me on the bed with his head on my pillow. Toby wakes us up at 6:00 am every day, he does not take weekends off even though we would like to. Toby sits at the dinner table and watches us eat and converse, we do slip him little tidbits of dinner. Toby thinks he is a human.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
My cat wants to go outside. All.the.time. She’s supposed to be an indoor cat. She slips outside and about 10 minutes later, now that it is getting colder, she goes to the front door and waits for us to open it. Again. Like we always do. Because she has us trained.
.-= Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings´s last blog ..Somedays are for being cranky =-.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Angel Kitty refuses to move from her position holding down the covers on the bathroom door side of my bed so if I have to get up to pee I have to walk around the bed, and I usually trip over something. She also purrs with her nose on my nose when I’m sleeping and she wants to be petted, normally around 3AM. And she likes her water bowl to be full to the top so she can stick her paws in it and dump it. She also prefers to be called Queen Angelique Muffin, and referrs to the rest of us as “peasants.”
.-= Kim´s last blog ..Forgotten Holiday: Thanksgiving =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Our dumb dog eats toilet paper – we have to hide the roll of tp, so as a result the kids are always yelling “mom, come wipe my butt!” (not really, just though it sounded funny)
Sheila
.-= sheila sultani´s last blog ..Are you Blogging Effectively? =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Ha, yes. Cats, huh? LOL!
So now we only have greyhounds, but no animal does ‘the eyes’ like a greyhound. They are past masters at it. If your greyhound wants something, they will bore a hole right through your skull and out the other side. And woe betide anyone who ignores that, because they’re likely to fall over a 33kg body slumped right across whichever doorway you happen to want to pass through. And they can move as is they’ve been teleported – you think you’ll go round the other way? Forget it. In that ten seconds it takes to cross the room to another door, they’ve relocated.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:26 am
My cat, BB, will read to me when it’s time to get up (at least it’s not as early as 5am … you poor folks). Whatever book is laying on my nightstand, paperback or hardcover, she will try to flip the pages of it like she’s digging in her litter box. Arghhhhhh.
.-= Jenny Poust´s last blog ..A Lehigh Valley Ribbon Cutting =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
My cat pushes the water bowl all over the kitchen floor too. If we leave the faucet dripping she will drink from it but she’s content to drink from the bowl otherwise, but not without making a huge mess.
She’s the most socially needy cat I’ve ever had. And if she feels neglected (it’s been more than 2 mins since her last ear scritchin’) she has taken to laying on her back in the middle of the floor with all of her paws sticking straight up. Why she does this? Probably because we accidentally taught her that this will get our attention. Can’t help it, it’s funny.
She also greets me at the door as soon as I get home from work. And when she hears my daughter coming in from school, she runs like a maniac to sit right at the door until she gets in.
If I give her a can of food, instead of dry, she only licks the gravy off the meat and then yowls that she’s starving while there’s a bowl full of perfectly good meat just sitting there.
As soon as I pull a can of tuna from the cabinet, she’s all over me. We let her clean the can. If we don’t, she’ll tip the trash can over to get to it. It’s just easier to indulge her.
I have to pull up the blinds to let her look out the window during the day or she will destroy them.
What else? Oh yea, I can’t have friends over because she hisses at them the entire time they are there. Even the ones she should know by now. She’s such a mama’s girl.
Whew. That was a long comment. I should’ve just said that she controls me. Because she does.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:53 am
How funny..did she start out doing that. they said it’s hard to teach on old dog new tricks, It must be hard to teach the cat,lol.
.-= AuntieE´s last blog ..Time to Update to Greener Appliances =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
So I suppose you’ve got enough entries to submit something of serious quality to that Cats In Sinks blog, eh?
November 16th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Oh my that’s funny. If you want her to stop you could try that bitter apple spray they sell in pet stores. My dog likes to pee on my daughters drapes so that’s fun.
.-= Jill@modernmommyblog´s last blog ..Another Black Friday =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
How about a dog, who after licking the water bowl dry, slams it into every imaginable thing she can find to bang it on? Or who sits on the floor at the end of the ned and whimpers until you let her up on it, so she can sleep on your feet, but when you wake up, she is on your chest?
Some people try to sneak off alone in their house to get away from their kids. My wife and i do it to get away from the dogs.
But still they find us.
.-= Chris Casey´s last blog ..New Fish, New beginnings =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Kathy:
Ah, yes, we have cat too. Her name is Trixie and she is seventeen years old. An old cat lady.
We got Trixie for our dearest and youngest little daughter. But now our daughter has moved away to her adulthood and, of course, Trixie remains home with us.
Trixie always sits with her back to us. We don’t know why. We try to bribe her with various things: anti-hairball food, senior formula, milk, but we only get her backside. She acts like she is oblivious to our presence. In fact, she is the absolute personification of a cat-saying I once read: Matter, antimatter and it doesn’t matter.
But, hey, we’re so happy that your cat loves you so much.
Happy trails.
.-= Swubird´s last blog ..BOUNCING BOOB HEAVEN =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Well, in our house it’s pretty equal. While the cat is trained to not climb on any food surface (counter and table) we are trained to pet her whenever she demands it, and make space for her on the couch when she wants to sleep there between us. The dog (Irish Wolfhound) has learned many commands, but we have learned more. He will stare at a morsel of food, until we give it to him. He will come to us the stare in our face until we pet him, scratch him, brush him, or let him out. If he wants to play, we have to play now. If he doesn’t want to play, he stands there ans looks at us all dignified.
They both have a time schedule of when we are supposed to go to bed and get up, and will enforce it by meowing, barking, walking across the face or cold nosing the back of the neck.
Yes, they tag team us shamelessly.
.-= Susan Montgomery´s last blog ..Baltimore Irish Festival =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
My cat May loves to sleep in my bed, to the point where throughout the night I end up jammed up against the wall or sleeping on the far edge of my bed with no blankets.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
My adult cat Smokey refuses to drink out of his water bowl, fresh water or not he doesn’t care. He stays on the side of my shower until I am done and then hops in to drink that water and the kitten loves to only drink from our sink too. I don’t understand why they are so picky! LOL
.-= Brandy´s last blog ..Five For Fighting Giveaway Winner =-.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Data Entry Services — Shadow was a rescue too! Yea for us! If Sam is a fan of pig ear, I am a fan of his. Tell him I said so.
Sherri — What is it with cats and toilets? I thought they were supposed to want to be clean!
Marg Elmendorf — With 20 cats, I really can’t imagine you doing much else than serving their needs. You must have been a cat in a previous life and been treated really well!
Pricilla — You’d better be kidding about the mountain lion thing! Poor Sherpa. I bet it taught him a good lesson.
JD at I Do Things — I don’t know what I’d do with all that time. I’m serious. At least ten times a day, and that’s just me. Dave does it just as much. She needs an intervention.
Andrea — I’m checking out this Drinkwell thing. If you can win, I can win too.
Sherry — What? What?
jackie d — Toby is a human and Toby rules. Toby is also a very smart kitteh.
Lisa — I’m glad you understand why you go to work every day. It’s to pay for a very large home for your cat.
Kim — Damn. Angel Kitty has you wrapped around her little paw. Our Lucky has water dish issues like your cat. Annoying as hell, but it makes us laugh.
sheila sultani — We haven’t hung a roll of TP on the holder for at least ten years. We should just have them removed.
Jay — At least our cats are small(ish). I don’t know how long I’d last with a dog in the house that is as big as a person. You go girl!
Jenny Paust — What an interesting tic your cat has. Of course, they know what works and it gets you up, right? My Lucky thoroughly enjoys digging a hole to China in his litter box. Serves two purposes: It makes a huge mess I have to clean up, and it gets my butt out of bed.
April — Sounds like it! Um, and does your cat also think it’s a dog, because that’s very doggy behavior. We had a cat once (Calvin, RIP) who was sure he was a dog in a cat’s body. We indulged him just the same.
AuntieE — Yes, when we brought her home for the first time, she allowed herself a day to be confused and then quickly figured out the water dish was no suitable to her tastes. Up on the counter she went and has been there ever since.
Jenn Thorson — I was thinking of that! Yes, I have a dozen pictures of her in the sink. I’m doing it!
Jill at modernmommyblog — Oooo, never heard of that! WE thought of putting pots and pans up there so scare her when she jumped up, but then my kitchen would be more cluttered than it already is. Sorry about your curtains.
Chris Casey — She sounds loud and heavy. But you love her more than anything I bet. Welcome to the club.
Swubird — I love how anti-social Trixie is. We have an elder cat, too. We have to make appointments to see her. She pretty much decides when and if we are worthy enough.
Susan Montgomery — Isn’t it amazing what we’ll put up with for the love of our pets? I’ve so enjoyed reading all these comments. We are all loving pet parents. Crazy, but loving!
Deb — And if you bought May a bed of her own, how much you wanna bet she’d still chase you out of yours?
Brandy — The shower thing perplexes me. Shadow will sometimes go into my husband’s shower after he’s done, but not my shower. Is she trying to tell me something? Am I not clean enough. Geesh!
November 16th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Mt cat Pauly looks just like Shadow.The white spot on his neck is heart shaped. He drinks out of the fish bowl(vase). When I feed the fish he jumps up and tries to lick all the flakes off the surface of the water. The fish quickly tries to gulp the flakes from below. To give the fish a less frantic breakfast I put food in the cat’s bowl first, behind the basement door. Shut the door then feed the fish. Wait 15 minutes or so. Open the door and the cat races for the fish bowl. He has also been known to sit in the bathtub after a shower and lick the faucet or shower curtain.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Yes! I have 4 cats and 2 of them insist on drinking from the bath tub faucet. I know what you’re going through, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
.-= John J Savo´s last blog ..Deppraisal: Fashionable and Doomed =-.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Ahhhahahahahah, that is so funny! My boy-cat is incredibly insistent about when he goes outside or comes inside, and he smashes the front door fly-screen with – I assume – his paws to let us know, and he gets his paws under the bedroom door to pull it back and forth in it’s loose door setting which makes it bang very loud and obnoxiously to wake us up and let him out.
My girl-cat has taken to demanding wet-food constantly. Every time I go into the kitchen she’s there, demanding food, even if there’s stuff in there!
.-= Elisha´s last blog ..So much spam still =-.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Great post!
I have a 30lb dog and a 20lb cat and I’m sure you can guess who rules the show, right? right. Oreo the kitty.
He MUST have at least half a bowl of food. If the crunchies get below half a bowl, he’s on my case until I fill it.
I MUST get in the bath with me, or if I have a shower, he must get in the shower after I’m done and lick the tub (EW!) and the faucet. Gives whole new meaning to “I’d drink her bathwater!”
After the dog has gone out for the second time in the morning, it is treat time. I don’t get any peace to do anything until the treats have been doled.
I love the ways that they rule my life. They are the best friends ever and I’d do anything for them.
.-= Picture Imperfect´s last blog ..Firefighters in the Sunshine =-.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I have had cats before and they are the strangest things. They bring you present, cleann themselves and go to the toilet. Who is looking after who here!!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:09 am
One of ours would only drink from the faucet. But we did get her to switch to a pet fountain with a charcoal filter. We set it up by her faucet. Took a bit before she decided to use it.
.-= A Bay Horse´s last blog ..Training: Spinning in circles =-.
November 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
No cats here (terribly allergic) but a sweet doggie. He somehow got in the habit of demanding a treat if you leave the house. Even if it’s just to get the mail, or check something on the front stoop, he’ll whine & follow till rewarded…for…what? And if there’s two of you, this dog can COUNT. He’ll hound you individually. Scary…
.-= kathryn´s last blog ..Popular =-.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
If you want to mess with Shadow (you probably don’t, but I love stuff like this), here is an easy way. It may even convince her not to be in the sink.
I notice that you have a sprayer on your kitchen sink. You could point it to where Shadow usually sites and use a rubber band to hold the trigger down. Now when you turn the water on, she will get sprayed.
It would be better hygiene for you if she drank out of the bathtub or really anywhere besides the kitchen sink. Cute cat, though. Good thing you know who is boss!
.-= Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Nov 17, The Museum of American Illustration is home to Norman Rockwell paintings =-.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I bought one of those waterers that you’re talking about for my dog after a friend with a cat told me it stopped the cat from drinking out of the toilet. Sure enough, it stopped my dog from doing the same. Unfortunately, last Thanksgiving I forgot to unplug it before going out of town and burnt up the motor.
You could get one of those really tall ones for big dogs, and maybe that would be more like the water coming out of the sink than one of the lower ones because the water would drip out higher.
.-= Staci at Just Bloggled´s last blog ..How to Look Like a Drowned Rat at Target =-.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:28 am
god i miss my cat……Always would sleep under the covers with me , liked to drink out of the bathroom sink.. And would go nutz when people would come over. My best friend came over once and my cat was vigorously rubbing her head against his knee. (must have smelled something she liked) And my friend isn’t that much of a cat person so he tried to gently push her away… She swung around and grabbed his hand in her jaws.. Didn’t draw blood or anything but it shocked the hell out of me and him.. She never did anything like that before or sense.. Like i said.. i miss my little furball
November 24th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Our cat will drink out of his own water bottle mostly and only when one of us holds it for him – we “water” him 4 or 5 times a day. He wins this battle because he nearly died from kidney failure and gets dehydrated so easily.
He used to drink from the tap in the tub and from a fountain, but has decided he prefers the personalized service, but every once in awhile I catch him drinking from his bowl when he thinks no one is looking.
Makes boarding him expensive, as they charge extra for the special watering routine!
.-= ChrisJ´s last blog ..Because the Lord Chamberlain Says So =-.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:38 am
I completely know what you’re talking about!
My cat also drinks from sinks, and he miaos until I open the stream, but somehow we manage well with this habit.
We manage less in those cases when he wants attention and I’m busy. He starts to nag, and he has endless strategies to get what he wants. The worse strategy (that unfortunately works) is when he walks on the counter where the wine glasses are, carefully manages between them, looks at me to see that I’m paying attention, and then pushes one of the glasses to fall on the floor and break… I can swear that he has a small vicious smile on his face!!