Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Casey, the younger of my two cats, has become a bit of a water monster lately. He not only paws at his water, but he scoops and flings water all over. In his kennel, there's not much I can do with his water bowl, but the waterer in the kitchen the other night I put into a new unused litterbox to contain his messes. At least, it was supposed to contain his messes.

This morning when I woke up, my kitchen floor was spotless with no mess. I got around for work, and when I came down after getting dressed, my kitchen was a mess. The waterer (a half gallon tank on a base) was empty and still in the litterbox. There was about a half inch of water in the litterbox. The rest was spread around my kitchen floor. It was easy to tell who'd played with the water. Chessie was completely dry. Casey was soaked. I dried him off as best I could, mopped up the mess, and refilled the waterer. No more than I turn my back, he started playing with the water again.

I'm really getting tired of having to deal with this. I realize he's still in the kitten stages (9 months old this week), but this is getting rediculous. And it's not just his getting water on the kitchen floor or the floor of his kennel. He flings it everywhere, and then when he's wet, he tracks it around on the carpet and furniture, leaving wet spots all over. The worst is when he's wet and then goes for a romp in his litterbox, literally getting the litter caked onto his legs, stomach, etc. And looking at my webcam just now, he's played with the water in his kennel and went for a romp through his litterbox, covering his floor with kitty litter and water, which means I'm gonna have a mess to clean and a cat to bathe after I get home from work tonight.

I've seen the fountains that are supposed to clean the water, but I can't afford it right now. Plus, if there is any water that he can paw at, I know he'll still make a mess. He's very obsessive at trying to paw and reach for everything he sees and takes an interest in.

HELP!!!
-----

Chessie and Casey Jones relaxing together.

Well, the problem has gotten worse. Got home last night, put groceries away, and then gave Casey a bath. I then proceeded to dry him off and wash out the tub since the kitty litter that had been on his legs was washed off and in the tub. I then went downstairs to fix dinner.

I went into the kitchen and stepped in water. That's right. He dumped out the water again. I scolded him and cleaned it up, refilling the tank of the waterer. I fixed a sandwich, went in the living room to eat it, and then went back to the kitchen, stepping in water again (4th time in one day). I cleaned it up again, not filling the waterer since there was still some water in the tank.

After dinner, I went upstairs and began to clean the kennel, which took about 45 minutes or so as bad as it was. Part way through, I went downstairs since the cats had been quiet. Casey had again made a mess in the kitchen.

So, in one day, he made six big messes.

Flash forward to 9AM this morning. I woke up and went downstairs. The kitchen was worse than at any time yesterday. The floor was wet. The bottom 2-3 inches of my wooden kitchen chairs were darkened from soaking up water. The carpet at the entryway to the kitchen was soaked. And there were water spots all over everything.

After cleaning up the mess, I've removed the tank on the waterer and only put the filled base in the litterbox for now. Even then, he's gone in and tried playing in it.

I'm to my breaking point right now. I'm half tempted to just pack up his things and take him with me to my parents' on Tuesday for Christmas and let them have him back. Granted, yes, Chessie made his occasional mess that I would have to clean up, but it was never like this.

I think it has to do with the medicine he's been on for the past week and a half for the loose stool issue he's had. The condition has cleared up, and he's since been more on the wild side.
-----

Chessie and Casey Jones relaxing together.

My first suggestion is to stop giving him that much water to play in. I have 2 water players too. Buddy and Tuxie have a small bowl of water, inside a huge bowl, which is wedged between two end table legs and not spillable. When they are done playing in their small bowl it is contained in the huge one and if they are thirsty they can drink that. There is not enough water to bother much even if they do manage to spill the big bowl. You also might go to the store and look in the pet area for a big "no spill" dog bowl to put the little bowl in. Or at least a very heavy big dog bowl. The secret is that he can't cause a flood if he doesn't have enough water to cause a flood. Refill the bowl only twice a day and empty the big one at those times so that it doesn't build up or he will just splash that out too. Don't keep providing him with an ocean 6 times a day for his entertainment. To him this is a game and you are playing it. Good luck and let us know how things are going.
-----
Tessa Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo,(We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Buddha da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts//Fly free Penny 12/12/07
A house without cats is like a garden without flowers