Why has my cat started dipping his paw in his water bowl?

jackieblack

My cat, who is 'getting on a bit' (not sure of his exact age as he came to us as a stray 16 1/2 years ago ) has started putting his paw into his water bowl when drinking. He has never done this before and doesn't lick his paw at all, just holds it in the water while he drinks. We have noticed him doing this every time he drinks for about the last week.
We haven't changed his water bowl.

The only reason I can think of is that maybe his eyesight has started to deteriorate a bit and he is finding it hard to judge where the surface of the water is. Does this sound like a likely explanation?

He seems perfectly happy, no other changes to his normal behaviour or routine (which, these days, consists maily of eating and sleeping ) and, other than wet paw prints everywhere, isn't a problem, but I'm curious as to why he may have started doing this.

Has anyone else's cat ever done this and do you know why?

Gloomendoom

My cat used to do this too. I did some research and it seems that they don't like drinking standing water.

Is he drinking more than usual?

Mankysteve

Might just be going a bit senile. Cats do change there behaviour when they start to get old. My old ginger tom start to go a bit loopy as he got old. I would get a vet check-up but if he seems happy in him self he properly fine and its just a new qwerk .

babyshoes

Perhaps he is just feeling a bit warm and finds the water on his feet cools him down? Definitely a bit strange though!

jackieblack

Gloomendoom wrote: »

My cat used to do this too. I did some research and it seems that they don't like drinking standing water.

Is he drinking more than usual?

Doesn't seem to be drinking any more than usual, and his kidney function was fine when the vet checked it before giving him a general anaesthetic 3 months ago.

I've also read that some cats don't like drinking standing water, but he has drunk water from a bowl ever since we had him and only started putting his paw in it about a week ago.

rising_from_the_ashes

How odd!

I have one of those water fountain things and mine constantly put their paws in and play with the water.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd try to test if he could see what I was doing - just in case. Like treats the same shade as your skin - see if he looks for them or sniffs them out. And if so, off the vet for confirmation.

Mine can't manage milk in a white bowl, well, judging by the snorting and sneezing noises they make when misjudging it, anyway But they aren't blind, just daft.

crumblepie

My cat does this all the time, to the point of flicking the water out of the bowl or tipping it over and then going outside to drink out of a puddle. He went through a phase of not 'seeing' the water because it was clear, so he's sniff the bowl, dip his paws in, then drink.

spike7451

Never seen Daisy Cat do that,mind you,I've never seen Daisy Cat drink anything period!!

Charlie1986

One of my cats does this. His water bowl is at the top of the stairs and he takes great delight pinging at it so hard it flies down the stairs and then he chases it

murphydog999

crumblepie wrote: »

My cat does this all the time, to the point of flicking the water out of the bowl or tipping it over and then going outside to drink out of a puddle. He went through a phase of not 'seeing' the water because it was clear, so he's sniff the bowl, dip his paws in, then drink.

Yes, mine does exactly the same thing!