“The cat won’t drink!” says your roommate. “The vet says he’s got to drink more and not drinking water is making him sick!”

This isn’t your typical videogame blog post, but I just thought I would share my lifehack for all you cat-loving gamers out there. Cat dehydration is a big problem. Have you struggled with putting water bowls all over and cat bubblers that stub your toe and make noise that neither you nor your cat like? The solution might be easier and cheaper than what the pet stores want you to think.

UPDATE BELOW for owners of former feral/barn/stray cats!

Cats Won’t Drink Because They Usually Don’t Have To

So as you know, cats are skittish creatures who sometimes don’t fully adjust to urban life. Cats (and dogs) are predators that historically got a lot of water from the prey they ate in the wild. In an urban setting, especially when they’re often fed dry commercially-made food, pets really need water and they don’t know how to get it.

Lack of water for cats is a dire problem. Kidney function is dependent on good water intake (one in three cats has kidney problems in their life), and there are a myriad of other related health issues too.

Dehydration also causes obesity because, just like with humans, we often overeat when our bodies are parched for water because instinctively we are trying to get water from food. Have you ever gone to the kitchen hungry, grabbed a glass of water, found yourself parched, drained your water, and discovered that you weren’t all that hungry? Yep… like that. For a parched cat, this is the worst because the cat is overeating and exacerbating its dehydration by eating too much dry food.

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Give Your Cat the Thirst for Water

Okay, you’re probably sick of reading the background so let’s just get to the answer for the “my cat won’t drink water” puzzle: it’s this — https://www.amazon.com/Encore-Plastics-5166-Measure-Ringfree/dp/B0018T5SFY/ref=sr_1_1?&tag=spasqu-20 . It’s a $3 bucket. You can also clean out any of a variety of buckets.

How do I know this? Because my cat loves it, and because Danni, my old roommate’s cat, loved it. In fact, she used to complain about how her cat would always drink from the bucket instead of her cat bowl. We discovered this by accident because I like to keep the water I run when warming the flow before a shower and later use it for household chores or flushing the toilet. As a result, I often had the bucket sitting in the bathroom full of water, and her cat would drink it constantly. It was a running joke (no pun intended).

We theorized about the reasons. Was it because the bucket had some concrete encrusted on it, which tasted like the culverts of her wild youth? Was it because the water was somehow different, or the plastic? We don’t know for sure.

My theory is pretty simple: I think it’s ergonomics. If I were a cat, I’d prefer to drink water that I don’t have to crank my neck to drink. Some believe that some cats feel vulnerable when hunched over a bowl, or that their whiskers are impeded by the bowl, which blinds them to threats. Measure your cat and make sure the bucket is right, but it should be a perfect fit for most adult cats. If you’ve got a kitten, adjust accordingly. Maybe a Tupperware tub would do the job.

But I have a few more theories, too. A cat might be able to see the surface of the water more readily at that angle. Certainly it puts the smell of clean water right in the nose, and I suspect a bucket is more comforting, like a deep pond or lake, than a dish. Those shiny metal bowls are especially jarring, I suspect. There’s nothing like that in nature, and cats aren’t good with mirrors; they don’t recognize themselves.

Lastly, I think a cat would prefer to drink water from a bucket because they’re suspicious creatures. Their senses are honed for survival; they don’t want to drink something foul accidentally, like a pool of oil that has a thin layer of rainwater on top. If they aren’t 100% sure it’s clean, pure water, they’re not excited. If you couldn’t read labels or talk, you’d probably be just as cautious about your drinks.

An Update for Former Stray Cats That Won’t Drink Water

Update! In 2023, I received the blessing of my punky tabby, Chica. Like Danni, Chica is a former stray who doesn’t drink a lot and hates those shiny chrome pet bowls. She was pretty good with the bucket, though.

The big surprise was that her water consumption went WAY up when I put a brick in the bucket. I’d injured my hand playing ultimate frisbee, so I was icing it and using a brick to displace some of the water to get it to a suitable depth.

Chica loves the brick. She’ll lap away at that bucket and ignore other containers of clean, filtered water. And so the theory of concrete culverts is in my mind confirmed. For a former stray cat, like Danni, I think the taste of stone and sand in water is a strong positive signal, confirming that the water is fresh, non-stagnant, and safe to drink.

Irrigate Your Cat’s Dry Food

I’ve also found that adding a bit of water — an ounce or two — to my cat’s dry food has also increased her water intake and it seems to make her more interested in drinking as well.

And don’t forget to check out our recommendations for the best cheap cat food, both wet and dry.

I hope you find this helpful — please comment below if so, or if you have feedback!