Allowing Cats To Drink From The Bathtub: Is It A Good Idea?

Cats can be fussy eaters and drinkers. It does not matter how often you replenish your cat’s water, he may still turn his nose up at it, preferring to drink from the bath instead as you run the water in preparation for a well deserved soak. But is it a good idea to allow your cats to crowd into the bathroom with you as you run the water, and then let them take a sip as you lay back in the bath?

Water Temperature

Cat owners should be careful of the water temperature if they have cats that like to take a drink from the running water. Although cats are usually very careful, as they perch over the side of the bath, they can easily burn their paw or mouth as they start drinking. The shock of the water temperature can make them slip and fall into the bath, or they can fall off the side of the bath onto a hard surface and injure themselves.

Slippery Surfaces

The bath will turn slippery and dangerous once it is full of water, soap suds and bubble bath. Even the most acrobatic of cats can slip off the side of the bath and into the bath. Cats love to take sips of water and to even get their paws wet from time to time. But many cats hate it when they are completely drenched. You may not consider this to be a problem. But consider how traumatized your cat will feel. Not only that, but if your cat happened to be perched on your knee or leg at the time that it slipped, the cat’s natural instinct will be to dig its claws into the flesh so that it can regain its footing. This does not feel so bad when you are wearing a sturdy pair of jeans, but when you are taking a bath, the cat will cause more damage to the bare knee or leg where it was holding on.

Relaxation

As well as health and safety concerns that cat owners should carefully weigh, they should also think about their own comfort. Can they fully relax if they have two cats in the bathroom watching them as they take a bath, with one sitting on the washroom and the other trying to balance and drink out of the bathwater? Everyone deserves some alone time, even time away from their cats.
It is really up to the cat owners to decide whether they want to allow their cats to drink out of the bathtub. Once cats develop this habit, it will not be easy to break them of it.