I’m going to start off by saying that unlike most weird cat behaviours, which I’ve written about extensively on this blog, this particular strange cat behaviour has a lot of different explanations behind it.
Most behaviours have maybe 3-4 explanations tops. But meowing before drinking water – to me – has a lot more variance to it and hopefully you will be able to figure out why your cat does it because some of them mean you need to be proactive as they could be preventing your cat from getting as much water as they need to be healthy.
Cats often don’t drink all that well. I have three cats in my house – all three boys – and I know from experience within the male cats in my family, they have a lot of problems with UTIs if they don’t drink enough.
Male cats are far more prone to UTIs than female cats, but female cats can get them, too. It’s just far less common and if they have problems with UTIs, I don’t think they are so severe as with male cats, as females can “expel” UTIs a lot easier.
Still, UTIs can get pretty serious, and usually once your cat starts off on that route, they need to have a specialized diet to prevent more issues down the line.
It’s a lifelong problem that actually can be life-threatening in many instances, so it’s something to take seriously, no matter the gender of your cat.
And I do. So while I implement a lot of techniques that help my cats drink water, one that I do to ensure my cats are well hydrated is to feed them water-mixed-with-kibble twice a day.
Of course I also have bowls out, (and I actually also feed them at other times with this godsend of an automatic feeder that I haven’t had to change or upgrade to this day), but giving them water-with-kibble twice a day guarantees they’re drinking enough to make me happy, even if they don’t drink a lot outside of what I give them.
Basically this extra-long (sorry about that!) preamble is to say that sometimes, meowing before drinking can be a sign that you need to fix a water situation for your cat which can prevent a UTI.
Because if your cat is holding back from drinking for any reason, and hesitating about it to the point where he or she is not drinking as often as he or she could or should, a life threatening UTI may be in the making, and that’s awful considering so much prevention could have been implemented so easily, if you were aware that the signs were signs that something needed changing.
Yes, UTIs are relatively common, especially among male cats and in cats in general in comparison to most pets, but they can be life threatening, so don’t brush off potential issues that may arise with drinking water.
Now I’ll quickly get into the explanations for what I think meowing before drinking could possibly mean. There are loads of different reasons, most that need you to do some investigating.
Hopefully you’ll quickly figure out what your cat means by this behaviour, and if you need to do a small tweak to the water situation or a bit of an upgrade, or if you’re cat’s perfectly okay with how things are, water-wise.
Reasons Why Cats Meow Before Drinking
1. Your cat might not like standing water.
I’m going to confess to personally liking to drink tap water at a certain temperature – on the cooler side -and really hating the taste of filtered water or water that’s from a metal container.
I hate certain bottled water’s taste, and most of the time – if it’s from a safe source – I heavily prefer tap water and water that’s quite hard/has a lot of calcium added to it.
Does that make me weird? Probably a little, but I just prefer my water certain ways, and that’s that.
What about cats? Well they’re almost all likely to be even more fussy than I am.
But if you think about it, it makes sense. They don’t have constant access to clean water when they’re in the elements, so they typically prefer certain tastes to others and those preferences have probably helped save the life of many cats by not drinking water that’s got quite a lot of bacteria in it.
The best way for cats to make sure their water is super fresh? If they develop a preference to running water over still water that’s been sitting around for some time, and has who knows what growing in it both bacteria and insect-wise. Did somebody say mosquito heaven?
So yes, it’s a bit annoying that everybody and their mother first tells you to maybe invest in a cat drinking fountain if your kitty doesn’t seem fond of drinking still water. But it’s for a reason that makes a lot of sense.
If your cat’s meowing to express upset over the source of water not flowing, you’ll probably notice a lot of hesitation after the meow and maybe a sign, like meowing in front of a shower or tap, that your cat wants running water instead. If this is the case, do yourself and kitty a favour and grab a drinking fountain.
You’ll probably earn the investment back in healthcare fees saved down the line, and of course avoid a lot of heartache that will come about if poor kitty doesn’t drink enough, causing issues with his or her health.
2. Your cat might just be informing you he or she is about to drink the water.
Some cats don’t care at all if they’re drinking still water. Usually these cats will give a little meep immediately before drinking and then proceed to drink.
It’s not a yowl or a cry or a frustrating sound at all, it’s more of a really quick little meow, and with my cat Avery who does this, often times it’s followed by a paw into the water bowl and then a quick get-to-drinking.
My theory is that Avery puts his paw in the water bowl so he can see the water ripple and know where the water begins, since cats don’t seem to have the best close-up vision, but they do have excellent sight when things are in motion.
Why would a cat try to tell you before he or she drinks?
Well I spoke about this in my article about why cats sometimes guard their humans while they poop (yes, this is a thing) – I’ve had a lot of cats meow before they go into the litter box, and I think it’s because my cats like to have me guard them when they go to the bathroom.
My theory is that when cats are in a group they’re safer if a cat stands guard and watches for predators while they go. Same goes for drinking.
A cat that’s drinking is pretty vulnerable. He or she can’t be aware of surroundings and drink at the same time, and they could choke, they’re pretty exposed. It’s just not a good time to be caught unawares.
So I think cats often let us know before they drink so we can watch out for them while they’re vulnerable.
3. Your cat may be announcing to you that the water bowl is in fact a toy that is just about to be played with.
So there’s this kitten I took in back when her mamma had her in my back garden, and she was the most playful, sneaky little thing who would often use the water bowl as a source of entertainment.
Sometimes she would do somewhat frustrating things like push the water bowl over, so I learned to get non-slip mat to prevent that. Then she learned how to literally spin the bowl, and this caused the water to topple out without the bowl being anything but upright.
So I brought the heaviest metal pot I could find in my kitchen for the water and that seemed to do the trick, until her side gig of dropping cat springs into the water bowl turned into a death wish for herself and the other cats in my home – she started dropping tissues into the bowl. !#$0214?????
Yes, annoyingly, some cats think of the water bowl as a play thing and when they do they will often meow before shenanigans ensue. Watch your cat to see if that’s what your kitty’s meow-before-drinking means, as it may just be a war-cry of the zoomies sort. Hyperactive kitty on the block.
But I mean, anyone would have expected this from little Cleo. After all, cute she is, but innocent?? I doubt anyone would believe for a second this one didn’t cause trouble at home…
4. Your cat might not like the material of the water bowl you’re using to give him or her water.
If your cat hesitates before drinking, but does end up drinking, he or she could potentially not like the particular water bowl you’re using.
Like I said – I hate metallic tastes. Some cats may feel the same, and if you’re using an aluminum bowl, this could be the problem.
Ceramic is probably the best option for pet bowls. But I’m not going to lie, I find most pet bowls really annoying and pointless to buy.
Instead, I have opted for a big Le Creuset 400ml mug that I kept near a bathroom so I could refresh it multiple times a day when I had a single cat, and now that I have multiple, I opt for massive 28 ounce super soupe Corelle bowls that are tempered glass and thus so easy to keep clean.
The ease of using regular human dishware is the confidence I have that throwing them into the dishwasher with the next cycle isn’t going to be annoying like it would be with some pet dishes that are weird heights or shapes.
And I can use them as well with confidence for my own food because there’s no way one round in the dishwasher isn’t getting tempered glass bowls 100% clean from anything cat-related.
I’d recommend trying this out if you’re searching for something good for your cat. Especially the Corelle bowl if you can get access to it, as it has some decent height. Speaking of which…
5. Your cat might not like the height of the water bowl you’re using to give him or her water.
Some cats don’t care a lot if their water bowl is quite low to the ground, but I have noticed a lot of cats like to drink from mugs and cups and other things that are quite high off the ground.
It isn’t such a strain on their necks, and so I try to grab whatever I can for cats to drink out of to be quite high.
The secondary benefit in this is that it’s also usually quite deep, which means more water.
Now, there are a lot of techniques and pre-made elevated cat bowls, out there, but I honestly believe my system of using a very deep and high soup bowl made for humans works out far better than the vast majority of these.
But I could be wrong! Let me know if you have experience with these in the comments section.
6. Your cat might not like the placement of the water bowl you’re using to give him or her water.
Remember when I said that cats are very vulnerable when they’re drinking? Well if you’re putting your water bowl in the corner of a room, or facing the wall, the same way that most of us are, this might feel weird or wrong to your cat.
Especially if you have multiple cats in your house, and especially if they ever fight. Because imagine your cat is drinking and your second cat creeps up on him or her and startles him or her or gives him or her a little smack to say, “Hey, that’s my water source, get your own!”
Or even if they get along quite well and you have one particularly playful cat who decides out of the blue to pounce on your drinking cat – without him or her noticing because his or her back was to the room – not good!
That’s a potential choking situation for your cat that’s drinking, so maybe switch up the position to give your cat a view of the room so he or she can notice any other kitty that’s coming around. That might help your cat be far more pleased with the water situation.
Oh and, check out my article on how to get two cats to get along if these kinds of squabbles are happening in your home, because yes, things can get a LOT better. It happened in my home multiple times now and my three cats are all dandy with each others’ company.
7. Your cat might not be able to see where the water is in the bowl.
I think this is a really common thing that’s a bit of a problem at times. I’d say it’s more likely to be a problem if you’re using a bowl that’s very white on the inside.
The brightness of the light definitely can make it difficult to see a water line even for humans, let alone cats.
If your cat often ends up with the water all over his or her face because he or she missed, you might take a cue from kitty and change the water bowl to something where it’s easier to see.
Maybe something with a pattern on the inside, like this bowl that has stripes on the inside that would bend and distort at the edge of the water, or has different colours or shapes or even something just not too dark or too light in shade to make it easier to see what’s in the bowl.
Lighting the area could also help, too, potentially. Just a thought!
Your Thoughts on Cats Meowing Before Drinking?
Why do you think cats sometimes meow before drinking water? What do you think is the most likely explanation for this cat behaviour?
Are there any reasons you feel I left out or should have discussed more with regards to meowing before drinking? Have any of your cats ever done this? Did you figure out why they were doing it?
Would love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments section down below if you have a moment! Always look forward to seeing what you guys think!
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