Why Does My Cat Drink From The Toilet? Is He Becoming Nasty?

Cats prefer flowing water to a bowl, with some refusing to drink unless it comes from a faucet. Other cats will drink from any source, including glasses, despite the fact that they are probably too small for their faces and whiskers. So it’s probably a matter of personal choice for each cat.

Cats drink from the toilet because the lower temperature of the water in the toilet compared to the water in their dish appeals to the cats. At room temperature, water that has been sitting in a normal water bowl for hours or even days may not be as pleasant.

Now, it’s the time to dive in deep into the details about why cats prefer drinking from toilet which human thinks is nasty enough!

Why Is My Cat Obsessed With The Toilet?

Your cat is obsessed with toilet water because drinking from flowing water is a favourite pastime of cats. It’s an intuitive response to the fact that flowing water is cleaner and less likely to conceal danger in nature.

Toilet water is cleaner than the water in the cat’s bowl, which we sometimes neglect to replenish owing to human nature.

Anything else is wrong with the water bowl, such as it being in the incorrect place, another cat protecting access to it, or something else about it being unappealing.

It turns out that remembering to close the lid is difficult. Even if you learn to close it after each usage, there’s no assurance you won’t forget at some time.

Surprisingly, we discovered that there are automated toilet seat covers that descend when the water is flushed. It’s not like we advise you to try one, but it may be entertaining.

Closing the lid, however, just fixes half of the problem. Your cat’s reasons for preferring toilet water to his water bowl are still valid.

The cat may learn to accept the new circumstances and push himself to drink from his water bowl, or he may just stop drinking, resulting in dehydration and other medical issues.

Also, keep the water bowl away from your cat’s food and litter box. Food is seen by cats as a dead animal, and drinking near a dead animal is not a good idea. When it comes to the litter box, your cat does not enjoy drinking near his toilet. Strangely enough, drinking from a human toilet is not prohibited.

The type of bowl can also influence a cat’s decision to shun it. Individual preferences are possible, although deep and narrow bowls are more likely to create difficulties.

To keep a cat from drinking toilet water, concentrate on his water bowl rather than the toilet.

It’s highly probable that your cat’s present drinking place contains anything unwanted, such as stale water or water that is too close to your cat’s litter box.

You may find out how to make your cat’s bowl more appealing here, but in the meanwhile, try to discipline yourself to close the lid every time you use the toilet.

The toilet is a mouth-watering, endless drinking fountain for certain cats. It alludes to their unrivalled capacity to recycle almost anything (drapes as trapezes, fuzz as food, and antique sofas as scratching posts). It also improves their exceptional ability to balance on very smooth surfaces and twist themselves into advanced yoga postures.

One of the reasons cats prefer to drink from the porcelain throne is because the mesmerizing swirl of the water activates the cat’s tendency to latch onto movement, whether for entertainment or hunting. They may also notice reflections in the water and regard them as something to play with, rather than appreciating their brilliant image in them.

Cats were programmed to see flowing water as safer than stagnant or motionless water in the environment. To your cat, the gurgling, swirling sound of toilet water may resemble a river or brook, triggering her primitive instincts.

Toilet water, believe it or not, is frequently cleaner than the water in a cat’s dish if the bowl is kept clean. When you flush the toilet, new water replaces the old, but the water in the cat’s dish may have remained for a long, become stagnant, include food, hair, whiskers, and other debris, and become sticky from kitty’s saliva.

Flushing the toilet frequently oxygenates the water, giving it a cleaner, purer flavour. Water remains more enticingly cold in a porcelain vase than it could be in a normal cat bowl. Bathroom tiling also aids in lowering the warmth of the toilet water.

Cats have brawny bacteria in their mouths that can deal with dangerous components in foods like raw meat, as well as small amounts of toilet pollutants. Cats’ immune systems are also strong enough to deal with pollutants.

It is a natural instinct to drink toilet water. It’s a throwback to cats’ wild origins drinking bacteria-free cold water instead of bacteria-laden warm water. A colony of bacteria in a cat’s drink may expand to 38,000 in fewer than 48 hours if the water turns lukewarm—and that’s from germs distributed after just one sip of water.

Do Cats Like Toilet Water?

Cats like toilet water because for cats, toilet water is an attractive source of hydration. Flushing on a regular basis adds oxygen to the water supply, which helps to keep it fresh. The water will stay cold in the porcelain dish, and cats like sipping flowing water.

Because this is one of the places to which you normally refuse access, cats are naturally inquisitive about toilets. There is also a toilet roll in this room, which the cats like shredding for fun. Due to the presence of urine, faeces, and bleach, you’ll need to put a stop to your cat’s desire to drink from the toilet.

While you may find this practice repulsive, cats believe drinking from the toilet bowl to be quite normal. This doesn’t make it any less hazardous, but it is shockingly frequent. The following are some of the reasons why cats drink from the toilet:

1. Tasty Water!

Cats enjoy toilet water, especially if it has recently been flushed. The water will be replenished and oxygenated as a result. That may be more tempting than a bowl of tepid, stagnant tap water.

Many cats are very picky about water because they detect chlorine in tap water. To a cat, it’s an odd odour that shouldn’t be present. The cat will seek out a water source that it thinks to be safer and cleaner.

The surrounding porcelain keeps the water in a toilet bowl cold. The cat will love ice-cold water if you time it correctly. These appeals to a cat’s natural instincts, as it resembles the cold water found in a flowing stream.

Keep an eye out for any symptoms of toxicity if you find your cat drinking from the toilet. Wide-eyed stares, vomiting and diarrhoea, restlessness, and difficulty breathing are some of the symptoms. If this is the case, get your cat to the vet as soon as possible.

2. Attractive Smell

The smells in the bathroom may attract cats to the toilet water. This is most likely the location of your favourite fragrances and colognes. Cats can detect humans by their skin odour, but they will also sense certain odours. Your cat may believe that by entering this room, it would be able to locate you.

Perhaps the scent of soap or cleaning chemicals attracts your cat. Citrus smells are included in many bleaches and related chemicals. Normally, cats would avoid this since they dislike the scent of lemon and lime, but every cat is different. Even if they are in the minority, some cats like the scent of citrus.

Cats will be attracted to a laundry basket in the bathroom. The clothes worn by their owners provide comfort to cats. Cats may like to sleep on such objects. Toilet water is easily available to drink when it wakes up thirsty.

Cats may find the lack of fragrance in the water attractive. Water may be polluted if it is too close to food or litter. Because you won’t be feeding your cat in the bathroom, the water will smell much better.

3. Mischievous Kitty

As a result of play behaviour, a cat may develop the habit of drinking from the toilet. If other types of stimulation and environmental enrichment aren’t available, the cat may acquire an interest in watching the water swirl about as the toilet is flushed.

This visual awe may pique her interest, prompting her to put her hand in the water. Some very astute felines have even figured out how to flush the toilet on their own.

If your cat’s favourite pastime is hanging out by the toilet, it’s time to reconsider if you’ve neglected to provide him with adequate environmental enrichment.

Cats may have a good time drinking from the toilet. It might have been unwinding a toilet roll before licking the toilet water. If your cat had a good time, it won’t hesitate to do it again in the future.

As previously stated, cats are mesmerized by the whirling toilet water. Curiosity will eventually take control if the cat observes this long enough. Your cat could begin to wonder what would happen if it enters this fascinating vortex.

It’s also possible that your cat is drinking from the toilet because it’s bored. To attract attention, some cats engage in actions that they are well aware are wrong. It’s possible that your cat is attempting to elicit a response from you.

4. Fresh Enough For Him

Another reason some cats like to drink from the toilet is because the water is actually rather good. This is difficult for a human to believe, but consider it from the perspective of a pet.

The water in the normal water dish may have gone stale since it has been sitting there for a long time. Due to recent flushing, the water in the toilet may contain more oxygen.

Why Is My Cat Suddenly Drinking From The Toilet?

Your cat has started drinking from the toilet because he finds it in a convenient location and ease of access enables him to do so.

If your cat is thirsty and in the bathroom, it may seek hydration in the toilet. Why would it seek out a bowl of warm water when it has easy access to a vast water supply? It’s possible that a cat will enter your bathroom since it’s:

• Lookout for some toilet paper to play with.
• The bathroom has a litter tray.
• Curious about what lies behind the locked door
• On a hot day, tiled flooring and porcelain bathtubs and sinks are refreshing.

When your cat realizes it can drink from the toilet, it may be hesitant to quit.

What Happens If Cat Drank Out Of Toilet With Chemicals?

Toilet water contains some harmful chemicals which may cause mild stomach upsets in your cat. No severe forms of diseases are diagnosed in them if they drink toilet water.

Another risk connected with drinking toilet water is the chemicals used to clean toilets, with chlorine bleach products being one of the most common offenders. Toilet cleansers may include sodium hypochlorite, hypochlorite salts, sodium peroxide, sodium perborate, and other compounds that are toxic if eaten in large quantities.

After you’ve cleaned, restricting your pet’s access to the bathroom for a few hours (and a few flushes) is a decent rule of thumb. Also, do not use any of the cleansers that are added to the toilet reservoir. Every time the bowl is filled, chemicals are released into the water.

Of course, it’s also a good guideline to be on the lookout for any kind of symptom.

When toilet bowl cleansers are not properly diluted, they can cause chemical burns in the mouth and throat, as well as other significant issues once completely consumed. Vomiting, drooling, redness in and around the mouth, stomach pain, and a sore throat are all symptoms of bleach consumption in dogs.

Cats have a variety of strange behaviours. Drinking from the toilet bowl is something that should be avoided at all costs. Your cat might be eating hazardous cleaning chemicals, in addition to the obvious hygienic issues.

What Happens If Cat Drank Toilet Water With Cleaner?

Cats can be poisoned by ordinary household cleaners such as toilet bowl cleaners, rust removers, and drain cleaners. If swallowed, cats may have excessive drooling, trouble breathing, vomiting, and mouth and oesophagus chemical burns.

Keep these items out of the reach of cats at all times. Get a watering fountain for your cat. They aren’t costly, and they provide what your cat craves: cooler, flowing water without the contaminants you don’t want your cat to consume from the toilet.

I prefer the sort that allows pets to drink directly from the stream, off a ramp, or from a dish. Your cat will drink more because the water is continually purified and flowing. Because many cats are chronically dehydrated, anything that helps them drink more clean water is a good idea.

What Happens If Cat Drank Toilet Water With Bleach Tablet?

Bleach is extremely damaging to their digestive system, causing vomiting, excessive salivation, and a great deal of discomfort for cats.

When cats consume a little amount of color-safe bleach, they generally vomit a few times before returning to normal. If your cat ingested bleach and is drooling but not vomiting, you should encourage him to drink so that any bleach that is left on his gastrointestinal system lining gets washed away.

What Happens If Cat Drank Toilet Water With Urine?

If your cat drinks toilet water with urine, they may face severe gastrointestinal upset and cause great discomfort in digestion.

Cats are averse to drinking toilet pee. Their instincts, on the other hand, lead them to sources of flowing water. They will accept poor sources if they are unable to discover excellent ones.

We can encourage our cats to drink more water by regularly cleaning and refilling their water dishes and informing them of our actions.

We utilize ceramic or glass bowls rather than plastic bowls, which can cause the water to smell “off.” Their water is kept away from crumbs, dust, and filth on the floor. Ideally, we should purchase them a pet fountain and allow them to drink clean, fresh water the way nature intended.

What Happens If Cat Drank Toilet Water With Poop?

If your cat drinks toilet water with poop, the harmful undigested matters may again enter his body and cause stomach upset.

Should I Stop My Cat From Drinking Toilet Water?

You should always stop your cat from drinking toilet water because the toilet, even in the cleanest of homes, is still a breeding ground for bacteria and germs that may make your pet sick. Stagnant, bacteria-infested toilet water can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Since we use chemicals to clean the toilet bowl, drinking from it is a common source of concern for pet parents. The toilet bowl should not hurt him in any way if you use natural, organic cleaning solutions. The only way to keep your dog away from the toilet is to make it inaccessible to him.

Is It OK For A Cat To Drink Out Of The Toilet?

It is not good for your cat to drink out of the toilet because although the water in your toilet is the same as the water in your faucet, cleaning chemicals for toilets, such as bleach, can, however, be highly hazardous to cats.

The time it takes for a cat to recover from poisoning is crucial. The sooner you get your cat medical help, the sooner you can start treating him, and the less time the poison has to work its way through his system.

Many cats that undergo early therapy will be able to recover to their usual selves in a short period of time.

How Do You Keep Cats From Drinking Out Of The Toilet?

You can keep cats from drinking out of the toilet by restricting his access to the bathroom.

By changing the water bowl to a different position, you can see whether your cat has an issue with it. If the water is placed too close to the food or litter, your cat will get disinterested and seek hydration from other sources.

If the cat still doesn’t want to drink, it might be suffering from whisker tiredness. If this is the case, purchase a larger dish and make sure your cat can drink freely without his whiskers contacting the vessel’s edges.

In the near run, a deep saucer will suffice. If your cat still won’t drink, invest in a porcelain water bowl, which will mimic the cold water found in a toilet bowl.

Close the bathroom door and close the toilet lid. Unless your cat’s litter pan is in the bathroom owing to a lack of space, it shouldn’t have access to this area.

Toilets are only one of several feline dangers found in human restrooms. Get a clip to keep the toilet closed if necessary, as cats are smart enough to figure out how to lift the lid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Words

Drinking from the toilet is a common occurrence with cats, but it should be avoided. If you notice your cat attempting to satisfy its thirst in this manner, put a stop to it right away. There are safer options for keeping your cat hydrated. Avoid using bleach or other hazardous chemicals until you’ve introduced a solution.

Drop your questions in the comments section below!

References

• https://www.aspca.org/news/toilet-bowl-water-and-your-pets-dangers-arent-always-crystal-clear
• https://www.surepetcare.com/en-gb/advice-news/cat-care/cat-health-and-behaviour/6-ways-to-encourage-your-cat-to-drink-more
• https://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/poisoning-toxicity/bleach-poisoning-pets-what-you-should-know