We give our cat a constant supply of water next to his food bowl and he never drinks it, yet we see him happily drinking out of puddles, buckets of water we’re washing the car with, the toilet bowl or any other seemingly less appealing water supplies!
The water is through a purifying tap, so it shouldn’t have too many chemicals or whatever, and even if it did, it’d be better than toilet water!

My cat does the same thing, prefers a puddle over her bowl any day. I always joke around and say its her lack of iron.
I.Don’t.Know.My cats do this too lol.Maybe it just SEEMS more appealing because it annoys us and they know it! lol
I don’t know either—if you find out, let me know
The boy cats are big on drinking from the toilet.
My cats get fresh water twice a day but would rather sneak outdoors and drink from our pond, even when it’s full of algae
I did read one time that cats prefer “seasoned” water, whatever that means…I think “seasoned” must be a code word for funky!
It’s because he is a cat. As you know, cats like doing anything opposite of what you expect
Now what fun would it be to drink the water given to you??? LOL.. Just like a kid.. have to do what your not supposed to be doing….
the cats a fool, the cat mistook the water for pee
maybe you shold always close the bath room door or even close the toilet seat after you do use the bath room . or you can just try to ex change the water and put some cold fresh and clean water or even gave little milk for the cats to try ? maybe they dont feel like drinking the water you always givening all the time. my cats doesnt even drink water in case if its so hot outside . if it nice and warm weather yeah i do change their drinks into milk . they do come to their dish and dranking the milk after they do eaten .
cats need fresh water, one that moves n flows. they think toilet water is fresh, it’ll be a nice option to show them a running tap after meals they’ll gradually wean from the toilet.
Same here, ours has a nice shiny new water bowl next to his food, yet he’d rather run downstairs and jump from the toilet to the sink and drink out of a leaky fawcet.
I don’t know, my cats do the same thing. They have to drink from a porcelain bowl on the counter instead of plastic bowl on the floor. It’s so weird!
…… no other reason than cats are just contrary creatures …….
One of my cats too! It must just be a cat thing.
Both are street rescues and the one that was older has a toilet thing so I just keep it closed & let her drink from the bathroom sink.
The other one will drink from his bowl but I think it’s b/c it’s a stainless steel bowl and stays colder. {he does sometimes stand at the bathroom sink waiting for me to turn it on so I think they teach each other!!}
A lot of cats drink from fish tanks too so I think it is their form of flavored bottle water lol.
I have a cat that will only drink from my cup! I have another one who will drink from his water bowl, but only by dipping his paw in and licking his paw! Cats can be crazy critters and I don’t think we’ll ever understand them! Try a kitty drinking fountain with him, maybe bowls are too boring for him. It could also be that the filtered water tastes funny to him. Try giving him non filtered water.
One other tip, and this sounds silly, but really works with my cats. If they loose intrest in someting, whether it be a toy cat tree or water dish, if you move it into another room, suddenly it will have a whole new apeal to it! Try it, it works and is cheaper that a cat fountain.
my cats use to always play in there water and dump there water on the floor. i got them this http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441810162&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025542&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&bmUID=1173843938192&itemNo=26&Nao=24&In=Cat&N=2025542&Ne=2 they still play in it, they love to drink out of it and don’t dump it.
They usually like it cold,fresh.But yours sounds interesting.But normal.If that makes any sense at all.Anyway,Try ice cubes.Does the cat drink/eat in the same room as you,or in a different room?Maybe when he is out and about with you,he has a safe sense and drinks around you.Maybe you should try having your pet(Family member) eat and drink in the same room as you do-if possible…I hope this was helpful,good luck.
Kitties like fresh water, the fresher the better. The more oxygen in it the better it is for them, (think about the difference between a fresh glass of water and one that has been sitting out for a day or so) So these other sources are fresher, or seem fresher to them. We got a fountain bowl, (it has a stream of water that constantly runs down) the kitties don’t drink out of the toilet as much anymore.
you can get waterfall bowls for cats who prefer moving water, of try adding chicken stock to the water
I think they just want to do the opposite of what you want. Mine drinks out of the fish tank. I have to refill it every week.
Cats prefer bigger drinking dishes. Mine always drink out of my dogs’ bowls instead of theirs..