This week the theme for the 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 is "Water." The middle of January in Minnesota does not have a lot of outdoor opportunities to photograph water.
In thinking about sources of indoor water, faucets came to mind. One of our cats, Shadow, enjoys drinking from faucets. Apparently, fresh water from the tap tastes better to him than water in the pets' water dish.
I was curious as to why he does this and the other cats don't drink water from the faucet. One reason I found on Animal Nation is this:
Dr. Cathy Alinovi of the Hoofstock Veterinary Service agrees that it may have to do with the water's freshness, since fresh water "is cooler than that which sat out on the counter all day." She suggests that cats who eat corn-based foods are pickier about water temperature, too, because these foods can "make the stomach hot and make the cat dry."
Another theory presented on Animal Nation is this one:
Dr. Valarie Tynes of Premier Veterinary Behavior Consulting thinks that finickiness might derive from their ancestors: "The cat evolved from a desert-dwelling animal that does not require a lot of water anyway. That may lead to them simply being pickier about the source of their water since they will be consuming a relatively small amount." She agrees with Alinovi that cats might consider "moving water, such as that from a stream … safer than still water, that might be stagnant and therefore not only not taste as good but possibly have a higher chance of being unsafe."
I learn something new every day!
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2 comments:
Great shot!
A lot of cats like to drink from faucets. Mine also drink from toilets if I forget to put the seat down--LOL!
What a great picture! I hadn't seen this challenge before. I do follow this one: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/photo-challenges/
Looking forward to more photos!
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