What Drives Cats to Drink from the Sink? Experts Explain the Surprising Behavior

Love for sinks and faucets was one of many mysteries of felines, but researchers claim they’ve figured out this puzzling cat behavior.

Not all cats are faucet fanatics. If you were blessed with a regular, water bowl-loving kitty, you probably don’t know how it is to have a cat that spends their time sitting in the bathroom’s wash basin, lurking from the shower, or trying to fit their fat butt in your kitchen sink. And those of us who know the struggle, usually don’t know why our feline masters are so obsessed with tap water. Well, that is, until now.

Veterinarian Marty Becker offers some insight into this peculiar feline behavior: why do some cats prefer drinking water from the sink rather than their bowls? The answer may lie in evolution. Becker proposes that the wild ancestors of our pet kitties, not unlike all wild animals, always chose running water over still one. In nature, standing water can be contaminated and potentially dangerous, and the freshest and safest source of water is always running. Translated to their modern, domesticated lives, cats then instinctually distrust the water bowl and go for the refreshing jet of tap water.

Of course, there may be more reasons for the feline sink obsession. It might be that they dislike the taste of water from their bowls, often due to materials (ceramics are the best, plastic the worst), and simply get into the habit of looking for refreshment via alternative routes. In this case, kitty fountains could be the best solution for your four-legged water connoisseur, preferably those from high-quality materials.

While we can never be 100% sure that we figured out something about cats- they are, after all, far superior to us puny humans- the evolutionary motivations sound pretty plausible. In the end, kitties are far more in touch with their wild side than any other pet!