Why Does My Cat Drink From The Toilet ? – Causes And Cure

You may get disgusted every time upon wondering ‘why does my cat drink from the toilet’ and there is probably no answer that you could have come up with for that action of your cat. However, there exist many genuine reasons behind your cat drinking out of toilet no matter how hard it would be for you to believe them. Read on to know more about this cat's behavior and how to deal with it.

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Common reasons behind cat drinking out of toilet

Cat behavior is truly a puzzle to solve when it comes to understanding the weird things they do like drinking toilet water in this case. Let us now see the different reasons that will make you understand ‘why does my cat drink out of the toilet’:

Due to their primal nature

A lot of natural skills have been embedded in cats ever since their origin helped them to survive in the wild. Cats used to drink water from the moving water bodies like rivers and fountains and the moving water in toilets similarly attract them. So, it’s completely natural if you see even the domesticated cats drinking toilet water as the logic behind this action of theirs is in their primal nature and the wild instincts that run deep.

The freshness of the toilet water

This may be completely bizarre for you to even consider but for the cats, the freshness of toilet water is a real thing. The frequent flushing of toilet bowls can be seen as generating a fresher supply of oxygen with every flush and that makes the water more appealing for the cats.

They also may get attracted to it due to the unattractiveness of the water in their drinking bowls that remains stagnant for a long time and might even be containing hair, debris, fur, etc. The porcelain of the toilets keeps the water cooler and makes cat drinking from toilet preferably.

For entertainment and excitement

The whirring sound created by the flushing of the toilet may stimulate the brains of cats and generate curiosity in them if they can play with it. If you are seeing your cat drinking from the toilet more often, it can also mean that they are liking the peaceful zone here out of anyone’s sight and finding better stimulation than the other surroundings. For them, the toilet is just an interesting source of water and they aren’t even aware of the gross part.

Support from the physical traits

The mouth of a cat has a lot of strong microorganisms that are able at neutralizing the effects of harmful elements in any substance that they lick or consume. The strong immune systems of cats also can handle the impurities very well. They are also known to have inherited a strong intestinal system that can digest the cool toilet water just like their ancestors did.

Lukewarm water is not good for the digestive system of cats as it contains more bacteria than cooler water and looks like the cat’s ancestors knew it.

Dangers of the toilet water for cats

Even if we answered your question that why does my cat drink from the toilet, we are not trying to say that you must let them do that since they do so out of their instincts. Even if they are physically able to wean out most of the harmful impacts of toilet water, some of the dangers still pertain. These repercussions will be suffered not only for the cats but other members of the house too:

A lot of microorganisms in the toilet bowl can still not be neutralized by the cats and they can significantly harm their health.
The cat’s mouth will get contaminated with different bacteria that can then be transferred to food, humans, or other pets and results in causing various illnesses.
The presence of cleaning agents containing bleach, sodium perborate, hypochlorite salts, and other chemicals in the toilet water pose a major toxic risk to the cat.
Toilets don’t remain clean all the time and the presence of bacteria called E. coli from the human feces can prove very dangerous to the cat and other people who come in contact with them.
Sick people using the toilet can leave many harmful germs and bacteria on the seat that can pass to the cat drinking toilet water and make them sick.
Chemical residues of diluted toilet cleaners can burn the mouth of cats and lead to symptoms like redness, drooling, vomiting, abdominal pain, sore throat, etc.
A kitten or very small cat is also at the risk of falling inside the bowl and get drowned too if not attended at right time.

Tips for making cats safe against the dangers of toilet water

The first thing to understand is that you would not be able to stop the cats from drinking toilet water and thus you can make them safe against major repercussions of ingesting toilet water. Here are some tips for that:

Keep the toilet clean as much as you can as it will be good for not just humans but also cats.
Keep the toilet inaccessible to your cat for a few hours after every usage.
Try not to use industrial-grade toilet cleaners as they have very harsh chemicals.

After understanding ‘why does my cat drink out of the toilet’, you would want to know how to prevent the cats from doing so. Here are some measures that you can take if you strictly don’t want your cat to drink toiler water:

Be vigilant always and keep the toilet locked along with keeping the lid down.
Make sure that the drinking bowls of cats remain clean and filled with fresh water at regular intervals. You can even make them more lucrative by mixing some catnip substances or other essential oils.
You can use containers made of porcelain, ceramic, or other material that keeps the water cooler for a long time. Try adding ice cubes to the water.
Keep the container away from sunlight and preferably at silent places. You can also keep multiple water bowls at different places.
Try out alternative water containers that are more fun and exciting for cats like pet water fountains. The key to using them is maintaining cleanliness and freshness of the water in them.

Conclusion

We hope that now you understand ‘why does my cat drink from the toilet’ and are ready to accept that this is just a part of the natural behavior of cats. With that acceptance, you can move ahead with safeguarding your cats against the harmful impacts of doing so and prevent them from doing so accordingly.

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Luna Tran

My name is Luna and I am a great cat lover and a cat owner of three lovely cats. I have owned many cats till now and have dedicated many years to nurturing and caring cats. Through this blog, I am here to share my knowledge and experience about cats.