Cat drinking tank water

[skiweeangel]

I noticed my cat loves to drink the water from our tanks. Do you think this will hurt her or the fish? I'm not worried about her catching them, all but the danios stay away from her. The danios on the other hand are so curious to see what she is that they swim up to her. I am also worried about contamination from her paws. One of my tanks had a serratia m outbreak, does anyone know if it could be from her dipping her paws in?

I have already covered all openings, but I just had the shock of my life while sitting home alone and hearing the filp top slam shut on my son's 55gal. Apparently she can pull it up, drinks from the tank and bumps it closed. Aside from locking the tops or putting heavy objects on top, something I bet she would just push off, any suggestions?

 

[LyndaB]

No suggestions for keeping her out, but just wanted to say that I personally would not want my other pets drinking from that water. If I bring the dogs to the river, sure, they'll drink a little water, but that's a rare occurrence and I don't worry about it. I wouldn't want them drinking from my tanks every day. I dunno, maybe it's just the ick factor.

 

[ownedbycats]

Cats instinctively prefer moving water to still water. If they have a choice between a bowl and a moving stream they go with the moving water. It's instinctive and helps them avoid water that is stagnant. Unfortunately, your filter probably makes enough of a running water noise to be attractive to your cat. To make our cats happy we got one of those bowls with a tower attached that glugs and refills as water is removed(note I don't have a tank yet so have no idea whether this would be more attractive than a tank.)
I have no idea how harmful tank water is to cats.

 

[Sisserydoo]

Cats don't need a lot of water each day. One of mine drinks from the faucet in the bathroom while I'm getting ready, and he's good for the whole day. (The other one drinks from a bowl) Maybe you could try letting them drink from the faucet a couple times a day, and they might not try to get into the tank.

 

[meegosh]

I would just look into covering the tank with either full hoods or glass tops. That would rule out any issues. I would also try to keep things away from the tank that a cat can climb on. You don't want the cat knocking your light into the tank and electrocuting everyone.

 

[skiweeangel]

well, i have had several cats over the years and she has a kitty drinking fountain because i know they like moving water. All the open holes are covered so far. She has been lifting one of the flaps on my sons tank to get at the water. I fill her fountain with filtered water... maybe i should switch back to normal tap? haha we have city water and having been raised on well water I can't stand it, so I have been filtering it. As for moving things that is not really an option because I forgot to mention that she is part mountain goat and can jump from the floor almost to the top of the fridge from a sitting position. So I'm not really sure how I would go about keeping her off the top of my tank.

 

[Niki]

I have one tank that is uncovered and my cat drinks from it every day.

he use to drink from our toilet (we stopped him by putting the lid down) however when I got the tanks he decided this was a wonderful replacement. I do not treat my water for chlorine I let it sit out so there are no chemicals in the water.

when i had to treat for fungal I had a piece of wood over the tank (not a look I like for every day, but good enough to prevent him from drinking until I decided it was safe)

I personally don't see it being a problem(as long as you are not using chemicals), my cat has fallen into the tank a couple of times and the fish are no worse for wear and neither is my cat for drinking the water.

 

[LyndaB]

Perhaps if you use duct tape for a few days on the tank lids, she'll move to an easier drinking location. I always kept my bathroom faucet at a trickle for my abyssinian.

 

[skiweeangel]

Well I use stress coat plus for water treatment. I'll try the duck tape. She has moving water but just prefers the tanks.

 

[LyndaB]

I'd prefer cheesecake every day but it doesn't mean I can have it.....

 

[Edwards36]

I would stop the kitty drinking asap. Cat pee and poop in litterboxes which means they get the harmful poo on the cats paws which then could get in ur aquarium

 

[ashleynicole]

I love cats, they are amazing creatures. I see no health issues with the cat drinking the water. However, when my cats jump anywhere they aren't supposed to we tell them no immediately and take them down. Sometimes we include a tap on the nose if they are stubborn. Cats are trainable.

 

[GodFan]

I dont let our dogs drink the water when we change it but if the chemicals dont hurt the fish I guess the cat might be safe...then again most aquarium chemicals say "not for use with fish to be eaten" so I dont know. Also you might want to switch to prime water conditioner. That stress coat stuff doesnt nuetrilize ammonia. I used it and my tank crashed and recrashed whenever I changed the water. I switched to prime and no problems.

 

[joejeff]

The cat could contaminate the tank. Ever considered a canopy? They are easy to.build and look nice. Would be possible to put a latch on the door too...

 

[skiweeangel]

I know about the poopy paws hence the reason why I think she contaminated my 10g with serratia.

A canopy! Brilliant!

We have tried to break her of the habit with an immediate no followed by the tap on the nose or a spray bottle of water. She wasn't drinking out of the tanks for a while but I think she just forgot I was home today! So I bet she is doing it while we are out.

Mmmmmmm cheeeeeese cake! Great now I neeeeeed that.

 

[skiweeangel]

Oh and I have no problems with ammonia in any of my tanks. All are stable.

 

[CatmanDru]

Well I use stress coat plus for water treatment.

That stress coat stuff doesnt nuetrilize ammonia. I used it and my tank crashed and recrashed whenever I changed the water. I switched to prime and no problems.

I've read this incorrect statement before in this forum that API Stress Coat Plus doesn't neutralize ammonia, and I feel it's important to correct this misconception. I use API Stress Coat Plus (note the "Plus" part) and the bottles say it neutralizes chloramines and ammonia: "...works instantly to remove chlorine, chloramines and ammonia from tap water."

 

[skiweeangel]

Use plus as well.

 

[GodFan]

I've read this incorrect statement before in this forum that API Stress Coat Plus doesn't neutralize ammonia, and I feel it's important to correct this misconception. I use API Stress Coat Plus (note the "Plus" part) and the bottles say it neutralizes chloramines and ammonia: "...works instantly to remove chlorine, chloramines and ammonia from tap water."

I apologize then. I thought it didnt. Either way though I would suggest prime due to price and Ive had really good experience with it. Sorry though I did not know about that.

 

[CatmanDru]

I apologize then. I thought it didnt. Either way though I would suggest prime due to price and Ive had really good experience with it. Sorry though I did not know about that.

Oh, no problem. I just wanted to correct the often stated misperception and make sure people have the correct information that API Stress Coat Plus does indeed remove chlorine, chloramines and ammonia from tap water.