[salukigirl]

So my cat, Consuela, has some problems. She was a stray so she has several health problems like she always has runny eyes and clogged sinuses etc... Well one of her problems is that her eye sight isn't that good. So she does this thing where she scratches at the bowl because she can't see where the water is and she ends up knocking it everywhere pretty much everyday. So not only do they not have water when I leave but Im afraid of having mold under my carpet now from how much water she's spilled. I have to use stainless steel bowls because anything else will make them break out in acne. But when I use the stainless steel she can't see the water. Does anyone know of something else I could use that wont give her acne and will allow her to see the water? Or maybe an idea of how to keep her from scratching so much?

[(JD)]

Good question. How about floating something on the water, or is she allergic to plastic?

Ask the vet if you can put food coloring in the water to help her see it, if that would harm her?

Try using velcro on the bottom of the bowl, to hold it in place till you need to change it or clean it?

[salukigirl]

I was thinking about the food coloring also. I don't think it would hurt her because there isn't anything toxic in it (to the best of my knowledge). She isn't allergic to plastic but if there is plastic in the bowl it might make her break out with acne again. Also, if the food coloring doesn't work then I would just have a big blue/red/green etc... stain on my carpet lol. Thats the only solution I could think of also.

Thanks for responding

[pachyderm]

I put my water dish in the kitchen sink, because one of my cats did the same thing -- pawing at the dish. They have no trouble finding the water and jumping up to the sink to get it.

[free2beme]

same here pachy!! only i put the water dish in the bath tub.

Maybe you could try to weigh down the dish with something, that way when they paw the dish doesn't fall over. The food coloring idea and sink/tub ideas are good too

[Karissa258]

I was having a similar problem with one of my cats, so I ended up moving the water dish to an area of the house with tile flooring. The suggestions people have given all sound good - calling your vet's office for advice might help too.

About your cat's health: have you tried going to a holistic vet? They are trained the same as regular vets, but in addition to conventional training, they also have training in nutrition, herbs, etc. etc. They may have some new suggestions to help your cat that a regular vet wouldn't know about. There's a book about it that I like, called Keep Your Cat Healthy The Natural Way, by Pat Lazarus. Your library might have it. It might help too. Good luck.

[(JD)]

Maybe putting a little bit of lime or lemon into the water, or something she can smell but that won't change the taste for her? (Who knows, she might like lime water lol)