How fresh should a cat's drinking water be?

It's perfectly safe to give cats water that's been standing for 8-12 hrs. You're absolutely right, many cats dislike the smell of chlorine and other chemicals in tap water. She will be a lot less ill from "stale" water than she would be from an overdose of chemicals. After all, animals don't drink tap water in Nature.

I've had many cats and they all have their own ideas about what they'll drink and what they wont. The present two are no exception. The old cat will drink stale water but doesn't like it when first put down or running water. The young cat will only drink water fresh or from a running tap.

Your cat obviously shows a preference for 'old' water. It could be the amount of chlorine in your local supply or it could be the temperature.

A few hours old isn't going to hurt your cat and it's far better to encourage them to drink what they like than for them not to get enough. Perhaps you should get her a glass of her own and use a covered container for your own! lol

Tap waters treated with chemicals, often chlorinated strong enough for her to smell it, cats noses are alot more sensitive then our noses and lots of cats find this chemical smell to be offensive. I own 2 cats, and one likes the fresh brita filtered water i put down for her and the other likes to drink from the fountain or bathtub.. If it is filtered water then it could be the smell of the dishsoap. I also read in a catbook that it could be behavioral, oh and the night water is safe, its still clean, but now its the right temperature and less chemical smell for her, just put down the kinda water thats taken to bed at night and she will wait until its just right for her :-)

Cats often prefer stale water and water from a glass that's been left overnight wont do any harm my cat did this and she lived to be 15 years old so i wouldn't worry,the harsh chemicals you refer to must be the chlorine cats have a much stronger sense of taste than us so its probably why she doesn't like it, it takes 24 hours for this chlorine to evaporate so you could leave some standing over night then put it in her bowl or you could give her bottled water, i once done this with one of my other cats and she lived to a good age too. good luck.

I read in a cat book that they are sensitive to chlorine so thats why they don't usually like it from the tap. Having said that, some cats like to jump in the sink and drink even though they have fresh water in their bowl. When I had my cat I used to boil water and let it get cold before giving it to him. My neighbours cat prefers to drink from puddles or he jumps in the bath.

If you are worried about chemicals in your drinking water that you are giving your cat, you could buy a water filter that attatches to your faucet and fill his water bowl with that water. If there are no other sources of water around the house for her to get, she will drink whatever water is available in her bowl. Good luck....

Fresh is best. There aren't any harsh chemicals in water. If there were then humans and animals would suffer from it. It's harmless.

Sometimes fresh water is too cold and cats like to drink it when it's had time to warm up a bit.

A cat I had only ever drank out of mugs. We gave him a cheap one to drink out of and changed the water twice a day. If you give your cat a cup of her own next to her food then she may well drink out of that in stead of yours.

Many cats drink from the bath although I don't know why:-S

You should try and empty and refill the bowl once a day. We drink filtered water and give the dogs and cats the same.

My cat has an atypical habit of on occasion ingesting water from this fountain ornament ingredient in my kitchen. she will drink water from a bowl, while the fountain runs out of water. considering that this pond you talk of, has had fish in it interior the previous, you are able to desire to evade your cats circuitously faraway from the pond section. i think of it is positive permitting them to drink water from the pond, as long as you thoroughly wiped clean it after the fish had died. even however you're moving quickly, your cats will drink water from any available source, it is their organic tendencies. i'm hoping I helped, good luck and farewell.

no more than 24hrs old really but i found my cat like old water aswell, they dont always have fresh water in the wild right? so make sure she always has fresh evan if she likes to drink the old glass water lol! hope this helps :-)