...Don't put him in the cage.

The reason he's playing with the water is because he's bored and in too small of a space. If he's got more room to run and play (aka a room) he'd be much less likely to make a mess of his bowl.

I understand putting cats away when you aren't home. Three of ours (Jitzu, Doran and Muffin) go into a room in the basement when we're sleeping or out. The boys make too much of a mess when we're gone, and if they're away and Jitzu's not she cries for them.
In the room they have food, a few scratchers, litter boxes, and toys. They don't get water because no matter how I've tried to give it to them Doran makes a mess *sigh*. The food has moisture, so they get enough out of that and the rest of the time they're free in the house with the fountain.

Torri mostly lives in our bedroom. She has her own box, food, toys, scratchers, and drinks out of glasses. She honestly prefers this to being free in the house and will ask to leave/go back to her room when she wants a change of pace.

A cage, even a multi-level one is much too small! He needs to have at least a bathroom to play, move away from his litter, and have a scratcher.

 

We've tried keeping him out when we're not home (on numerous ocassions since we've had him) but when we get back he's really unhappy and cries because he probably thinks we're leaving him and don't want him. Every time we go near the door, he dashes over and blocks it like he's afraid of us leaving him. But when we put him in his cage, he just knows we're going out, we'll be back and he goes to sleep (we know because we've got a live camera watching him). I would like to leave him out but I just hate coming back to a crying kitty and it breaks my heart seeing him so upset. Or does it take a lot of time to get him used to this??

I know that a lot of people will disagree with us leaving him in a cage as they'll think it's too small etc, but actually we really do have a pretty big multi-level one where he can climb, jump, sleep, toilet, play etc inside. I only have 1 kitty and I could easily fit 2 or 3 inside with plenty of room for them all to play.

Anyhow, the point really is, is there any other way of teaching him how to use the water bottle?

 

Why is there so many people using cages on this forum these days? 2 is too many. Keep your cat in a spare room, problem solved.

Are you talking about a water bottle for a hamster? My cats won't even drink water that isn't actively flowing (unless it is a glass of water I'm drinking out of), I'm sure they would dehydrate to death if I gave them a hamster bottle.

 

The reason why I don't have a spare room to put him in is because I live in Hong Kong. I'm guessing nobody on this forum has any idea how tiny the apts here are for the ridiculous price we pay to have a roof over our heads! If i had a spare room I wouldn't have the problem with Milky not letting us out.

I have tried many times already, leaving him in our living room area while we go out. He literally won't budge from the door unless we throw a toy to the other side of the room and leave while he runs for the toy. We can hear him meowing while we lock the door! It's upsetting thinking that he's meowing like that for several hours while we're gone.

Perhaps it's not common practice to have cages/crates in the rest of the westen world, but it's quite popular in Asia. I don't leave my kitty inside to torture him and bore him to death.... Please don't think of me in such a way! Why would I spend all my money on giving him the best if I didn't love my kitty??

The water bottle I'm talking about is upsidedown, attaches to the crate/cage, has a stainless steel nozzle with a kind of ball inside so that when animals lick it, their tongue pushes the ball up and releases water down. Is that what you call a hamster water bottle? I'm not sure because I've never had any hamsters before.

 

I'm guessing you're talking about rabbit-sized water bottles, not hamster-sized.

I found this on a cat fancier association website:

One way to keep water cleaner and fresher is through the use of water bottles. Commonly sold as rabbit watering bottles, these are inverted and hung on the cage, with a metal tube spout and ball valve at the end. Placing a cage cup about three inches below the spout will keep any drips off the floor. Despite what some breeders believe, cats will learn to use these bottles. In our cattery, some take to them immediately, while others take two or three days. Over the last several years, we've switched to them exclusively, have every cat in the cattery using them, and drinking as much or more than they did with open bowls. As an added benefit, we can see just how much water is used very day, something impossible with walk-through bowls. Like bowls, bottles should be cleaned regularly. We rinse and refill two times at most, then wash them out with soap or detergent, and soak them in a mild bleach solution. This cleans and sanitizes the nooks and crannies of the valve and tube.

 

That's exactly the type I'm talking about. Thank you for that! Perhaps all I need is a few more days trying to coax him to use it, as we have only started last night. nekitty I didn't realise it, but from reading the info you gave me, now I know I can also monitor how much water Milky drinks if I use the water bottle. I guess it isn't quite a bad idea after all.

We are leaving him out of the cage little by little, from 5-10 mins to about 5 hours. Will try it out longer as we've only had him for 2 months. Maybe in a couple of months he'll realise we come back every time and eventually be able to leave him out long term, which really is my wish. Perhaps it's still early days!

 

I'm not doubting your intentions for your cat. If you didn't love him you wouldn't be on this forum. No one is here to attack you but we get really concerned when we hear about a caged kitten, because caging kittens is not good for them. They have SO much energy that they can't get out in their cage and they can become aggressive with you when they aren't getting the play time they need. Those cages also hurt their little feet .

Also, I understand that it is hard for you if he cries when you leave but if you never make him sit and cry when you go out he will never learn that you are coming back. He has displayed to you that he can learn that a certain behavior means mom and dad are going out and coming back (his cage) so why not give him the benefit of the doubt that he can learn that you are always coming back? When we first got Sinatra and when we first got Nutmeg they cried when we left, but they soon learned to trust that we loved them and would always come back.

Do you have a bedroom with a door? If you do that could work as his bedroom when you leave. We don't have a spare bedroom and that is what we use when one (or both) cat(s) needs to be confined.

 

The reason why I don't have a spare room to put him in is because I live in Hong Kong. I'm guessing nobody on this forum has any idea how tiny the apts here are for the ridiculous price we pay to have a roof over our heads!

I know what it's like And THAT is exactly why I turned down a great offer to work in HongKong. Really can't imagine living there...

 

Glad someone knows how I feel about living space! I guess there are bigger places, you just have to be a millionaire to live in it though!!

 

...I can't find that website now, but I remember reading something about cats crying when owners left the house.

This is what it said: Leave the house, and come back immediately. Ignore your cat when you arrive. Do that a number of times making "outside time" longer (going out, waiting for a few minutes outside and coming back in again) without greeting your cat. This (supposedly) will make him ignore the fact that you're leaving, since you are showing him that you always come back.

Something else from this website: Cat Behavior, Cat Behavior guide

When leaving the house don’t make a big thing of going, don’t overly interact with your cat and say ‘ bye, I won’t be long’ – they don’t understand! Just go and come back as if there is nothing unusual about you not being in the house.

On return, try to avoid immediate interaction especially if your cat is overly exuberant. Wait about 5-10minutes then interact with your cat in a calm manner.

I hope it works. I also believe cages are not a good idea, but I don't mean to criticize or anything.

Good luck!

 

Now that I think about it, I have left before, returning immediately or within a few minutes as I had forgotten stuff, went in without saying anything to Milky and left again, and on those ocassions, I remember he watched closely at what I was doing but didn't meow.

Thanks for your info! I will definitely try it out and see how that works.

 

I would be really interested to see how the water bottle transition goes. I often struggles with messy cages and dumped water bowls especially with kittens waiting for adoption. It sounds like you really love and take good care of your little Milky.

I've only ever seen housing in Hong Kong online or on tv. I will never forget the video of the businessman's hotel where people climbed into compartments to sleep and I've seen vids of the places where people pay to go visit with cats because they cannot afford the space to keep them at home - it really is a completely different way of living and not something most of us in North America really understand.

 

I've only ever seen housing in Hong Kong online or on tv. I will never forget the video of the businessman's hotel where people climbed into compartments to sleep and I've seen vids of the places where people pay to go visit with cats because they cannot afford the space to keep them at home - it really is a completely different way of living and not something most of us in North America really understand.

I think the video you saw was of Japan, not HK. Living space in HK is relatively small but not as boxed up as Japan. And yes, people in Japan do pay to visit pets because they don't have space in their own homes. I haven't heard of it in HK yet though.

 

Just a little update.

Milky licked the water bottle for the first time last night by himself. It wasn't a huge lick, just enough that a couple drips of water came out. He also used his paw to push against it and got his paw wet, of course, then licked his paw. I think he knows that it's just water now and the bottle is not going to attack him!

 

open mouth insert foot on my part to be sure - Lets watch the goofy American Lady try to relate and miss by an entire country... face palm

Glad Milky is starting to use the bottle a bit.