Hmm, I've never heard of anything like this, but I can think of something you might try in order to figure out what is causing the problem.

When you took away the downstairs fountain, did you replace it with a regular water dish, and did that fix the problem? Although fountains are good for cats, with such a big mess it might be worth switching for a while.

If she doesn't splash in a dish, then you know the fountain is probably causing the issue. If she does splash, then she probably got bored in the bathroom and learned that playing in water is fun. You might be able to deter it by tiring her out with extra playtime, or else just hoping she grows out of it when she's older.

One last suggestion. If you can't stop her from splashing, you can buy puppy training pads from any pet supply store and lay them out under her bowl. That way, all you'll have to do is change the pads instead of mopping up big puddles.

 

Cats will put their paw in a bowl of water because they are trying to determine where the water is. A cat's vision, up close, isn't that great.

People have many variations on how good their vision is from one person to another, I can't imagine cats would be any different.

Maybe her vision is off a bit and she is having real trouble determining the water level and the movement of the water is just adding to the problem.

Trying just a bowl of water suggestion is the same thing I was thinking. See if this stops the splashing.

The puppy pad idea is a great one if you are set about keeping the fountain for her

 

I'm keeping an eye on this thread. We have a cat at the shelter who does this. And it can be dangerous. If all the water bowls in a room of 6 cats are continually empty because they're splashed out onto the floor, then no one has anything to drink except to lick the floor.

 

My big Tortie girl Effie is obsessed with water. She will sleep in the handbasin - even when I turn the tap on hehe. She just acts as the plug and sits there until it is at least half way up her body before quietly climbing out and giving me an impromptu shower.

She also LOVES to play with her water fountain. She will hook the top off using the filter pad and then it is GAME ON. She leaps, dips, splashes and treis to sit in the bowl.

The toilet bowl doesn't escape her attentions either ....

 

I had a water splasher too, she liked to wash her paws after using the litter box.

The pump will burn out on a fountain without water in it, so I recommend you use water bowls in the basement. Put a large non tipp-able bowl in a shallow tray to contain the water. This way the mess is contained, plus she will still have water to drink.

And...you might play with her more. Give her a half hour of interactive play time with you before putting her in the basement at night. She sounds bored.

 

I had a water splasher too, she liked to wash her paws after using the litter box.

Much of the timing made me thing this is what she was doing. The only caviot is that she wasn't doing this after using the up stairs litter box.

Fortunately, the splashing in the upstairs foutain has stopped.

The pump will burn out on a fountain without water in it, so I recommend you use water bowls in the basement. Put a large non tipp-able bowl in a shallow tray to contain the water. This way the mess is contained, plus she will still have water to drink.

It's been enough time that I might try setting up the fountain downstairs again, but start without the pump.

And...you might play with her more. Give her a half hour of interactive play time with you before putting her in the basement at night. She sounds bored.

The problem wasn't only a night-time issue. At its worst, I would clean up the mess in the middle of the day, set everything back up, and latter in the day, if she had been down stairs (because the kids were playing down stairs) and she went and used the litter box, she would get right back into the foutain.

 

If you want something that provides fresh water, but is a little less exciting, I would recommend one of those gravity waterers. Just keep it full so it doesn't get tippy

 

I got a fountain from a garden shop, it's a very common fountain, with the lion head that you hang on the wall and a little hidden tube in the mouth drains the water into a pool that is where the neck of the lion would be. The pump and filter are at the bottom on that pool.

I hung it about 3 feet off the ground and then put a large carpet covered box beneath it (the box actually contained a litter box, but I didn't use it.). Pooter would jump up on the box and drink from the stream coming from the lions mouth. The sound of the water hitting the pool really attracted him. He could easily see the stream, and had to stand on all fours to drink from it, but the narrow pool of water was still a little too high for him to comfortably reach in and play with it. He loved that fountain. I had it in a sunroom off of my bedroom and the ceiling went all the way up to the ceiling height two stories up. From the living room upstairs you could stand at a railing and look down into the sunroom. Sound really travelled and you could hear the fountain up there. When I would have company they could hear Pooter downstairs drinking from the fountain and people really got a kick out of it when watching him.

 

Even so, a cat of that age needs a LOT of interactive play to be kept out of mischief.

The solution to many behavior problems for cats, especially cats under 3 years old is, play with them more.

People want to think of cats as "low maintenance" or "independent" but these are fallacies. Cats need a lot of human interaction and attention to develop socially, and to prevent nuisance (to humans) habits.

 

I have several cats who love to play in water. Two of them prefer to play in the cat fountain and love moving water. To manage the puddles, I have two carpeted three feet square, rubber backed runners; like you would use at an entry to catch dirt and rain. I place the fountain in the middle of the runner and when the cats play in the water, the carpet catches and holds the water and the rubber backing keeps the floor underneath dry. I just change the runner daily when I wash the fountain, rinsing the used one under warm water with a little Mr Clean to prevent mildew, and hanging to dry for the next day's use. It solves the problem of the puddles and the cats enjoy the water. I have a large fountain, so they never empty it and I just keep an eye on the water level thoughout the day.

I also have three water bowls out for the cats that do not like the fountain. Three of my cats often tap the side of the bowl to create waves so they can see the water surface and avoid getting their nose in the water when they want a drink. None of the cats play in the water bowls.

I have another cat obsessed with the flushing toilet. She just has to jump up on the seat to watch the water swirl around the inside of the bowl; she is also one of the ones that like to play in the fountain.

Some cats just like playing in water and it is a hard habit to curtail. I have found it easier to manage the puddles than change the behavior.

 

Yesterday evening, I tried placing the water fountain (without the pump) back down with just a small amount of water. Almost instantly, she was splashing in it (water splashing as much as a 3 foot radius from the fountain). So this time, it had nothing to do with cleaning paws after the litter box.

I cleaned the water up and left the water bowl/fountain there. I soon heard noises in there and this time caught her in the act. Scared her out of the room and cleaned the mess again.

She played in it one more time before bed.

Next morning, it looked like she either didn't play in it anymore during the night, or did so in such a small amount that most of it had dried.

Note that this was after an afternoon of the kids playing with her (running her around with the laser pointer as an example).

If the floor is dry when I get home, I'll clean the bowl out again and try again with a little more water in there.

 

Just put the water bowl in a shallow tray of some kind to contain the splashed water, and let her splash if she wants. Some cats just like to splash water. It never bothered me when my water splasher had her fun. It's just water, and if it made her happy, I didn't see any harm in it.

 

Just put the water bowl in a shallow tray of some kind to contain the splashed water, and let her splash if she wants. Some cats just like to splash water. It never bothered me when my water splasher had her fun. It's just water, and if it made her happy, I didn't see any harm in it.

I sat and watched our shelter cat (Patch) Sunday empty three water bowls into the cafeteria-style trays we had set the bowls in. Then he proceeded to start splashing the water from the trays onto the floor. It's the darnedest thing. I've never known a cat to be so methodical about splashing water out with his paws. Apparently this is his favorite playtime activity. Or he's OCD.

 

Like I said, some cats just like to play in water. The myth that cats hate water is not universally true. Even in the wild there are cats who like water; tigers, of course, ocelots and there is an Asian Fishing Cat who all but lives in water and will actually slip underneath the surface to hunt fish. There are a lot of others as well.

One famous breed for liking water is the Turkish Angora. My Great Aunt's Angoras had their own kiddie swimming pool in my Aunt's cattery. Three of my four Siamese liked water as well. Once of Tut's male children liked to take showers with me before work almost every day; and I mean in the tub, under the spray of water. Misha always sat on the edge of the tub and allowed the water to drain off of him before jumping out of the tub. He even had his own set of towels for drying off.

 

She played in the water again over-night (and she was only down there by-her-self from 3:00am to 7:00am). This time, there was plenty of kitty litter in the water bowl again.