As any cat lover knows, our feline friends must always have access to fresh
water. Some of us, however, have cats whose opinion of just what qualifies as
"fresh" and what doesn't differs from that of others.

When I first got Minnie, she'd often try to jump up onto the kitchen counter
next to the sink...especially when I was standing there doing dishes or whatever
and had the water running. She couldn't quite make it then, but that didn't stop
her from trying, and sometimes I stopped and dried my hands so I could pick her
up and boost her up to her indicated goal without getting her wet. She'd then
stand there watching me or and looking out the window into the back yard and so
forth until I was finished and put her back down.

Always, I'd wash and dry her water dish and fill it with fresh, cold water, and
often she'd go over and drink some as soon as I put it down.

Then came the day I put the just-filled bowl of water on the floor, and she
immediately ran over and snarled as she smacked the top edge of the bowl with
her paw, causing the bowl to tip over and dump most of the water all over the
floor. While this sight was still making its way from my eyes to my brain, she
turned and ran across the kitchen and tried to jump up on the counter next to
the sink. She didn't make it...but Charlie (RB) used to insist on drinking right
out of the faucet and so had at least one of my friends' cats, so I realized it
was possible that Minnie was "one of those" - and there being only one way to
find out, I picked her up and put her on the counter, turned the cold water on.
and said to her, "Go ahead, baby." Can you guess what happened next?

I call that The Water Incident.

I still keep fresh water in her bowl for when I'm not around to turn the faucet
on for her, and sometimes I'll come out there and see her actually drinking it,
but for the most part, she'd much rather drink water right from the faucet.

One day a few weeks later, she eventually succeeded in jumping up onto the
counter on her own. Even now she still falls short once in a while, but after
that first time when she made it, I don't think I've ever seen her miss twice in
a row. Whenever she wants to, she'll jump up there when I'm at the sink. She
knows fresh, cold water comes out of that faucet. She also knows HOT water comes
out of that faucet. So before she drinks she MUST hear me say, "Go ahead, baby."
In the event that I leave the water running and walk away without saying it, she
literally whines like you'd expect to hear from a dog.

Now, about that "And More" part that's in the subject line...while I was typing
this post, I had some rice cooking on the stove that I'd put on earlier, with a
timer set to let me know when 35 minutes had elapsed and I could expect all the
water to be absorbed.

Just as I was typing the line that reads, "I call that The Water Incident" my
Minnie came rushing in here from the kitchen and went into her familiar "follow
me" behavior pattern - and was whining to add some extra urgency to her . She
got me to follow her into the kitchen, and when I arrived, I found 13.5 minutes
still left on the timer and all the water gone from the kettle! Had I waited for
the timer to go off, I may very well have had half a pound of burnt rice, and
possibly a ruined kettle as well. I'm not sure how she knew, She never jumps up
there and she can't even see up there. The only thing I can think of is that she
stopped seeing steam rising from the kettle and somehow concluded that this
sudden change of circumstances was something I might wish to know about.

She just got TWO of those pounce kitty treats for that one! If she hadn't come
and gotten me, I can't say for sure what might have happened. I'll you what I
can say for sure. When I go back out there in a minute and add cream of chicken
soup, chicken, and veggies to the kettle, not all of that chicken is guaranteed
to make it into the kettle...because if Minnie shows any interest in having any
of it, she's definitely getting some!

John D. Kasupski
Niagara Falls, NY