I adore this image by talented artist
Svetlana Novikova who has created several striking paintings of the Sphynx cat. While it might seem kind of whimsical & amusing, at least I imagine it does to the uninitiated, I can attest to this absolutely being something the Sphynx cat will repeatedly do - given opportunity.
My adult female Noodle will choose to drink from the toilet bowl, exactly like this - or rather she would if the lid wasn’t kept down. At first when I found her beige footprints in the bowl, on the seat and on the floor around the toilet I thought it was just curiosity on her part. But it turned out not, and, even though she has two bowls & a water fountain, each of which is cleaned and refilled with fresh water at least once a day, she seemed to want to drink from the toilet!
The only reason I can think of she would do this is that, since it is flushed regularly, she must be able to smell that the water inside ot is that much ‘fresher’ than that which is inside her drinking bowl?
Noodle is obviously not alone in her disgusting ha it. Obviously Svetlana Novikova has observed this often enough to have decided to immortalise this in her amazing artwork. But what has reminded me of it again is that it had also been experienced by another Sphynx owner, who had come to visit me recently in order to view a kitten (which she then reserved).
As we talked together about our lives with our Sphynx’s, Ley mentioned having a house-rule which any house guest was made clearly aware of when asking to use her bathroom - they must ensure that the toilet’s lid was put back down - this because her Sphynx’s too had been choosing to drink out of the toilet!
Now. I’ve had cats almost all of my life, but hand on heart, it’s only ever the Sphynx that has shown even the slightest interest in the toilet, or of the water lurking inside it, but, while I had been most concerned about the whole hygiene side of drinking it, Ley told me what she most dreaded about this phenomenon was her cat disappearing into the pipework and being drowned.
With four kittens who will very soon be off to three different new homes, I always try to provide applicants and new owners with as much knowledge as I can do. As well as producing/preparing kitten packs, I’ve also spent many hours writing a handbook of Sphynx cat care. I provide this book electronically as part of the application, invitation to a viewing. Inside it there are chapters dedicated to this breed’s uniqueness, it’s curiosity, cat toys, play, being indoor cats, neutering, bedding, bathing & grooming as well as general care, plus the different diet types and transitioning from one to another safely. I’ve even written about water... but, what I’ve not included, but think I may well need do in my next update is mention the breed’s apparent preference for drinking from the toilet & passing on advice about putting the lid down!
