DEAR JOAN: Our cat has a strange habit. Sprinklers go on in our little garden area for 15 minutes at 6 each morning, before she goes outside.
About an hour later, after eating some of her treats, she walks slowly through the ivy and carefully laps up water on individual leaves. She does this for 5 to 10 minutes despite the fact she has fresh, cool water in a dish nearby.
We have never used any treatment or fertilizer products on the little garden area.
Why is she doing this?
J. Nolan, Lafayette
DEAR J.: Why? Because she is a cat.
However, as with other behaviors we find strange in our felines, there’s usually a perfectly good and logical reason.
Although water is not a favorite with cats, it’s still necessary to their survival and good health. Cats, however, don’t require as much water as some pets, such as dogs. Cats originated in the desert, where water was in short supply, so they evolved ways of making the most of the fluids they found, usually getting the majority of their water needs from the food they ate.
That might not be true for today’s cat, although feeding your cat wet food can help balance the scales.
It’s important to provide your cat with water, but most cats don’t like standing water. Part of the reason is their eyes, which are excellent for spotting the slightest movement of prey in the gloomiest of light, aren’t good at discerning the surface of the water. For this reason, some cats will dip their paws in their water bowl to cause ripples, making it easier for them to see. You also can use a cat fountain that does the same thing.
As to why your cat prefers the wet leaves, I think the answer might lie in both the nature of the cat and the type of water bowl you’re using. Cats have very sensitive whiskers that act sort of as curb feelers, helping them judge spaces and orient themselves in the dark. They can get something called whisker fatigue, if they’re constantly brushing or compressing their whiskers against something hard, such as the sides of a food or water bowl. Lapping the water from leaves is probably refreshing to her.
There’s nothing wrong with your cat drinking from the ivy leaves, but you could also consider getting her a water dish that is wider and shallower.
And as a reminder, don’t leave food and water on the patio at night, which will attract other animals.
DEAR JOAN: There is a new bird in my backyard. It resembles an immature white-crowned sparrow, except its head is small.
It has been begging from the other, smaller birds. A semi-reluctant female junco occasionally feeds it.
I’ve never seen cross-species feeding behavior. Is this unusual?
Sue, Santa Cruz
DEAR SUE: Your begging bird is likely a young brown-headed cowbird.
Cowbirds are defined as “brood parasites.” The female cowbird doesn’t make her own nest and instead lays her eggs in the nests of other birds that then have the responsibility for raising them.
For many birds, the cowbird is bigger and requires more food than their legitimate offspring.
Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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Source: www.mercurynews.com