Cats (the furry kind) and tanks

[Darwins_Dog]

So I have a cat. He loves watching the fish, of course, but he also loves to drink out of the tank. It's covered, so I'm not worried about him getting the fish, there's just enough of an opening that he can stick his nose in.

Is this bad for the cat? What about the fish? I make him get down whenever I see him up there, but should I do something else to stop it?

[mykidsmylife]

My cats will drink from my aquarium as well. They really love drinking from the betta tank but I catch them up on my 125 as well. The bad thing, the fat one was sitting on my larger Emperor HOB and ended up cracking the plastic "housing" on it causing a significant leak before I noticed it. I replaced it with a Fluval 405 so all is well now and intend on replacing the other Emperor here very soon as well. LOVE the fluvals..so nice and quiet.
They've done this for years now and all cats still alive and thriving. I figure, Heck they drink from the toilet, my filtered planted tanks are probably far healthier for them than toilet water. I figure they just appreciate the fishy flavoring. lol

[Zari]

Mine stays out of them if their full tho she does eat the photos growing out of my sump on my pond.
I can't keep her out of them however if they are empty.

[Manafel]

My cat drinks out of my 75 when she has the energy to get up there. She's even fallen in it while I was cleaning it. I wouldn't worry about it. Worst case a cat could just damage/mess up your filters/hoses.

[rufioman]

Two cats in my house have fallen into two different tanks trying to drink water out of them during water changes. They learn real fast that water is most definitely not their friend.

for stupid cats.

[finsNfur]

My cats love to drink tank water, and one just likes to lie across the lights. I guess it's warm and comfy!

[grundsau]

I used to have one that liked to drink the brine water out of my brine shrimp hatchers.

[Ghpr1957]

If it becomes a problem with your cat/cats getting up on your tank, you can get a special item called SSSSCat. It's a small can of compressed air (OK for the environment) that has an inferred top on it. When the cat (or anything) crosses the inferred, it let's out a blast of air. My cats know the SSSCat so well now that all I have to do is put a can down by anywhere I don't want them and they avoid the area. The compressed air canister are replaceable. The inferred top uses 1 or 2 AA batteries. You can order them on line. Here's a link, but I would shop around on the web for a better price. http://www.entirelypets.com/ssscatinnotek.html

Also, I have used just a regular can of compressed air, like for computers and cameras, and without pointing it directly at my cat, let out a stream of air to get then off a table or away from something dangerous to them...again, after a while, just showing them the can makes them high tail it away. I like the compressed air better than a spray bottle with water, the air doesn't leave any mess and you can aim it towards pretty much anything and not worry about doing any damage. Of course, the regular cans of air can only work when you're around to supervise, while the SSSCat works all the time.

Just something to think about...
Ghpr1957

[mykidsmylife]

Zari, you have a beautiful girl there!

Ghpr1957...I love the idea of that!! Perhaps one would keep them out of the garden window and away from my houseplants!!!

One of my kitties has also fallen in my tank during a cleaning. I had stepped out of the room and heard my husband yell. Walk in to see him dragging poor Chucky out of the tank soaking wet. It's a 125g so there was enough water still in it that his feet didn't touch bottom. He tried to swim..lol

[ssuchem13]

idk if u are using dechlorinator or other things in the water it might not be good for the cat