Maine Coons and their Water bowls

Maine Coons are totally in their own world and they do things that are quite peculiar! One big trait/quirk is the obsession with and playing with the food/water bowls.

I found a very funny list on another blog which I just have to share as Marshall and Zelda pretty much do all of these!

Let's see, there is:

1. Pawing at the floor while drinking
2. Dipping a front paw in the water bowl, then cupping the water out to drink from said paw
3. Pawing in the food bowl to knock, or pick, several pieces of food out then eating each one individually, either off the floor, or by picking each piece up and placing in mouth
4. Placing toys (glitter balls, mice, etc.) in the water bowl
5. Picking a piece of dry food out of its bowl, then placing, with paw, into water bowl, stir for a minute with paw to soften, then pick softened piece out of water bowl and place, with paw, in mouth
6. Not liking the nutritious, therefore less tasty, canned food and expressing this dislike by carefully pulling and folding whatever rug or towel the food bowl is sitting on (see #7) over the bowl containing the offending comestible, so that it is completely covered, then stomping the fabric down into the food as completely as possible
7. Removing bits of canned food from bowl (as in #3), and either eating from floor, or "killing" said chunk of food, properly smearing same in all directions, giving a clue to stupid human to place some sort of "fabric" device under said bowl to prevent "roaming" of food and/or bowl (see #8)
8. Taking paw and dragging, usually in a rapid, jerking manner, water bowl (even heavy crockery bowls) so as to cause water to splash from bowl onto floor, then taking paw and evenly distributing water over floor in multiple directions until water is spread as thinly as possible, then....
9. Jumping up onto nearest piece of furniture or counter and, taking great care to "stretch", as far as possible, the remaining water on paws, leaving a trail of wet paw prints for a distance of not less than twenty times their body length (Note: Young kittens are carefully taught this "stretching" technique through numerous observation sessions conducted by the adults)
10. Sitting in kitchen or bathroom sink(s), usually already wet, attempting to drink from spout, some individuals learn to turn on faucets so as to gain access to greater amounts of "spreadable" water
11. Some individuals will jump down from counter above water bowls to: a) pounce into bowl with front paws so others may witness resultant splash, or b) scare the daylights out of another individual who is concentrating on water in bowl, thus resulting in both, or multiple Maine Coons, fleeing the area in great haste, usually "spinning out" on fabric containment device under said bowls, causing copious amounts of liquid to be displaced from bowls so that the "spreading squad" may return a short time later to perform their duties
12. Advising human companions of the less than satisfactory amount of water in bowl by standing on edge of bowl with both front paws, placing sufficient amount of weight on edge of bowl so as to cause bowl to flip over dispensing "insufficient" amount of water on floor
13. Jumping up onto counters and/or tables to dislodge important notes, papers and/or other possessions important to human companions, then placing same in water bowl, being certain to push said item down into water multiple times

Thus concludes Itemization List Number One, of Maine Coon behavior pertaining to water and/or food bowls and contents.
Respectfully Submitted,
John Hitzeman
Acadiacoons

original list can be found on http://barb.velvet.com/anhumor/mcwater.html