will cats drink saltwater?

[Scuba_Steve]

Never had a tank and a cat in the house at the same time. My new tank is in the freshwater testing phase, and the cat won't stop drinking from the sump. I havent added doors or trim yet, and it will have saltwater in it before i do so. Is my cat in any danger of being stupid and drinking saltwater till he gets sick or dies, or will he taste it once and leave it alone?

[der Riff-Konig]

Mine don't, but they drink toilet water, which IMO is worse.

[Scuba_Steve]

I often catch my cat with his front paws in the toilet water so he can drink. I have to fight the urge to flush it to teach him a lesson. :p

[jeffbrig]

I don't think a cat would ever drink enough to do harm. My cats (3 of 'em) are curious enough to put their paws on the side of the sump and peer in from time to time, but they never touch or drink anything.

[gman0526]

Add some corals like zoanthids in the tank along with other corals waging chemical war and very likely you'll end up with a very sick or dead cat.

There's an old thread about some guy's dog that died after ingesting some tank water. Better be safe than sorry later down the road.

[slackroot]

Yes, I had a cat that used to jump up and drink the salt water, and then puke. I put a stop to that. Personally I would get something to put ontop of your tank. I also kept many variety of zoos.

[Sk8r]

They usually won't drink much---or will rid their stomachs of it promptly. Best keep a lid on or a door shut on your stand: easier than cleaning carpet.

[Brock Fluharty]

My cat always drinks it if I leave some out from a water change or something. One time, she even drank (or ate, for that matter) skimmate from my reef skimmer...lets just say my bedroom rug was not all that lovely that night...ugh...she also eats rubber bands from fish bags right after acclimation, when the little bits fly everywhere if you cut the bands. Sick...

[ACBlinky]

Cats don't always know what's best for them. Assume s/he will drink it, and take measures to prevent it before it happens. I've heard horror stories of cats going to the vet after ingesting pieces of house plant, plastics, drinking chemicals from film processing - you name it, they get into it. I'd install doors and 'cat-proof' the tank before you add salt.

[Scuba_Dave]

I've never had my cat drink any in 3 years, but every animal is different. If it's fresh water right now that may lead to a bad habit once you add salt

[Sk8r]

Which leads to another recent memory---a reefer who thought he had a leak---water everywhere---until he found his cat wet to the waist. If you have one of the 'into-everything' sort, best prevent that, too. I've been intending to use the lid that came with my tank as a pattern for an eggcrate lid---but my two felines are not the climbing sort, thank goodness, and I've been lazy. St. Murphy may get me for this.

[ledford1]

Our cat likes to lick the saltwater off my fingers after I've been working in the tank. I only let him have a few licks, and he's never gotten sick from that.

My sump is within the stand, so he can't get to the water. I also have a canopy over the tank.

[OnTheReef]

My cat will drink (or at least taste) any liquid in an open container. Once, when my girlfriend was babysitting her parent's cat, she drank out of a toilet that had one of those Clorox(R) tablets in the tank. Oh my goodness, did she ever get sick :worried: It took us awhile to figure this out, too. I have been really, really careful about what I put in any kind of water ever since. My cat still tastes the saltwater occasionally, but she doesn't like it much and it doesn't do any harm.

[whiteshark]

My cats sniff the tank every now and then. They haven't yet tried to drink any water. I used to have a lid on my tank with 2 strip flourescent lights that the cats liked to sleep in between. When I upgraded to MH I took the lid off. One time I caught one of the cats just as he was about to jump on the non-exsistant lid. I splashed a little water on him and gave him a hard pat on the head. Now he only watches the tank from a distance...

[Cutiewitbooty]

when ever i have a bowl of SW (for aclamation of corals and fish) my kitten will drink it, but i stop her. She would probally drink untill she puked if i didn't stop her :D

[puffer21]

my three pound dogs loves to drink saltwater. she also loves to get up on my desk and scrack the glass of my tank. i cant figure out if she wants to be freinds with them or to eat them. but when hey swimm to her she gets scared. i dont get dogs. although this wasm about cats so nevermind.

[hot4teacher]

In regards to your title question, mine wouldn't drink it at first, but sweeten it up with the juice from a freshly opened tuna can, and they love it!

(Please note the above post was submitted to be read by those with a sense of humor!)

Dana