Cats love sitting and watching the fish inside the tank swim around. However, what do you do when they go from harmlessly watching the fish in the tank to attempting to drink the water from it?
Usually, your cat will be more interested in drinking the water in the fish tank than eating the fish – so you don’t have to worry about their safety. But what about your cat’s safety? If you’ve caught your cat drinking water from your fish tank, you’ve probably wondered if is safe drinking water. So, is it safe for your cat to drink fish tank water?
Is it safe for my cat to drink water from fish tank?
Most of the time, fish tank water is relatively harmless for cats. Especially if a tank is clean and well-maintained, there aren’t too many risks.
However, while it won’t endanger your cat if they do it once or twice, fish tank water can be dangerous if consumed regularly.
In this article, we’ll evaluate the safety risks of allowing your cat to drink fish tank water as well as explore the reason why cats seem to love going after fish tank water in the first place.
Why Isn’t Fish Tank Water Safe?
There is always a chance that they will encounter harmful substances in the water that can pose a threat to their well-being. While you should keep in mind that your cat is unlikely to encounter the risks listed below, especially in a well-maintained tank, the threat of illness is always there if a cat is drinking out of a fish tank, especially if they do it regularly. It is important to know the risks.
Chemicals
One of the most important reasons that you should not allow your cat to drink out of a fish tank is the plethora of potentially dangerous chemicals circulating throughout the water. While the chlorine levels in the tank are safe for living creatures (considering fish live in them), it is the by-products of the fish living in them that can cause harm. Fish tanks tend to produce ammonia as a byproduct of circulating fish waste.
Ammonia is highly toxic and can cause serious harm if ingested. Furthermore, harmful bacteria can often grow around filters and objects in the aquarium. These can also inflict a lot of harm on a cat if they were to be ingested.
Fish Food
Another potentially harmful additive to fish tank water is remnants of fish food. While fish food is delicious and nutritious the fish living inside the tank, it can be very dangerous to cats. Like the chemicals in the fish tank, decaying fish food can release ammonia. Ammonia, as mentioned above, is extremely toxic.
Why Does My Cat Keep Trying to Drink the Fish Tank Water?
It seems odd to many cat owners that their cats seem to prefer fish tank water over clean, pure water. However, if you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense! Fish tank water has a lot of attractive features that regular tap water does not. For example, fish tank water is bound to smell a lot like fish.
While this smell may be gross to most people, it is a delicious aroma to cats. Additionally, many cats are drawn to the fluidity of the fish tank water. Most tanks are not stagnant – the water has currents and produces lots of bubbles. This is very intriguing to cats, much more intriguing than their boring, still water in a bowl.
So, fish tank water has a lot of tempting attributes that may lead cats to prefer it over regular water. Think about it – bubbly and fish flavored? That sounds a lot like the sparkling fruit-flavored water that so many people enjoy.
What are the Risks to my Cat?
We’ve discussed why fish tank water is not safe for cats to drink, but now we’ll highlight exactly what the consequences of a cat drinking fish tank water may be. All of the chemicals and harmful substances mentioned in the section above can contribute to digestive and respiratory tract failures.
A cat that ingests too many harmful bacteria or ammonia may develop stomach, kidney, or liver problems. It can also cause your cat to get bloated.
Additionally, fish tank water can cause damage to the outside of their bodies. The skin that came into contact with the fish tank water may develop irritation, rashes, or potentially skin diseases.
Final Thoughts
If you have a fish tank, you’ve probably noticed your cat spends a reasonable amount of time sitting in front of it, observing all the fish inside. You might also have observed your cat drinking the water from your fish tank or aquarium.
Overall, it is a bad idea to let your cat drink fish tank water. Though the chances of them getting ill after drinking fish tank water, especially clean fish tank water, are minimal, the chance is still there. When it comes to your cat’s health and well-being, it is better to be safe than sorry.
There are a number of harmful substances that they can come into contact with and their physical well-being can be put in jeopardy. Both the inside and outside of their body can be afflicted with a number of detrimental conditions should a cat be exposed to too much harmful fish tank water.
While it is unlikely that a cat would come to harm from drinking fish tank water once or twice, repeated exposure makes it much more likely. If you catch your cat drinking from your fish tank, it is best to move the tank to somewhere inaccessible to them.
While this may be difficult as cats are known for being particularly sneaky creatures, it is important to restrict their access if you can. Though your cat may be much less enthused about the water from the tap than they were about the fish tank water, they’ll be thanking you in the long run.
