Cat got your sink?

[Alternate title: Whose sink is it anyway?]

What is it about sinks, or running water, and cats?

First, it was our black cat, Felix. I don't know when the behavior began, but he will only drink from a faucet -- and only from either the kitchen faucet...



or the faucet in my bathroom sink. (For some reason he refuses to drink from the spouse's sink, which is less than two feet from my sink. Of course.)

Not only that, he gives us dirty looks and meows when we don't make with the water. Even though he is perfectly capable of turning the water on and off himself.

And now he has convinced our older cat, Flora, that drinking from the sink -- my sink -- is the only way to go. Unfortunately, Flora, who is 11 and weighs around 14 pounds, cannot jump up onto the bathroom counter (or refuses to). So I have to pick her up and deposit her by the sink -- or get an earful.

She then waits for me to turn on the faucet for her, at just the right speed or flow. She then daintily dips her paw in and licks the water from her furry wrist -- as Felix watches and waits his turn (and I brush my teeth and wash my face in the spouse's sink).



When I mentioned this problem to our vet, she suggested we get some sort of cat fountain. But I wonder if our cats would drink from it.

Any suggestions, cat people? I'd really like my sink back.

THIS JUST IN 5/8/14: This morning my sister-in-law emailed me several photos of her cats, Rusty and Socks, drinking water from a faucet (or waiting for their cat butler to turn on the faucet so they could drink from it). This photo of their cat Socks is my favorite.

Must run in the family.