Why do thirsty Los Gatos felines choose flower vase over water bowl

DEAR JOAN: Why would my two indoor cats relatively drink water from a flower association than from their very own water dish?

— Florence Bell, Los Gatos

DEAR FLORENCE: Cats are gonna cat, and so they cat arduous.

As I’ve stated earlier than, there’s not a complete lot of distinction between wild and domesticated cats on the subject of behaviors, and their selections in water sources are instance of that.

If your water dish is subsequent to the meals dish, that may be off-putting to cats. In the wild, cats keep away from ingesting water that’s close to the place they’ve killed or consumed prey. Instinct tells them the water may very well be contaminated by the lifeless animals. The home cat won’t have killed the can of meals or stalked the bag of Meow Mix, however the intuition to keep away from close by water is powerful.

Cats additionally aren’t significantly keen on faucet water. They have an excellent sense of scent, and regardless that we would not detect the odor, it could scent of chlorine. On the opposite hand, water from crops and floral preparations can scent of minerals and different issues cats discover engaging.

Lastly, cats prefer to hunt and discover, and that features looking for new sources of meals, water, sleeping locations and playthings. They will be excited by discovering water within the vase.

It’s not the perfect thought to let cats drink soiled water, so to forestall it, attempt transferring the water bowl into one other room or as removed from the meals dish as potential. Cats choose to drink transferring water as they will battle with seeing the floor of nonetheless water. A drip or little ripple helps them focus.

Whatever water and meals bowls you utilize, be certain that they’re vast sufficient that your cats’ whiskers aren’t urgent towards the perimeters. They can develop whisker fatigue, which may make them reluctant to make use of the dish.

DEAR JOAN: I’ve questions on a plant and the bugs residing on it.

I used to be informed on the nursery once I purchased them that this plant is a milkweed of the variability that’s useful to the monarch butterflies. But the leaves appear too slim to match what I’ve discovered on the web, and there hasn’t been any actual butterfly exercise all through the summer time. Can you inform if that is the correct of milkweed or even when it’s even a milkweed?

Second, what the heck type of bugs are these?  Nothing appears to be fascinated by consuming them, and so they positively don’t flip into monarch butterflies.

— Dave B., Morgan Hill

DEAR DAVE: Judging by the images, you’ve gotten a narrow-leaf (Asclepias fascicularis) milkweed, which is without doubt one of the most popular varieties. If you continue to have doubts, I’d pull it out and change it with the narrow-leaf, showy (A. speciosa), woollypod (A. eriocarpa) or heartleaf (A. cordifolia) milkweed.

The bugs are oleander aphids, which feed on oleanders and milkweed. Even nice infestations of the aphids in all probability received’t kill the plant, though they may stunt the expansion. You can wash them off utilizing water or insecticidal cleaning soap. Encouraging pure predators, corresponding to ladybugs, can even skinny the aphid herd.

The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AsokayJoanMorris@gmail.com.