The Fish Bowl

A few years ago, someone gave us a set of small glass fish suspended from little glass balloons. The idea behind them was that you were supposed to float them in a decorative bowl to create a care-free “fish” bowl. They were quite pretty, the little blown-glass fish, and we liked the concept, so we bought a small spherical bowl, filled it with water and added the glass fish. We put the bowl on the cocktail table in the living room. It was pretty. Since the cats must explore, analyze and approve any new addition to their environment, the bowl can under immediate scrutiny. Quint sniffed at it, put his paw in the water and stirred the little glass balloons around. When he determined that the bowl was filled with clean water, he put his head inside the bowl and got himself a drink. From that moment on, the pretty, decorative “fish” bowl became the Kitty Water Bowl of Choice. Every few days we would find the glass fish resting on the bottom of the bowl because most of the water had been consumed by the cats. Hedge, being the copy-cat, saw Quint drinking from the bowl and joined in the fun. Carol and I found the whole thing quite amusing. If this was a where the cats wanted to get their water, we were only too happy to accommodate them. Sometime later, we tired of the tedious task of cleaning all the little glass fish whenever we cleaned up the bowl. Instead we floated some small rubber ducks in the water. Now, before the cats drink out of the bowl, they will put a paw into the water and gently move the ducks to the side and take their drink. We still keep the water bowl that is next to their food bowls clean and filled. Sometimes, on a hot day, we’ll even ad an ice cube to that water bowl. The cats do drink out of that bowl, sometimes. Their favorite drinking bowl, though, is the one in the living room where the rubber ducks float.