Water, water everywhere

Cats are, perhaps, notorious for their dislike of water. I think this is a simplification, however; I think it's more that they will accept water, but only on their own terms.

Scruffy and Shadow get their water in a steel bowl with a rubberized bottom. The bowl is pretty large for them - too big, as it turns out, as it often ends up with dirt or food in it before it's even half empty. A lot of water gets dumped when I clean the bowl and refill it with fresh water. So, the solution is a smaller bowl, yes?

Well, no. I bought a smaller bowl, and filled it with water, and Shadow, on discovering it, spent several enjoyable minutes pawing at the water, dipping her paw in it (then shaking her paw off, sending water everywhere) sloshing it out of the bowl, and in the end the bowl was empty, and the floor was very wet. Fool that I was, I refilled it, and was treated to a repeat performance, so we went back to the large bowl. We waste the same amount of water, but at least it isn't all over the kitchen floor.

Then, yesterday, the toilet broke. The part of the handle that's inside the tank snapped off (this is the only toilet I've seen where this was plastic, though I suppose they all are these days), so I have to lift the lid off of the tank in order to trip the valve and flush the toilet. Until this is fixed, poor Shadow is banned from the bathroom while the toilet is flushed.

So, I've taken a washtub and partially filled it with water, then placed it on the floor. This is a source of fascination for both cats, though Scruffy doesn't have the nerve to approach it while I'm nearby. And again, it's paw at water to see it move, then hastily withdraw paw and shake it off. Shadow will actually climb part way into the pan, getting her front legs (and occasionally a back leg, too) soaked in the process. As she walks forward she lifts each paw out of the water, shakes it off, then puts it back in the water.

So, I have water on the kitchen floor, water on the living room floor, and have to get my hands wet to flush my toilet.

Probably I should talk to the ladnlord about the toilet - I guess that is his job.