A Mexican standoff, now with cats

My cat is a Russian Blue. In the scheme of things, this shouldn't be a huge deal, but Russian Blues have an odd personality quirk. Some of them can be OCD. My cat, Chekhov, is just one of those cats.

Russian Blues like routine. They get fed at the same time every morning, they lick themselves in a pattern that never changes, they hate moving or change in routine and fight it (sometimes literally). My cat tends to go to extremes with these things, though.

Lately, Chekhov has been drinking from the faucet in the bathroom. No big deal. It was sort of cute at first. However, in the last few weeks, he's become obsessed with it (remember: this is not unusual) to the point that he actually sits on the sink in the bathroom, waiting for someone to come by and give him a drink. He sheds all over the place, and the sink is starting to clog with his hair. Also, I just don't like having him in the bathroom. Plus, we will be trying to figure out where he is, and he's on the sink, just sitting there.

Cats are social creatures, and this obsession is isolating him. He's spending less time with us as a family (yes, I do that with my pets), he's not playing as much, and he's really getting odd. So, this weekend, I got him a new water dish, one that has a fountain that filters the water and drips it down just like a sink, and I started closing the bathroom door.

Y'all, I'm the worst pet owner in the world according to this cat. And my mom is indulging him! "I gave him water from the sink," she said this morning. "He slept with me last night, and I kept hearing him licking his lips. I figured he was thirsty, and I didn't want him to get sick, so I gave him some."

The funny part is that the water was actually down in the new bowl this morning. He's drinking, just not when we're around. (Little booger.)

The best thing I've found with Chekhov when I have to break him of a habit, is to give him a lot of love. I am also trying to figure out what I can have him obsessed with that's healthy. Not that drinking water isn't healthy, but when you're waiting for a sip in the dark in a bathroom on a sink when everyone else in the family is enjoying Pajama Time in front of the TV, there's a problem. I also know that a lot of this stems from the fact that we moved, and he needs some kind of routine to make him feel comfortable again. I need to work on this. I'll figure it out. Mostly because I'm not the worst cat mom in the world.