Why does my cat put things in her water bowl?

Cat analyst here, saying “why ask why” when it comes to cats.

I think her jungle is centered around the watering hole, like the big cats, but she only has beanie babies to hunt. :)

She’s giving you the opportunity to put her on youtube.

Film cat.
Upload to internet.
Profit?!?!

Yeah, I ended up finding a paper in her water bowl this morning.

One of my cats does the same thing. They often put their toys away in a “safe” place after playing with them, and cats look upon their food area as a secure part of their territory. This behavior is similar to cats in the wild who often take their prey back to their nest area to hide it from potential predators. Your cat simply might be storing his toy in a secure area to be played with later.

I’ll buy that. So what does she think about when my spouse or I throw out most of the stuff she dunks-except the beanies? They go away to dry.

Does she have a cat condo?
I agree with @erichw1504 about your cat taking her items to her “safe” place, definitely. My cat used to keep things in the water dish, but now they end up piled in the cat condo.

No, I think she believes that she owns our house. So no condo.

Sounds about right.

@annewilliams5 she does own your house

Yes. She does, and she reminds us of that every day. I do know that someday she will put something in her bowl that will floor me. I’m thinking…maybe…someone I know.

My cat does this. Initially, it was just his little monkey toy, and he would place it directly atop his food bowl. Now, he does it with literally every toy he owns, including his chicken toy, which is rather large, and the teddy bear he stole from me that is his size. They all live around the food bowl at all times if they’re not being played with. It’s pretty goofy!

@Frankie it is side splitting, sometimes. Her stuffed elephant has been finding it’s way into the water bowl.