Cats, like humans, have differing tastes so we made sure that The Garden Family and Visiting Cats had different types of water to drink. Were we pandering to their whims? Yes, probably. But we did it gladly, and we never filled their bowls with tap water which we avoided ourselves. Bottled water and water from the well were available, but it goes without saying that some cats’ number one choice was rainwater, either straight from a nice muddy puddle, or in a pail (preferably with a healthy tinge of green).

Bottled water was available in brown plastic trays and was Pascha’s choice.

Swift too preferred bottled water.

The only problem we had was when Lightning was a kitten and he drank from the brown plastic trays which were under the plants. Unfortunately, he was drinking water which had run through the plants and had a well-known brand of plant fertiliser in it. He became seriously ill and we were shocked when we realised the cause. Needless to say, all plant trays had drainage holes drilled in them from that day on.

Water drawn from the well was available in white enameled pails (here, Lychee is having a drink on the verandah). This water came with an advisory warning that it was not suitable for human consumption but some local people (especially the older generation) flew in the face of this advice, insisting that it was. The cats enjoyed it and I’m sure it must have tasted different from bottled water.

But for some cats, the crème de la crème was rainwater. Beneath that clear surface lay a heady mix of limestone and soil mixed with the water, and many cats headed for puddles after the rain in preference to bottled or well water (as Moonstruck was doing here).

As they invariable drank from the edge of the puddle to avoid getting their paws wet (as Pippin is doing in this photo), they must have swallowed a certain amount of sediment.

The Evil Grey aka Sunday would rather balance on his back legs, craning his neck to get down to the water level, than drink the bottled water from a convenient brown tray.

And The Cat herself (undoubtedly a connoisseur of the finer things in life) chose a pail of stagnant water with a sophisticated green tinge.

She knew quality when she saw it.