Well your theory works! Drinking bowl at the other end of the kitchen and it is often empty now so I'll have to keep a closer eye on the level. Their bowl previously next to their food hardly ever went dry, just dusty!
Weird thing is that the cats (and dog) prefer rain water taken from the water but outside to nice clean tap water.

I started doing this a couple of days ago and it really does work.

Oscar still has a water dish next to his food, but I placed a bigger water dish near his cat carrier (which he sleeps in) and he's been going to that bowl a lot more than the one next to his food

I have a friend with a lovely large cat, that at one point would only drink from a glass, like it's owners She invested in a powered water fountain and now swears by it, the cat can't seem to get enough water now. No more posh kitty wanting a glass at the table!

Very good for CRF kittehs!

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Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

Very interesting thread

I didn't know any of that -although we've been doing it by default because we have one big bowl of water in the kitchen (nowhere near their feeding bowls) for all the animals and the cats have always used that. All except An'Me and Ono, that is. They have always preferred to come into the living room and drink from the bowl with the ornamental pebbles and floating candles - I just put it down to the fact that they felt it was much more suited to their refined siamese taste to drink from there rather than from a plebby metal bowl in the kitchen

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Bergies and borders - what more could anyone want? Siamese and maine coons, of course!

From the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
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Moves on, nor all thy Piety nor Wit
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(But you can always edit your post, of course )