Do your cats watch your fish?

[Hobbit]

I got inspired last night to make a fish tank lid strong enough for my cat to stand on with a built-in bubble window kind of like this:

 

That way the window would be partially under the water surface so she could see the fish better.

The thing is, she doesn’t really watch the fish right now. She loves to drink their water, but doesn’t seem that interested in the swimming things. She only has one viewing angle right now and that’s the short end of the 55 gallon, so it’s not the best, but she has literally shown no interest.

So would I be wasting my energy? (Probably...) Do your cats like to watch fish, and do you think they’d use something like this?

[FrozenFins]

One of my cats LOVE to watch the fish, its like her tv. Where as the other one doesn't care.

When I had green water and covered the tank with a towel, the cat was so mad that she couldn't watch any fish. I had other tanks but the one I covered up was right next to the couch, so it was her favorite spot. 

She has sat on the lid multiple times, heres a picture:

 

This picture was taken several years ago, it was my first aquarium. I have moved on from fake plastic plants.

We had a disscusion of cats and aquariums in this thread:

 

[Daniel]

All of my cats walk around the tops of my aquariums and try and catch fish, this cat is named Cricket. She caught an angelfish the other day.

[Daniel]

Cricket has been known to go into the fish tank at times:

 

[Kirsten]

Oh thank god I don't have the only cat that loves to drink aquarium water! I wonder if it's the Stress Coat dechlorinator with aloe that I use. But he also likes to drink from water pans under houseplants and dirty puddles outside, so I shouldn't flatter myself.

μ sometimes like to watch the bigger fish and mystery snails, but mostly he likes to sit on top of the warm, softly vibrating lid and feel as tall as a human.

If I could design a cat/fish habitat, it would have scratching posts on the sides of the stand and a soft cat cave on the lid, maybe a hammock on one of the sides.

[Betsy]

@Kirsten - I am obsessed with your cat's name!!!

There's a really bad physics joke about two cats their coefficients of friction (μ) that I looove to tell...what was your inspiration behind his name?

[Hobbit]

Aww cute cats 😍 @Daniel I’m really impressed that Cricket got an angel fish! Did she eat it?

When got a betta almost two years ago, Rosemary watched him for a few hours. Occasionally she’d sit up and flick her paw as if just the thought of putting it in the tank was unbearable. No fishing for this cat, it seems!

It sounds like the consensus is it really depends on the cat. @Kirsten I think you’re right—she might like getting up high and feeling the aquarium’s heat more than any fish-watching.

[Kirsten]

9 hours ago, Betsy said:

@Kirsten - I am obsessed with your cat's name!!!

There's a really bad physics joke about two cats their coefficients of friction (μ) that I looove to tell...what was your inspiration behind his name?

😄 my partner and I both studied Ancient Greek in college (we went to St. John's) and as we were taking μ home from the shelter, he told us, emphatically, that's what his name was. Also he was a little skinny and small as a kitten, so the symbol for micro- also fit!

[skipper]

This is the real skipper (she used to live in an old boat in the woods before deciding life with hooman servants is much more enjoyable). She enjoys ADF TV the most. Hasn’t tried to murder anything yet, which is nice. She also drinks out of puddles outside. Ironically, she is the only inhabitant of our home who gets bottled water 😂