Cats use their tongues to drop water up toward their mouth in a column.
Humans sip water with their lips and dogs use their tongues to lap up water, like using a ladle. When a cat drinks water, though, it uses its tongue in a very unique way.
Rather than lapping up water like a dog, a cat uses its tongue like a backward scoop to quickly draw water straight up toward its mouth. The action of the tongue is so fast that water is pulled up in a stream or column.
The cat closes its mouth around the column of water to take a drink. The next time your cat takes a drink of water from her bowl, try to sneak a peek so you can witness this unusual phenomenon in action.
