Cat Learns to Turn on the Sink Faucet, Causing Cat-astrophic Flood

Nevena Nacic
by Nevena Nacic
Published:  April 29th, 2024
Sergio Photone/Shutterstock

A typically easy-going cat named Sam surprised his owners by learning how to turn on the bathroom sink, causing some major damage to the house. 


Alana Matson, asked for some pet destruction stories on TikTok while recalling how her cat, Sam, flooded her house. Like many other felines, Sam discovered how to use the bathroom sink to drink water. Sam’s newfound skill led to utter chaos when he left the water flowing one night, flooding the upstairs bathroom.


To make matters worse, Matson was heavily pregnant at the time, and about to give birth to twins. 


“Sam is normally a really low-key cat. He is an indoor cat, so typically, he’s just lounging or tucked under a blanket somewhere. He generally only makes his presence known when the terror of his food bowl being empty sets in, or he is looking for a pet,” Matson told the PEOPLE.


Matson and her husband assumed their kids, 10 and 12 at the time, were to blame for the first few times the sink was left running. The couple thought one of their kids was getting up at night and leaving the water running, but the children denied it. It wasn’t until they caught Sam in the act that they realized it had been him all along.


The family tried several things to discourage Sam from turning on the sink, including putting a rubber band around the handle. Unfortunately, nothing could stop Sam from turning on the sink to drink water and flooding the bathroom one night.


“Little did I know that after I went to sleep that night, Sam the cat would venture into the bathroom and turn on the faucet and then sit on the drain to close it in the bottom of the sink, causing the Wet Bandits to come into my house and flood the bathroom into the kitchen,” said Matson in a video.


The morning of the cat-astrophe, Matson's husband woke up first, only to discover a flooded upstairs bathroom. He cleaned the mess and went downstairs, thinking the problem had been solved. But as soon as he entered the kitchen he discovered water damage on the ceiling and water dripping on the kitchen floor. 


Although her husband thought he could fix the damage with some paint and towels, the ceiling started to buckle and Matson knew there wasn’t anything they could do to save it.


“I immediately knew we had to notify our insurance company and figure out what to do. They are the ones who had a service crew to our house within hours to begin demolition and the dreaded industrial fans,” said Matson.


While the crew worked on repairing the damages, Matson went to the hospital and delivered her twin daughters. “When I left, the kitchen floor and ceiling and the bathroom floor had been torn out and three massive dryers were running nonstop. Due to the pandemic, I was only in the hospital for 36 hours, so the house was in the same state when we arrived home.”


Meanwhile, Sam was completely unaware that he was responsible for the chaos and even had the nerve to be annoyed by the presence of construction workers and dryers. 


Eventually, the family had to replace the sink, because Sam couldn’t be stopped. “We tried keeping the doors closed at night, but inevitably, it would be left open from time to time, and Sam would immediately go in and turn the water on. We realized it was more proactive to replace the vessel sink with a traditional model with an overflow valve.” 


Most TikTok users are happy that the family didn’t get rid of the cat instead of the sink. And although Sam has access to a cat fountain, he still prefers to drink water straight from the tap. 


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Nevena Nacic
Nevena Nacic

Nevena is a freelance writer and a proud mom of Teo, a 17-year-old poodle, and Bob, a rescued grey tabby cat. Since childhood, she had a habit of picking up strays and bringing them home (luckily, her parents didn't know how to say NO). When she's not writing for her fellow pet parents, Nevena can be found watching Teo sleep. To her defense, that's not as creepy as it sounds!

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