I don't get it either. We have two,one wants sink drinks when somebody goes to the bathroom and occasionally shower drinks,the other gets shower drinks whenever she can. Its like wut?
It's a source of freshly ran water, guaranteed to be safe!
Think of it this way. Let's say you saw a random glass of water. You don't know how long it's been there or where it came from. Then you see someone pour a glass of water from a nice clean source.
They like running water, but that doesn't explain the disdain for fountains.
I read that it could also be the owners scent, i.e. they drank this water and didn't die, so it must me safe.
I can't speak on any specific disdain for fountains, since my cats have always used theirs. I figure the preference for sink or shower water is related to scarcity. The water fountains are always available, but they can only get the special water on rarer occasions.
Never thought of it as fresh rain water. But yeah the stale water thing makes perfect sense. Guess thats why one likes sink drinks,thought maybe she was bougie,lol