The short answer
Put cat water in a quiet place your cat can reach throughout the day, away from the litter tray and preferably apart from food. In a small home, use separate corners or short stretches of floor rather than one crowded station. Offer more than one accessible water spot when space and your cats' needs allow.
Map your cat's route through the room
Think about where your cat already pauses: beside a bedroom door, near a quiet chair or along a route to a favorite resting place. These are useful candidates if the floor is stable and the bowl will not be kicked. Avoid a doorway that swings over the dish or a passage where people repeatedly step across your cat.
Check access when doors are closed. A bedroom bowl only helps while your cat can enter the bedroom. If the best daytime spot becomes inaccessible overnight, keep another water source in a shared room.
Separate water from the crowded feeding corner
You do not need a large spare room to spread resources out. Put food at one end of the kitchen and water in a quiet living-room corner, or use opposite ends of a wall if that is the available space. Keep litter elsewhere, with as much practical separation as your layout allows.
This is consistent with Cats Protection's guidance on resource placement. The goal is comfortable access. It does not mean measuring an invented minimum distance or rearranging the entire home at once.
Leave room around the drinking edge
Position the bowl so your cat can approach and see the surrounding room. Do not wedge it so tightly between a bin and cabinet that the only route feels confined. Keep the drinking edge clear of hanging cloth, plant leaves and curtain cords. A dish that is easy to reach is also easier for you to inspect.
The Whale dispenser needs room for its reservoir as well as its bowl. A steel water bowl is easier to move between candidate locations, useful while you work out which spot your cat uses comfortably.
Plan fountains around the outlet
With a powered fountain, include the cable in your layout. Use the power supply specified for the unit, keep connections dry and secure the route so it does not create a trip hazard or tempting loose cord. Do not stretch a cable across a doorway to reach the most attractive-looking corner.
Compare fountains and gravity dispensers if there is no suitable outlet near a quiet water spot. Your layout may favor a still bowl or gravity model even when a fountain looks appealing in a product photograph.
Test one change and watch actual use
Keep the familiar water available while you introduce a second spot. Check both daily for cleanliness and comfortable access. Do not take a lower water level as proof of drinking without considering evaporation or spills. Watching your cat use the bowl is more informative than moving every dish repeatedly.
For several cats, distribute access rather than lining up bowls in one bottleneck. Our multi-cat feeding layout explains how to keep food routes and resting spots from crowding each other. Sudden changes in thirst or drinking warrant a conversation with your veterinarian.
