Then you can get her a spork. :-)
Kathy

Fred, my cat has recently discovered that drinking water from the tap is
much more fun and now he ignores his water bowl most of the time. He
also likes to "pick up" small pieces of cheese, butter or meat with his
claws (don't know if he's right- or left-pawed, must think of
remembering it next time). I usually tell him to stop mimicking me like
a monkey but he seems to like it.
Another cat who lives with my parents would put his paw into the water
bowl, splash half of the water around and only then drink... from the
bowl! We had a theory that he couldn't see the water but it was dropped
being too unscientific. I think it's just his way of drinking, a sort of
ritual we humans also have (like always putting on the right sock
first). Cats are full of mysteries :)

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:29:09 -0600 from Fred Ellis <fkellis@xstic.net>:

Have you offered her a knife and fork?  :-)

Seriously, I wonder if she may be having joint problems that make it
painful for her to bend down to the bowl. The paw technique is so
much less efficient than the tongue-lapping technique that I can't
imagine a cat adopting it without a compelling reason.

Nightshade does this...especially when the water is running a bit low in the
bowl.

I've had cats before that ate and drank like that, albeit only
sometimes.

That isn't that rare of occurance.

I believe it to be a learned behavior of mimicing people...much like a
cat
might try to turn the doorknob on a door to open it.