What that thingie is in the last pix of the waterer is an old (and I mean OLD) chicken waterer and feeder. They use it on chicks to start them feeding. Since it looks like it is covered somewhat with algae (the green stuff) I would either take it in and scrub like crazy on it to clean it up (there may be rusty on the bottom tray as well (if so...trash it!!!) If there isn't a bunch of rust on it, clean what you can and wrap the try in new aluminum foil and after it is clean and dry, fill it back up and put it back out for the kitties. Like I said in the parenthases, if it has a LOT of rust, Just toss it. Hope this helps!!