Cat Water Fountains

Hi,
I've been thinking of trying my two babies with a Cat Water Fountain, but I'm not sure whether they will take to it, they are both 13 and have always had a bowl for their water.
Has any one else tried a Cat Water Fountain?, what results did you get?, did you Cat(s) love it or loath it?.

Thanks,


Butterfleye.


Sorry forgot to wrote that I was thinking of getting the Cat Water Fountain as a way of getting them to drink more.
They drink ok at the moment but with reading on here about how important it is for Cats to drink and how little they are actually inclined as Animals to drink, I thought the fountain might be a good idea.

I bought the petmate fountain in January of this year. My cats loved it! But here is my problem it is now 4 months later and the pump quit working already.

I have the Drinkwell, and I and my cats love it SO much that I just bought a second one, as I am adding a new cat to my household next week.

I read reviews on the newest one, the Drinkwell Platinum, and they are not fabulous - hard to clean, really large sized.

So just last night I bought standard cat Drinkwell # 2.

I have both Petmate and Drinkwell, but I can't say I've ever seen them drink from either one. Not saying they don't, just when I see them drinking it's from one of the bowls.

We have the Petmate, and it will stop running when the pump needs to be cleaned out. (I don't even wanna know how hair gets into the pump!) You just take it apart and clean it - I think there are instructions on-line. I've seen both guys drinking from the fountain - it's the only water they're provided. Although, Simba's way of drinking is to stick a paw into the water and lick it!

I bought the Drinkwell Platinum a few months ago and both cats took to it immediately. Sometimes they drink from the falling water or from the bowl or from both. And Piccolino like to stretch his arm behind the falling water for some odd reason...there's nothing back there...but I guess he is trying to figure out how it works!

I chose this one versus the older version b/c it has the additional reservoir already attached. I clean it out once a week and replace the filters every 6-8 weeks. It's not difficult to clean at all and the size doesn't bother me.

And the sound is quite peaceful. When I first got it, my boyfriend said, "Oh, it's like we're living in the rainforest." HaHa!

Overall I'm very pleased and even though I don't see them drinking from it all the time, I do notice an increase in deposits in the litter box (if you know what I mean.)

If you search for fountains you will find a few pages of threads on them.

We have used fountains for years and cats will show as many ways to drink from them as there are cats drinking.

Our preference is the Drinkwell. I keep one in the kitchen and one in the basement computer room. I have used the PetMate Fresh Flow and the Cat It. I did not care for the Cat It at all. The Fresh Flow was ok, but I think the cats prefer the stream of water coming out the spout on the Drinkwell rather than the water that goes down the ramp on the Fresh Flow.

In the Drnkwells I have an original and the new platinum. I rather like the platinum and it definitely holds more water than my original with the 50 oz. reservoir on the back.

I think your fur kids might enjoy having a fountain to drink from.

I bought a Drinkwell (the orignal one) back in March and its been a big hit here. We always see him drinking from it. Plus I am always refilling it up every day or two. And when I take it apart (which is very easy IMO) he sits where his fountain goes and waits on it.

I used to have the petmate. Mine worked really well for 4 or 5 years, then it got cracked & started leaking everywhere. So I decided to buy the CatIt.
I bought the Petmate for my previous cat Smokey. She was a big chicken when it came to water and she took to it very well. These guys had it from the time there were kittens with no problem. THe CatIt sounds a little differnt so it took a day or two for them to adjust, but they love it now.

I have a drinkwell and my cats love it, definitely has been worth while me getting it!

I have a CatIt also and really like it. It's a pain to clean it, but I think most fountains are, and it takes a while for it to start getting scummy. My cat loves drinking out of it, and also just enjoys sitting next to it and watching the water move.

Originally Posted by rgard

It's a pain to clean it, but I think most fountains are, and it takes a while for it to start getting scummy.

Click to expand...

I have to agree they are a pain to clean, but I had a harder time getting the scum out of the nocks & cranies of the pet mate, and I do think it doesn't get dirty as fast.

I recently bought the Petmate Freshflow, which was only $30 at Superstore ($45 at Petsmart). From what I've read, the Petmate is one of the best ones you can get for the lower price, especially if you're not sure how the cat will take to it. One day I may try for a $75 one (the Platinum), but I wasn't about to pay that much if the cats would end up afraid of it, lol. But so far things look okay; the cats aren't falling over themselves to get to the water, and it's been VERY slow for them to try drinking from it (Willow was petrified of it at first, but she now no longer stares at it and trembles, lol). But every now and then I'll look over and see one of the cats drinking or playing with it (*cough*Molly*cough*). It's been a month, so there's still time to go.

Jake, my dog, on the other hand, LOVES it, lol! A $75 Platinum would have paid for itself in no time with the way Jake's drinking up the water in the Drinkwell, lol.

As for the fountain itself, it's VERY quiet (I can't hear anything). If there's a sound, it's a sort of humming from the motor, which only happens when the water level is starting to go low. You have to fill it back up because leaving it like that will cause the motor to die faster. And as for cleaning, it's VERY easy and convenient. The sides of the fountain have spot for you to slip your hands under it so it's easy to pick up and bring to the kitchen sink, and it's easy to take the whole thing apart. The pump is easy to take apart and clean, and same goes for everything else.

One thing about the Petmate FreshFlow that's different from the Platinum is the water-flow design. The Petmate water flow kind of goes down a ramp into the water bowl (so it's sort of like a flat river). The Platinum has the water spouting out of a nozzle thing and down into the water below (think of those human water fountains where water spouts of the person's mouth or something, lol). It depends on what your cat prefers: does he like to drink directly from the trickle of water in your faucet, or does he go for the puddling of water near the drain?

I have a CAT IT fountain and my two monsters love it. Singa was about one year old when I changed it. She started out playing with the running water, but after a day or two she got the idea behind it.

I have a cat it and they love it. Stan drinks out of the bowl; Bella likes the dome. It is a pain to clean and the filters are harder to get, but it is unbelievably quiet and they really do drink out of it.

It took a few days for them to stop playing with the water and start drinking, but now they don't touch the bowls.

we had a petmate one for a couple years. then the motor burned out. so we tried the CatIt. i *hated* cleaning it. and it got gross so fast. so i donated it.

right now we have a small "kitty cat fountain" i bought from collectionsetc.com a few years ago now. it's small, so i have to fill it often. but i like that. i clean it once a week and use water from our pur pitcher to fill it. it's similar to the drinkwell in the way the water comes out. i can also make & refill the filters for it with fish filter supplies. raven and nabu love the fountain. stimpy prefers his water bowl.

I have a petmate fresh flow too. I bought it because our cat Hemmy had extreme UTI's which finally required surgery. He's well now and because of the surgery he can no longer block and is out of critical danger but he would still get UTIs. We bought the fountain to increase his water intake. Naturally, he's the only pet in the house who doesn't prefer it to the bowl in the kitchen. The dog loves it and because it keeps the water so fresh Friday has quit trying to drink out of my glass and uses it instead.

\t It can be a trick to clean and the pumps go out but if you snap the end piece off of the pump and run hot water through it you can get it to work again. \t

On the whole I like it but it did not do the trick of causing Hemmy to drink more water. For him, we give him a small amount of chicken broth (free range) or juice from a can of tuna. He gets some fluids from those (though I keep the amount low because of sodium) and for whatever reason just drinking the broth (or Hemmy juice as we call it) causes him to drink more water.

I had a PetMate and the pump quit in less than a year. I bought a CatIt and I love it. I clean it out every Saturday or Sunday and the cats drink a lot more water (if the clumps in the litterbox are any indication ). I put in 3 bottles of water every weekend and usually have to add another 2-3 before the next weekend cleaning.