Drinkwell fountain

darfanme

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Hello, all. I just bought a drinkwell fountain for my cats, per suggestion of my vet. I just set it up, hoping (naively, it seems) for my cats to be instantly attracted to it. They were a bit curious, but didn't drink from it and then lost interest. Does anyone else have one of these? Any suggestions to attract my cats to this fountain?

Thanks!
Say
 

jellybella

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Welcome to TCS!

It's natural for them to be a little put off by the fountain at first (it is awfully odd and new)...mine took a couple of days to stop sniffing around and playing with it and get down to drinking. Now they love it.

You might try slowing down the flow...my two like the water to trickle out slooowly.
 

sakura

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I got one yesterday. I went to the pet store intending to buy the Drinkwell Platinum but it's much larger in person than I expected it to be, so I bought the black/platinum Petmate Fresh Flow. It was $40 full price but the box was banged up so they gave me $10 off (yay!).

At first my cat was a little weary of it and not sure what to make of it. I set it on the lowest setting for the first day. She drinks out of it now but I've still never seen her drink from the fountain part, just the bowl. I do think she is drinking more water though (based on the litter box...). Do you have it in the same spot that the water bowl used to be?
 

missymotus

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My cats must be unusual, I have a Petmate Deluxe and couldn't keep them away when setting it up and they all lined up for a drink the moment I plugged it in


Originally Posted by Sakura

She drinks out of it now but I've still never seen her drink from the fountain part, just the bowl.
Mine only seem to drink out of the fountain, Demetri loves sticking his paw into the hole
 

exoticbabee

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Originally Posted by Sakura

At first my cat was a little weary of it and not sure what to make of it. I set it on the lowest setting for the first day. She drinks out of it now but I've still never seen her drink from the fountain part, just the bowl. I do think she is drinking more water though (based on the litter box...). Do you have it in the same spot that the water bowl used to be?
My cat was the same way-only drank from the bowl. After about three weeks my timid little kitty became brave and started drinking from the ramp w/the running water and now she loves it!! Drinks so much more water now! I placed the fountain in the same spot where she had her water bowl.

I never had a problem with her wanting to drink from it-she inspected it upon arrival and started drinking. Lower the water flow setting or maybe turn it off and let your kitty get adjusted to it.
 

manyfourpaus

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All 5 of my cat and the 2 that have since pasted on dearly loved our drinkwell. Keep the flow slow. I also add ice to the water and they love the cold water. Of curse I had some that loved to drink from the bathroom faucet. Keep it up, they will. Good luck
 
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darfanme

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Thank you all for your suggestions! I'm going to unplug it an put it in the place of the old water bowl and see how it goes! for now, they're still not drinking from it . . .

- Sarah
 

aussie_dog

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My girls were slow to drink from it too (my dog was the one that fell in love right from the start, lol), but now even my skittish Willow (the one who would claw you to bits if you so much as walked with her near the fountain when we first got it) will drink from it every now and then. Buffy will as well, but surprisingly, I don't remember ever seeing Molly drinking from it. It's just as well, before she went in an all-wet diet, her favorite pasttime was playing with water and pop and juice and milk, whatever she could find in a glass. She'd drink some of it and splash around the rest, lol

I would just leave everything alone for now. If you ignore it, just walk past it all the time (occationally stopping to fill it up), your kitty will learn from your example. You're not scared of it, so they'll investigate it a little more, try to at least see what it is. Over time, as you continue to be nonchallant about it and the fountain continues to not go about killing everyone, the cat will calm down and decide to drink from it. And once she learns that she doesn't meet a horrible death when she drinks, she'll drink more and more and more. Until she no longer remembers ever being afraid of it, lol
 

fulinn

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Hi,

First time poster here ! Just picked up our new 11 week old siamese kitten. He's been home with us for a week.

I got him a drinkwell fountain with the little plant garden as well. He's seems happy with it, drink from it just fine, out of the bowl. I've never seen him drink from the fountain though.

Bonnie and Shu Linn
 

katachtig

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Much looked at it like it was going to explode on her. But after a couple of days, the bubbles intrigued her and she started patting them. Now she will drink from the fountain part for a couple of minutes at a time.
 
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