which water fountain???

amarna

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i've had the 'catit' water fountain/dome thing for a couple of months & am seriously considering getting something different. it is an absolute monstrosity to clean & nearly every other day is making horrible gurgling sounds & making the water go foamy & slimey. i clean it thoroughly every 2 weeks & top up the water everyother day with pre-filtered water, so it is filtered twice effectively.

i am thinking about getting something simpler - i think the catit fountain is too complicated of a mechanism to work correctly for long. the only other brands available in the uk are 'drinkwell' and 'fresh flow'. i can't decide between the 2 cuz they seem quite similar.

any experiences with these? which brand do you think i should get? anyone else had problems with the catit dome?? am i simply not cleaning it often enough?? how often fo you all clean yours??

apologies for the amount of questions there!
 

momofmany

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I have all 3 fountains (Drinkwell, Catit and Freshflow). In my opinion, the Drinkwell is the easiest of the 3 to take care of, and if you have the type of cat that likes to drink from faucets, the Drinkwell is the only one that immitates that water flow. The Drinkwell is also the easiest to top off with water.
 

fifi1puss

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I agree that the drinkwell is easy to clean and doesn't get dirty often. I clean mine maybe every week to every other week. It is super easy!

It makes noise, but not motor running noise just peaceful water fountain noise. I like it.


My cats do too!
 

missymotus

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I have a petmate deluxe, the cat like it and it's easy to clean.

We also have a cat-it, I'm not a fan but they drink from it so I've kept it.
 

going nova

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Hi!

I have a Drinkwell Platinum for my one cat. I clean it once a week. I usually hand wash the parts, but my boyfriend puts them in the dishwasher.

(We also give her filtered water, but the little parts do start to get slimey after a week. The reservoir holds about a week's worth of water anyway, so we do not really need to top it off.)

I like it, my cat likes it. It's not too much trouble to maintain, so I recommend it.
 

laureen227

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i can highly recommend the drinkwell for ease of cleaning plus rate of refilling needed. i also have 2 freshflows, which need refilling more frequently & aren't quite as easy to clean. i have/used to use a catit but, like you, found that it was difficult to get truly clean - it always seemed a bit slimy to me, too.
 

mzjazz2u

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I have the CatIT small fountain (dome type) and love it. But I think it all has to do with your cat's needs. I like it because the cats don't get their whole face and chest wet and stained. (Important because Maxx's chest is white and I show him and don't want him stained.) I also have a Petmate, but it just didn't work as well to keep my kitties chest and face dryer. I think it's only because they are long haired Persians. I haven't had to clean the CatIT yet (just got it a few days ago) and maybe I'll change my mind. but keeping Maxx and Peaches' white chests stain free may win out even if it's difficult to clean!

If we weren't across the pond I'd ask you to trade for my old Petmate Free Flow Deluxe. But shipping would probably about equal just buying a new one!


PS: I think my new fountain may be a little different from the one you were talking about. This is the one I got. I'm just curious because of the cleaning issue: http://New CatIT FountainNew CatIT Fountain
 

katachtig

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I have the Drinkwell and it is very easy to clean. I have run it through the dishwasher but had a hard time removing the pump after that. I now swipe a thin layer of vegetable oil around the hole where the pump goes and it doesn't give me any problems now.
 

royalenchntrss

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I just bought the petmate freshflow and I really like it but the kits are afraid of it!
So right now it's sitting in the kitchen by their food unplugged so they can get used to it.. Anyone else had this problem?? lol
 

katachtig

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Originally Posted by RoyalEnchntrss

I just bought the petmate freshflow and I really like it but the kits are afraid of it!
So right now it's sitting in the kitchen by their food unplugged so they can get used to it.. Anyone else had this problem?? lol
Much, our eldest, was terrified by the new fountain. We gave her another water bowl elsewhere and left the fountain. She got used to it and now loves it.
 

royalenchntrss

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oh good to hear.. lol Thanks
I'd reccomend it to anyone as of right now even though i haven't had it long.. plus i got it on sale on Amazon for only $25!
 
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amarna

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mzjazz2u - not that isn't the same as mine. i have the same one as laureen - the big dome & pool.

i've just ordered a drinkwell & cleaning kit online. i have completely had enough of the catit, so much so i've unplugged it & put it in a cupboard. today i put my finger in the water & it came out slimey. so we went to take the whole thing apart to clean it & saw huge lumps of jelly all around the filter. i've had enough!!! i don't think it turns the water over enough to prevent stagnation - the only movement seems to be the dome itself, not the pool next to it. i think i've broken it anyhow - i imagine your supposed to remove the dome & re-fill it from the hole in the base? i've just been tipping fresh into the pool. this is because i didn't want to disturb the dome, where i'd had so much trouble getting water to flow over all of it, not just trickle down 1 side.

sick of it!!!! how often should i clean the new drinkwell?? weekly?
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Amarna

mzjazz2u - not that isn't the same as mine. i have the same one as laureen - the big dome & pool.

i've just ordered a drinkwell & cleaning kit online. i have completely had enough of the catit, so much so i've unplugged it & put it in a cupboard. today i put my finger in the water & it came out slimey. so we went to take the whole thing apart to clean it & saw huge lumps of jelly all around the filter. i've had enough!!! i don't think it turns the water over enough to prevent stagnation - the only movement seems to be the dome itself, not the pool next to it. i think i've broken it anyhow - i imagine your supposed to remove the dome & re-fill it from the hole in the base? i've just been tipping fresh into the pool. this is because i didn't want to disturb the dome, where i'd had so much trouble getting water to flow over all of it, not just trickle down 1 side.

sick of it!!!! how often should i clean the new drinkwell?? weekly?
yeah, that was the same issue i had w/my CatIt [which is now in my garage
]. the drinkwell stays MUCH cleaner & is also the easiest to clean of my 3 fountains [other 2 are freshflows].
i think once a week is fine - be sure & take the pump apart & clean it, too [it's pretty easy].
 

sakura

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I had the Petmate Fresh Flow and the Petmate Fresh Flow with the stainless steel on the end. The one with stainless steel broke after a week (it's a leak but I can't figure out where it's coming from). The original one lasted about 7 months before we broke it when we moved. They were hard to clean, but maybe that's just because we had really hard water. I couldn't get the deposits off no matter what I used. I cleaned the whole thing once a week but would wipe down the plastic on the outside almost everyday.

I want the Platinum one but it's a lot bulkier than the original fresh flow.

I wish they made one that wasn't plastic...it harbors bacteria and it's bad for cats that suffer from feline acne.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Sakura

I wish they made one that wasn't plastic...it harbors bacteria and it's bad for cats that suffer from feline acne.
well, the drinkwell has a spout. Pixel, my herpes girl, is the only one who's ever had feline acne. she prefers the drinkwell, & she drinks from the spout, not the bowl.
 

roughcollies

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I
my Drinkwell!!!

The only problem I have is that everyone drinks from it. That's 230lbs of animal drinking from it everyday all together, lol. I refill it about 3 or 4 times a day. But, it keeps the water clean and the cats love it, so it's worth it. Though, I don't think George has adjusted that well to it. He tries to get still water every chance he can so that he doesn't have to go near it as often.
 

tuxedokitties

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I've been using the Cat-it with the dome and never had trouble with slime, but our water is super-hard, which is probably why the pump just died. I've cleaned it out but can't get it going, so a replacement is in order.

The cats LOVE to drink from the dome. The dome keeps Sylvestra happy drinking from it instead of cleaning the bathtub with her tongue, and there are no squabbles over it since there's space for multiple cats to drink from the dome at once. I'm going to get a replacement pump and try mixing distilled water with tap water to help the pump last a bit longer. Using
the cat-it mat helped cut down on noise and rattle.

Non-plastic fountains:
I remember someone posting somewhere about making their own glass pet fountain, but I can't seem to find that post. Here's the link with the instructions, though:
http://www.tntpuff.com/cat_water_fountain.htm
(the way this one shows the fountain close to the electric socket makes me a bit nervous, you may want to put it farther away to avoid accidental water contact)

Here's some other ideas:
http://petprojectblog.com/archives/c...-pet-fountain/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Table-Fountain/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reti...ater-Dog-bowl/

and so on...just be careful to use only materials that are safe for the cat to lick from - if you use a rock, as in one idea, use one that's suitable for aquarium fish.

I wonder if the decorative table fountains that are popular as gifts are safe for cats to drink from? I received one as a gift and have been wondering if I set it up if the cats drinking from it would be a problem. ?
 
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