Drinkwell Platinum or 360?

2 cats. I'm buying it now and will just bring it up to MN with me via car-trip.

I want silent operation. I don't know if the Platinum is more quiet than the 360.

I gather that the Platinum is slightly more quiet, but the 360 holds more water.

Also, the apartment isn't huge. I don't know what the size difference is between the Platinum and 360.

If it were me, I think I'd wait to get the fountain til I got to Minneapolis, just in case you want to return it (Petsmart is wonderful on returns - just hang on to the receipt; I'm sure Petco is good too). The Platinum you can have near a wall, since the cats would approach from front or either side. Drinkwell looks like you'd want it a more centered in the area (kitchen, presumably) so they could approach for any angle. I've got two adults and the Platinum, they seem to manage - although I want to try the 360.

Do get a tray or food mat for under the fountain - in case anyone splashes.

Off topic - and I'm positive you've seen this - when you get to the apartment, never ever close the washer/dryer, dishwasher, oven, fridge, or any appliance without doing a headcount to make sure kitties are not in said appliance. Even my adults have gotten interested in the dryer (well, nice warm clean laundry in there).

Hope the kids are well today!

turns out even though I have an apt now, I'm not moving until June at the earliest, so there is plenty of time to return it if I need to.

It's kind of silly, to be paying rent, including parking and pet rent, for months I won't be living there.

If you are looking for quiet operation, you should consider Petmate Fresh Flow - it is nearly silent... My kitties love it, and so do I !

Really? That's so weird. I guess it's all a matter of opinion. I was told that the Petmate was noisy compared to the Drinkwell.

The Petmate is certainly less expensive so if that's not true, it would be nice. It's almost half the price of the Drinkwell Platinum.

We have the Drinkwell Original with an extra reservoir. The cats love it. I think it's quieter than the Petmate Fresh Flow was. Our Fresh Flow burnt out after about a year.

I've owned the Freshflow, Drinkwell and Catit. Of the 3, the Drinkwell was the noisiest bar far - its mostly the sound of the water falling off the spout into the bowl below. And of the 3, some of mine preferred each one, but there were more that liked the Catit than the others.

I've always hated the FreshFlow - Twitch is a faucet girl - Freshflow didn't satisfy her so I got the Drinkwell Original. I've looked at the 360 - but again it doesn't have the same "flow pattern" like a faucet & fear she won't like it.

I would also urge a second look at the classic drinkwell. I found it to be just as quiet, it has the option of the reservoir and my two liked the flow patterns better. The 360 is interesting, but we did a test-run with a borrowed 360 and I saw two things "out in the field" that I didn't like: it was louder when the flow was high and I have seen little paws splashing around in it --strangely the drinkwell didn't make them want to play, but something about the 360 did.

which ones don't have the sound of water falling into another body of water?

Originally Posted by LawGuy

which ones don't have the sound of water falling into another body of water?

Click to expand...

Petmate doesn't, as the water runs down in a ramp. Lucky like drinking from the bowl, while bugsy like drinking from the top, where the water drops from. Both of them love the fountain, and It is very quiet - I have never had a problem with... Very happy.

Originally Posted by LawGuy

which ones don't have the sound of water falling into another body of water?

Click to expand...

Hagen Cat It and Petmate Fresh Flow. But if you don't put them back together right the motors will get loud. Then you disassemble and reassemble again. I speak from experience on that.

In general, how loud is the petmate freshflow?

Also, what's the capacity in terms of how often it needs to have water added. Daily, every two days, weekly?

Originally Posted by LawGuy

In general, how loud is the petmate freshflow?

Also, what's the capacity in terms of how often it needs to have water added. Daily, every two days, weekly?

Click to expand...

A properly working freshflow barely makes a sound. When it needs water, it will make noise and if the pump needs cleaning or if it wasn't properly assembled it will make noise.

As far as how often it needs water, it depends on the month for me. In dryer months it needs more. There are different sizes you can buy. I have a large and small.

I have the freshflow and the drinkwell. Freshflow has no noise (to me) unless the water level gets too low. The drinkwell sounds like a faucet running water. It too will make a noise when the water level is too low.

To me the freshflow is very easy to dismantle and pop in the dishwasher....minus the pump and with the heat dry cycle off.

I try to clean mine often even if the water level is not low. Just like they need a fresh clean regular water and food bowl. When cats drink water they leave behind saliva and this causes a slime like film to adhere to the water fountain or water bowl.

Mine all like both brands and they all love to drink from mugs or short drinking glasses. I noticed all of mine drink more water with the fountains compared to a bowl of water. They are worth the price.

Well after another few times cleaning out the 360, I just have to say I really like it. It's easy enough to clean but I have no comparison. The only thing is that if you tighten the cone too much it's really hard to open again so I just keep it halfway locked. The reasons I love the 360 are that Beau likes the water action and it's great for multiple cat use, even though I only have Beau, but I can imagine 2 or more cats drinking from the spouts easily at the same time. You don't even have to have it placed in an open area for more access room. I place mine next to a wall and there's still plenty of room around to approach from.

It is pretty loud though, if you're not used to the sound of little streams of running water in the house. I don't mind it all. It is a bit big though, but maybe once Beau gets bigger it won't be so noticeable. I bought 2 waterproof cat place mats to put under it that work great to absorb any splashes (Beau's gotten better with playing with it now, but he still likes to swipe at the water with his paws).

The other thing is finding the filters for it. I couldn't find any the last time I went to PetSmart, so I have to keep looking or buy online. I could always just not use a filter-- it'll still work as a fountain, but what's the point of that, right?

I don't know if all that info helped or not. Do you know if Ally and Ollie like more actively running water (the Drinkwells are better for this) or if they are fine with just a little bit of moving water (the CatIts and the Petmate)? I know the CatIt small fountain was quiet, pump-wise and water streaming-wise. I saw one video review that showed the FreshFlow having a loud pump, but I'm sure the way the water streams down it shouldn't be loud in that respect.

As for water capacity, I wouldn't worry too much either way since you WILL have to refill once or twice a week at least no matter the fountain. Well, I had to with the small CatIt and the 360 anyway, especially since I don't like letting the water get too close to the minimum fill lines. And you have the option of bigger reservoirs with the Drinkwell.

Also, with the 360, if you keep the flow turned to the slowest speed, it is not as loud because the water will stream down the sides of the cone at the bottom rather than dropping right into the water basin.

I've been waiting for a Drinkwell to be in stock locally and gave up today. Between reading some posts here, and seeing that Walmart carried the Freshflow, I just went ahead and bought a Petmate Freshflow for my two furballs.

I just finished the basic assembly about 10 minutes ago and both of them have been watching it and drinking from it since the moment it got turned on. The really seem to like it.

It's also much quieter than I expected, and I like how I don't hear the water falling into the bowl. I hear a faint hum from the submerged pump, but that's about it. Walmart only had the regular Freshflow in Chocolate Brown. No Deluxe, or color choice. If I choose to get them something else later, I'll just sell this unit.

I have the platinum. the 360 wasn't available, i think my only concern with it, would be more room? like since it's an all round i would need a full circle of space, my fountain right now nudges up against stuff in the corner of my kitchen..since i don't need to worry about back access to it.

i find my platinum quiet and the pets all love the actually fountain part to drink, play with.