cats scared of Drinkwell.... please help!

Today is the first day of using my Drinkwell. Within the first hour, which was 7am this morning, both my cats gave it a test drive. I was so excited and happy.

However.....

After waking up from their little nap, they are now afraid of the Drinkwell. Do cats have short term memories??????Is there anything I can do to make them feel comfortable drinking from Drinkwell?

You could float a pinch of catnip in the water. I know it will get sucked into the filter, but it will flavor the water. This may intice them to drink. How are they reacting that makes you think they are afraid?

I don't know the answer to your question, but I just wanted to comment on how cute your kitties are!

DragonLady, I will give the catnip a try. I know they are scared of the drinkwell because they would walk farther away from the drinkwell than they would if it was just a plastic water bowl. I place Drinkwell at the same place where the water bowl was....So, that's how I know it.

Rock&Fluff'smom, Thank you for the compliment.

I did'nt have a Drinkwell but had something similar to it and mine acted like it was an alien at first. Once they got used to it seemed they liked batting the water around more than they liked drinking out of it.

nern, how long did it take for your cats to get use to the water fountain? It is summer time and I don't want my cats to be dehydrated...

Mowguai...2 or 3 days if I remember correctly.

Any luck with the fountain yet?

Mom of 10 cats, thank you for checking up on us!! I just feel so warm and fuzzie....

well, since yesterday morning, I have taken away all water sources from them. I also put some catnip around Drinkwell, floated some in the water, as well as pieces of cat treats by the fountain.

After all the hard work, last night just before I went to bed, GuaiGuai took the first sip from the well!!!! This morning after their "breakfast," GuaiGuai jump onto the kitchen sink and put his head under the tap as usual. But I dragged him over to Drinkwell. Then he drank some!!!! During that time, MowMow was near by and watched GuaiGuai drank from the well. After she finished her food, she hesitated at first, but decided to drink from Drinkwell,too!!! I was just so happy and got a sense of relief..... I pat them on the head and told them "good girl/boy!"

So, I guess so far so good!!! Hopefully they will get to like the well and appreciate my effort.

Thank you, once again.

Yay!!! A drinking kitty is a good kitty.

Just a question... do you keep the fountain running all day long?

We keep ours running 24/7.

Does the trickling sound make you want to go to the loo all the time? And is it loud?

um... actually, the sound of waterfall is not that loud, if it is placed at the lowest flow volume. I am living in a one-room apartment. The fountain is placed in my kitchen, and I cann't hear anything if I am in my room. The sound of the waterfall is actually quite calming and soothing, that's to me at least!

I'm glad the kitties seem to be adjusting. I was going to suggest making sure the flow was at it's lowest at first.

I'm so glad they're getting used to it!

I like the idea that the cats aren't drinking stale water. Plus, we use spring water, so it's even better...

Glad they are drinking!

I keep mine running 24\\7 also. There is no reason to turn it off. It cost pennys to run.