Water fountains

If your cats have a water fountain I'd like to know how you introduced it, and how long it took for individual cats to use it.

Did you leave other sources of water down besides the fountain? (so far I still am)

Did you get down on the floor and use the fountain yourself, to show them how it's done (I have done that, every day)

It's only the third day for it to be running (before that it was sitting, not running, next to the other water bowl for five days)....and I have read it can take several weeks for a cat to start using it.

Just wanted some actual stories of experience.

Thanks

One more thing. It's a stainless steel fountain, and if it is approached a certain way, there is one side of the fountain that gives a reflection. I was thinking of putting some masking tape over that area to remove the reflection (it's not a part the water cascades over)

Otto, all three of mine were already familiar with water fountains when they came into my home, so I never had to introduce them. However, a close friend of mine brought one into a house with a resident senior cat and a kitten. If I remember correctly, she said it took the senior almost a month to start using the fountain.

I agree that making another source of water available is the right thing to do, for obvious reasons. Even my guys, who seem to prefer the fountain, occasionally drink from a stainless steel bowl of still (filtered) water.

As for the reflection: I don't think my cats would be disturbed by that (they don't pay much attention to mirrors, for example), but hey, it can't hurt to try covering it.

Finally, you may have read it yourself, but Hissy mentioned in another thread that she has had success attracting cats to the fountain by placing a pingpong ball in the water.

When I first got a water fountain I didn't have an alternative water source down (I would have put one down if I noticed someone wasn't drinking.) but it literally took less than 24 hours for all of my babies to start using the fountain. They were all fascinated by it.

Holland has just a basic Drinkwell fountain. It's plastic. I just brought it home, filled it up, and let her go for it. She, like many cats, has a fascination with running water so she took to it right away. I didn't have to show her how to use it or anything like that. For a while, I even got their cat-grass snap-ons, which she seemed to like, but they made the water all slimy and she didn't seem to like it enough for me to have to clean the fountain out every other day, so I quit on them.

Holland has also always had two bowlfuls of fresh water besides her fountain, but she seems to prefer to drink out of the fountain. It might be a good idea to tape over that reflective spot, it could definitely be scaring the kids off!

Thank you guys! This afternoon I saw Mazy get so close to the fountain I thought for sure she would stick her tongue out and take a lick, but she didn't. Instead she backed away v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y and then sat herself down and watched it from two feet away.

I think I will cover that one part with masking tape, just to get her started.

I have cats that like to play in the sink and drink from the faucet, so when I put their first fountain out, those that play in the sink immediately took to it. The others watched and learned, and it wasn't long before everyone was using them.

I have 3 different fountain types that I rotate around to keep them interested, and keep another 3 bowls of water throughout the house in case they don't want to use the fountain.

I never leave my fountains running while I'm away on vacation (fill them with water and unplug them), therefore it is very important to me to keep them interested in other sources of water.

I unplug the fountain when I leave the house. I don't like to leave it running, when I'm not here to supervise, and even the manufacturer told me to unplug it when I'm not at home.

So far it's still a no go, but I'm just going to keep it going, sooner or later Mazy will figure it out I think.

I am also keeping her usual water bowl down.

I let it sit there empty for a couple days (some cat nip in it woulda been a good idea)

Then I put water in it, left it unplugged for a few days. I left their "normal" water bowls out next to it, so they got the idea.

Turned it on and moved the water bowls to the other end of the house because they were scared of it. I did leave one water bowl near the fountain, hoping they would get the idea. I did try different things, depending on the cat. For a couple of my cats that were like "um, I am not so sure of that thing" are the ones that I breifly put their foot under the 'water fall.' You could see the look on their face, "wait, that is water?" Then I grabbed some treats (so they would all be there for my "lesson" and sat next to it, and provoked the cats to bat at the stream of water. I stuck my finger under the stream and imitated a cat battig at it. 2-3 of mine actually got it (I had 5 when I got the fountain) and they started batting at the water. lol. Every time one of them got near the fountain I would give them a treat, but I did sucker in and give the slow learners treats anyway. Fountain = good things!

My cats were all on board in about 2-3 weeks. My formal feral took the longest lol. I thought she was never going to use it.

After they got use to it I put one 'regular' bowl next to the fountain so they have options. And its a back up for just in case the fountain leaks/get tipped or whatever.


It sounds like you are doing it all right.


It just takes time.

Thanks KatKisses.

Mazy is definitely not afraid of it. Her meal spot is right next to the water bowl, and now her dish is between the fountain and the regular bowl. It doesn't bother her in the least to eat right next to it.

I like the idea of putting her paw in it, but she's funny about having her paws touched.

However last night, after staring at the fountain she went to the regular water bowl to drink. She kept batting the water with her paw to make it move, like the water moves in the bowl of the fountain. So I think that's progress!

Callie always liked to drink from the faucet, so she took right to it. With Darko and Stinkpot, I put my fingers in the flowing water while they watched, then put my wet fingers up to their faces and let them sniff and lick them. That's all it took. Sven still hasn't started drinking from it (at least not when I'm watching ). We still have the old water dish right next to the fountain for him, plus other water dishes throughout the house.

Now my issue is, Stinkpot chews on my new bathroom faucets because he thinks they should be constantly running like the fountain!!! And when we DO turn them on, say to brush our teeth, then he gets all excited and really starts chewing on them. We just had them installed about 2 months ago, so I am not a happy camper.

My cats all took to the fountain right away though I did leave one bowl of water down just in case. But it didn't take them long to all be using it. Just recently I introduced a new kitten to the household and he was absolutely fascinated by the fountain. He was too short to reach it at first so I had to put something next to it so he could climb up and reach it lol. But he immediately used it. I also have pugs and they love the fountains too.

3 of my cats took to the fountain right a way. One didn't. We bought this wheat grass packet made to grow in the fountain and that caught his attention right away. Unfortunately he became obsessed with the fountain and started moving all his toys to the basin. This clogged the fountain and made the water gross. The other cats were not happy that their favorite water source became so disgusting and even less happy that their toys were always soggy.

No matter how many times we moved his toys, he continued to relocate them to the fountain. After about a month, we gave up on the fountain.

Moral of the story: Wheat grass might work & be careful what you wish for.

Originally Posted by kitty2cat

3 of my cats took to the fountain right a way. One didn't. We bought this wheat grass packet made to grow in the fountain and that caught his attention right away. Unfortunately he became obsessed with the fountain and started moving all his toys to the basin. This clogged the fountain and made the water gross. The other cats were not happy that their favorite water source became so disgusting and even less happy that their toys were always soggy.

No matter how many times we moved his toys, he continued to relocate them to the fountain. After about a month, we gave up on the fountain.

Moral of the story: Wheat grass might work & be careful what you wish for.

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Hilarious!

Mazy has decided that since I want her to drink from the fountain she is going to ignore it, and ignore me any time I try to get her to show interest in it.

I know how to manipulate her though. I am going to pick it up for a few days, then put it back down and this time ignore it myself and let her come to it in her own time.

She's still batting at her still-water bowl, trying to make it move like the fountain water does.

Originally Posted by otto

She's still batting at her still-water bowl, trying to make it move like the fountain water does.

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I absolutely hate when they do this.

My cats bat at the water in the bowl with their paws which I have explained to them a thousand times are their litter box paws not their drinking paws!

Originally Posted by kitty2cat

I absolutely hate when they do this.

My cats bat at the water in the bowl with their paws which I have explained to them a thousand times are their litter box paws not their drinking paws!

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Why do you hate it? It's just part of their personality?

Ootay was a great one for splashing in the water bowl, just for fun and yes, she used to to wash her paws in after using the litter box too. She also enjoyed just dipping her paw in the water and licking the water off her paw.

As for drinking: well it was my job to lift her (once she got too old to jump) onto the bathroom sink and turn on the faucet for her as many times a day as she asked me to.

Water is easily wiped up, and I change the water in the bowls several times a day anyway.

If you don't want the floor to get wet put the water bowls on a flat edged tray of some sort to contain the water.

That is so cute! Slapping the water bowl so the water moves! "Um, the other bowl does it.... Maybe this one is broken?" *tap* *tap* *splash*


Taking it up/putting it back down/ignoring it might work, let us know how that goes.

One more idea, we all know cats are lazy lol. Maybe move her water bowl to another room, this way when she is thirsty from eating the closest water source is the fountain. That might not work though...

We've had the Catit dome fountain for about a year now and all the kitties use it. We even had a bunny that would use it. I think they like to be able to sit more upright and drink rather than stoop over.
Marty

... the little one (1 y.o) loves it, sticks her paws in it and drinks the water off her paws as well as from the stream and bowl.

... the older one (3 y/o) is TERRIFIED of it, runs away in a great fright. Next thing you know there were TWO POOPS waiting for me on a mat she uses to leave me her kitty-love-token (her most favorite toy) for when I return home.

So, I turned it off, placed it on top of the kitty care counter. I've been feeding her water from it in a dropper, and she is OK when it is off, but when on, she is still terrified and angry. Something about the buzzing sound sets her off. I don't know if others have a less scary sound, but so far, that's $70 down the drain.

Originally Posted by KatKisses

That is so cute! Slapping the water bowl so the water moves! "Um, the other bowl does it.... Maybe this one is broken?" *tap* *tap* *splash*


Taking it up/putting it back down/ignoring it might work, let us know how that goes.

One more idea, we all know cats are lazy lol. Maybe move her water bowl to another room, this way when she is thirsty from eating the closest water source is the fountain. That might not work though...

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I've thought of it, removing or moving her other bowl, but I am afraid she won't drink at all. She is a poor drinker to begin with. I even tried not freshening her own bowl. She'd go up to it and wrinkle her nose, not drink, but not use the fountain either.

I did lift it for awhile and then put it back down, she still sniffs at it but still won't drink. However, she is STILL, after she sniffs at the fountain, patting her water bowl to make it move.

Originally Posted by 2furgirls

... the little one (1 y.o) loves it, sticks her paws in it and drinks the water off her paws as well as from the stream and bowl.

... the older one (3 y/o) is TERRIFIED of it, runs away in a great fright. Next thing you know there were TWO POOPS waiting for me on a mat she uses to leave me her kitty-love-token (her most favorite toy) for when I return home.

So, I turned it off, placed it on top of the kitty care counter. I've been feeding her water from it in a dropper, and she is OK when it is off, but when on, she is still terrified and angry. Something about the buzzing sound sets her off. I don't know if others have a less scary sound, but so far, that's $70 down the drain.

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Thanks for your reply! I have a new kitten who uses the fountain. I am hoping Mazy cat will learn from her and want to copy her and use it too. I really think if she would just TRY it, there would be no turning back, I think she would love it, as she likes to lick her water off a surface, and this fountain provides that.

Anyway since it's paid for it will stay on, because you just never know with cats.

The motor of this one is very quiet. I'm sorry your girlie is so spooked by it. Some cats just can't adapt.