Drinkwell Fountains...Are they Safe?

Hello,

I just recently purchased a drinkwell fountain for my two cats.  They seem to love it. 

However after about a day of running i noticed some type of foam in the water.  It looked almost like a lot of saliva but I doubt that is what it was.

Also I am concerned about electric shock.  Has anyone had any issues with Drinkwell products or complaints?

Hi spunlife 24!

I have two thoughts on the foaming issue. First, when you mention saliva, it's important to know that one really needs to change the water in these fountains almost daily...obviously it's recycling inside the fountain and some of a cat's saliva does get in there. The filters will only trap particles of food/hair, not "purify" the water. Additionally, the fountain surfaces need to be cleaned periodically, otherwise you'll find that they feel 'slimy' to the touch. Saliva also builds up within the pumps, so disassembling and cleaning the interior of the pump/motor is also a must (I clean my motors monthly).

Anyone who thinks that fountains are low maintenance - well, sorry to inform you.... (!)

Another possibility for the foaming could be an additive used by your water supplier...where I live, the city periodically adds an alkaline product to counter the necessary use of "extra" chlorine...it doesn't happen often but I find that its use will cause a minor and short-life foaming in my sinks.

No need to worry about electric shock - these fountains work on very low (+/- 6 volts) and are insulated from your household electric system by that small box power supply that energizes your pump.

I had a fountain but I don't use it any more because of the maintenance issues. I believe they're safe in terms of electric shock etc, but I didn't like the slimy build-up and the calcium deposits from our hard water. It just wasn't worth the effort for me.

When I had my blue russian I had bought a dog fountain which held more water and went on vacation for a week and had my friend next door come in to replenish the water and feed some wet food. When I returned the fountain had a red slimy flim in the water bowl. Fountain was gone after that!

I have a drinkwell fountain. I kinda have mixed feelings about it though. It definitely isn't low maintenance. I have to refill it frequently and  i take it apart and scrub it every few days. It is a lot more complex than scrubbing and refilling a bowl. Honestly my cats drink from the dog bowl in the kitchen more than the drinkwell fountain in the bedroom. Kattie drinks from it at night, but I don't really see Oscar drink from it. It will also build up nasty slime if you don't clean it regularly so isn't a fill and forget about it thing. Honestly the bowl is easier. As to the electric shock thing. I don't really think it is an issue, but I have it plugged in to where the socket and cord are above the fountain, so water can't drip down the cord to the socket as it could if the socket were below the fountain.
 

I have a Petmate Freshflow fountain and it is awesome.   It has been a greater hit than I ever expected for my cats - both are fascinated by it and choose to drink out of exclusively even though they have four other water bowls.  They even fight a bit over it.  Cleaning it is a bit of a pain, I won't lie.  Once a week I take it completely apart and scrub everything and use a special tiny brush for parts of it.   Inbetween I just dump all the water out and refill it midweek.   It is more work than a regular water bowl, but given how much more they drink I'm glad I got it.