Drinkwell Platinum Fountain

Does anyone have this fountain ?

I just bought one for my cats . Hopefully to encourage them to drink more water as they refuse to eat can food .  It is a really nice fountain . Super quiet and easy to keep clean .  I am not sure if my cats are drinking from  it  . I have not seen them anyway .   I thought they would like it due to the effect of running water .

They seemed afraid of the   Petco fountain I got them , I think due to  the bubbling up effect .

For those that have the Drinkwell  Platinum  , how long did it take for your cats to like it  ?

Does it encourage them to drink more ?

I do not have the Platinum but I have the Drinkwell Original! 

When I took it out of the box, my cats were more interested in the box than the fountain, haha, but eh..  Well, at first they came and sniffed it and when I filled it up with water they were very interested. My cats love water, so I guess that's why.

But they did get scared about when I turned it on. Probably a mix of the sound and the running water, it was new and different from the tap. But also, what I noticed was that they started drinking more from it when I removed the filter. Maybe it had a funny smell or something?

It does mean that I have to clean it more often, but that's fine. It depends on the cat, I guess. Even though it doesn't make much noise, the cats will still fear it at the start, because it's new. Just give them a while, maybe let them SEE you fill it with normal water, or let them get used to it while it's turned off. Once they drink from it when it's turned off, they know it's their water source. Then turn it back on and just let them come to it. 

They started drinking from it after a day or 2. Probably because I removed all the bowls and they had no choice. 

Even now they sometimes put their paws in it or pat at it. They love the little bubbles that come up. But they are still drinking from it, so it was a great purchase.

I am thinking about getting a ceramic one, because I've noticed that the plastic is getting a weird smell and it gets harder to clean, certain stains won't come out and I'm scared maybe too many bacteria are getting/staying in there.

BUT this is just me. The cats still seem to love it. They don't smell anything weird, so I'm not too worried. But in the future I will buy a new one.

Also, I don't know what you're feeding your cats, but if they are on a wet or raw diet, they won't drink much anyway since they get so much water with their food. I think mine enjoy the fountain more to look at / play with than they actually drink, but I do insist to always have extra water sources, so it's fine.   

@Caralian  , thank you so much for the response . 

I will try  unplugging it and see if they are interested .   I do  disassemble every 3 days  and clean with hot water and vinegar it seems to stay fresh and clean . 

They have 3 regular water dishes  , I will take up 2 of those  and hopefully they will get to like the fountain .. 

Oh and my cats eat kibble only , they refuse to eat can food ..

Hi, this was the 1st pet fountain I got my 3 cats. They liked it & eventually did use it (they were confused at first too). My only problem is I have a mischievous cat who enjoyed tipping the fountain over! It became such a mess that I had to switch to the Drinkwell 360 fountain that isn't top heavy. 

rlavach said:

 
Hi, this was the 1st pet fountain I got my 3 cats. They liked it & eventually did use it (they were confused at first too). My only problem is I have a mischievous cat who enjoyed tipping the fountain over! It became such a mess that I had to switch to the Drinkwell 360 fountain that isn't top heavy. 

Click to expand...

Thank you . My cats seem to like the Drinkwell now .  It took them awhile to get used to it .. 

I tested them , at night I would fill the " bowl "  to the rim and in the morning it would be down 1/2  way so I guess they like it .

" UPDATE "

Yay , I watched my male cat drinking from the fountain today ..  He drank quite a lot .  He looked very comfortable with it so I guess he has been using it all along . 

I don't know about my female though  , I have not seen her use it yet ..