Which water fountain Nano would like best?

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
I've read a lot of the water fountain threads so I know the general comments...but which would be best specifically for cats like Nano?

She does not drink stagnant water out of a bowl. If she does anything, she nudges the bowl and then dips her paw into the rippling water. The water must be "moving" for her to trust it.

Nano primarily drinks out of a faucet in a spare sink. I leave the water on a trickle and Nano hops up whenever she is thirsty. She crawls into the basin, swats her paw through the trickle a couple times, then puts her mouth under the stream. You can hear faint slurping sounds as she laps in the water with her tongue. She will take drinks anywhere from five seconds up to 30+ seconds -- one time she drank for nearly a minute!

If I have a can or bottle of cold beverage, she will come sniffing up and try to start rubbing it. I always pick it up because I am worried about spill. One time my girlfriend caught Nano licking the condensation from the side of a water bottle. I've never really let it happen because I don't want her knocking stuff over, so I don't know if she actually prefers licking condensation to drinking from the faucet.

She will occasionally get into the bathtub and put her paw in the small puddles -- don't know if she is just exploring or trying to drink. Sometimes in the sink, she will stay out of the basin and will just stick out a paw into the stream. Then she licks the wet paw and starts grooming a bit. Don't know what that is about.

Here are my human constraints:
1. No more than $250 a year on purchase/parts/filters
2. No more than 1 hour a month in maintenance or cleaning
3. Fountain and all parts/filters should be available at large pet stores or at the very least consistently available through internet
4. No more noisy than a regular refrigerator or air conditioner

It doesn't need to be a water purifier. I have filters set up on the faucets I normally use so I can just get her water out of that.

Anyway, based on what I've described, which water fountain would she like best?
 

mybabybutters

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 29, 2005
Messages
32
Purraise
0
Location
madison, wi
yes, I had the same problem with Butters, she didn't drink any water, not even sink or toilet water! so I got her Penta Water, she does drink it but she still feels the urge to knock the bowl over... but she drinks it!

here is a FAQ for Penta Water...
Can I give Penta water to my pets?
Yes! Some veterinarians recommend Penta water to pet owners. In fact we recommend you give your pet a test taste. Put Penta water in one bowl and tap water in another, then see which one your pet will drink. (We bet it will be Penta every time.)

-and it really does work!
 

sandie

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 29, 2000
Messages
5,464
Purraise
7
Location
CT
From what you describe, she may like the drinkwell the best. It comes out more like it would from a faucet and you can adjust the flow. The only noise it makes is the water flowing.
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Originally Posted by Sandie

From what you describe, she may like the drinkwell the best. It comes out more like it would from a faucet and you can adjust the flow. The only noise it makes is the water flowing.
I second that.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
Sounds good!

$40 purchase + (3 x $9 for parts) + $0 shipping (Petsmart.com) = $67 a year

48 oz reservoir should be more than enough for a single cat. Doesn't look too bad for cleaning...and replacement cost is not prohibative if you assume once a year. Shouldn't be any noisier than the little mini-fridge that runs in the back room. Looks to have a wide base, plus 3 lbs of water to help hold it in place. Don't think she can tip it over.

I'll let you know how it goes!
 

number5

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 3, 2005
Messages
4
Purraise
0
Location
Pacific Northwest
I've used a Petmate FreshFlow for several years now. Both cats love it, and my cat who would previously only drink from the faucet used it regularly.

Cleaning is a small pain, once a month I like to take it apart and wash the parts on the topshelf of my dishwasher. If you turn off the drying cycle it come through fine. Taking it apart takes about ten minutes and putting it back together another ten... figure a half hour altogether, once a month. I rinse it weekly in between.

Before I moved it to another location from his food I went through many filters. They'd somehow drop food in the dish. (I also read an article saying that food should not be near the water source cause it triggered an instinct to bury it...)

The motivation for these changes is that I noticed one of my cats was demanding to drink from the faucet and drinking as if dying of thirst when he got to it. One Vet advised that I add water to his food to make sure he wasn't getting dehydrated, (this can be fatal to a kitty).

After all of the above it turned out that my kitty was in the early stages of type2 diabetes and that was why he was so thirsty all the time. The fact thtat I noticed and investigated the change in his drinking habits saved his life.

If the faucet thing is a new development, I urge you to have your cat checked out at a Vet. Your sensitivity and awareness of changes in his/her behavior is often the difference between discovering a problem early enough to correct it - and not.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
I don't think there are any thirst issues to indicate diabetes. Nano has had recent checkups and is basically in good overall health. I agree it is always good to pay attention to changes, though.

I have tried to estimate how much water Nano is actually drinking -- but it is impossible because I am away for hours at a time and who knows what she does while unattended? But I see her use the faucet about two times a day when I am awake and around the apartment.

The purpose for getting her converted from a faucet to a water fountain is better convenience and to keep Nano's socialization more flexible. She is a rescued cat and I have been working with her for over four months -- at first I was just glad to get her to drink water, but now I think: What if I move and Nano no longer has her favorite faucet? What if a new cat joins the household? Isn't it better to convert her to something more standard to make things easier? My girlfriend knows about Nano's needs, but what if the two of us were in a car accident? Would a friend know enough to leave the faucet on a trickle? Etc.

Anyway, as for Petmate vs. Drinkwell, I went to the store today and studied the two units side by side. They seemed about the same but Drinkwell appeared to be better quality and not much more money.

Thanks for the replies!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
Well, finally after quite a few delays, Nano's new Drinkwell fountain is up and running. I just set it up five minutes ago. She spent two minutes looking at it from a distance of three feet, then she walked up to it and looked down at it for another two minutes...right now she is meowing at it.

But so far, she hasn't pushed her snout under the tap to catch a drink. Nano just sat down three feet away from it to keep a vigil...she's probably wondering when it will run out of water.
Oh no, now she is walking up to it with the inquisitive tail and making her thoughtful "meowrrrrr" that she uses when trying to decide what to do....

She stuck her paw into the stream! Then she looks over at me and I just said "go ahead, you'll like it!" Now she is sitting down right at the edge of the bowl and is looking down at the water. Eight minutes and counting!
 

coaster

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
5,174
Purraise
7
Location
Wisconsin
The FreshFlow meets all your requirements. I have two and I'm quite satisfied with them. I've also tried the Drinkwell. Its filter is superior to the FreshFlow, but IMO the FreshFlow is better in every other way, especially with respect to your noise criteria. You can't hear it about background noise. The Drinkwell has a noisier pump and also the sound of falling water (which I admit, some people like, but not me.)

Oops -- I didn't look at the dates on the post or read the entire thread. But I'll leave my post stand just in case your Drinkwell doesn't work out.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
Aw, I turned off the internet, got up to go to the bathroom and came back to see her mouth under the fountain.

I guess a watched cat never drinks.

So it happened about 25-30 minutes after the unit started running. Pretty fast acceptance and acclimation.


That's okay, coaster. I'll keep the other information as a backup in case this unit breaks down or is too much of a bother to clean.
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Originally Posted by Nano

So it happened about 25-30 minutes after the unit started running. Pretty fast acceptance and acclimation.
We've only had the fountains for about 3 or 4 years here in Germany, so there were a lot of threads about them on German cat forums once they were put on the market. Many cats didn't use them for 2 or 3 days. Jamie ignored his Fresh Flow until I put it in the living room (he's got several water bowls throughout the house).
 

elizwithcat

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
1,303
Purraise
2
I have Fresh Flow. I hate cleaning the darn thing. But my cat likes to drink running water. WHen I have a water bowl and no fountain, he jumps into sinks hoping to get a drink of water. So, I got to use the darn thing.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
Uh oh, now she is putting Q-tips into it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

nano

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
Messages
719
Purraise
13
Apparently Nano is drinking about 8-12 oz of water per 24 hours. When she was getting used to the fountain, she was drinking from the "reservoir" but now she is licking the water straight off the spout as it "falls" out.

And here is another observation: At first she would drink only when I was far away or had my back turned -- as if she was sneaking the water without my permission. Now she is becoming bolder and drinks in my presence when she thinks I'm not looking. If she notices I am watching, she backs off and sits two feet in front of the fountain as if she was just innocently standing guard.


"Silly Nano, I bought that $40 thing for you so go ahead and drink up! Jeesh..."
 

coaster

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
5,174
Purraise
7
Location
Wisconsin
Mellie has such a fascination with water. When I fill my fountains, she'll come running from wherever she is to "supervise". Then she'll sit and watch the fountain for five or 10 minutes.
 
Top