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argh, stupid cat fountains!!!

post #1 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 
We've had three different pet fountains here in our household, and I have yet to find one I'm satisfied with.

The Petmate Fresh Flow was rediculously hard to clean and had to be refilled very often, so we retired it and got a drinkwell--this was before they had the resevoirs available for purchase, so that too ran out of water way too quickly, but was easier to clean than the FreshFlow. However, I was intrigued by the Cat-it fountains design and decided to get one of those when my patience with the drinkwell had run out.

boy, was that a mistake. The thing is hard to clean, impossibly tricky to refill and reassemble once refilled, and now the darn pump on the thing just quit on me.

So, I guess its back to the store to get a Drinkwell with an extra resevoir (sigh) so that's a total of like $200 I've spent on pet fountains!!!

Oliver won't drink from a bowl, so its either the fountains, or I have to leave a faucet on for him all day, and thats definitely $$$ for the water bill!!

Its a good thing those little furry *******s are cute, because they're making me poor!!!
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post #2 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:29pm
I've been thinking about getting one of those. Marat is obsessed with water in the sink when I'm doing dishes or washing my hands. I'm sorry you've had bad luck on them, but it is nice to have first hand reviews on the different ones. Thanks for the info.

Yes, it is a good thing they are so cute and adorable. Here I am, someone who has rarely read a label for any food in my life for me, but reads for hours over information online to try and find the ultimate cat food. I constantly search for a cat toy that cats will actually play with. I spend hours at the pet store, seeing if there are any treats I think he would like, or finding the other necessities for cats like window perches and cat trees. He has me wrapped around his cute little paw and he knows it.
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post #3 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:31pm
LOL amen to that..mine all drink from a lovely little Le Bistro refillable thingy bob..lol lucky me no one is picky...well

Ares likes to drink from the dog bowl *rolls eyes*
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post #4 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:35pm
LOL! sorry....that was funny. My wife has spent a small fortune on those things...and guess where they are now? The landfill.
We have no need for those...our cats have me well trained to turn on the faucets for them when they command it.
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post #5 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:37pm
Well I have my Persian and he's getting his ruff all wet and I have one of those Le Bistro water things. I'm not happy. It is relatively easy to fill and so far I haven't made any messes BUT - it's turning his ruff a reddish color. NOT good for a show cat!!! I don't know what I'm gonna do...found something with a smaller bowl attached to the waterer so might try that.
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post #6 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:53pm
hmm red ruff not good. *looks around* my babies roughs are all fine :P
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post #7 of 31
9/13/05 at 12:54pm
My cats and I love the Cat- it fountain.... Write to the company, maybe the will replace the broken one.
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post #8 of 31
9/13/05 at 1:02pm
My babies enjoy their Drinkwell, but it just recently gave up the will to function, so it's time to get a new one. I appreciate the design and upkeep enough, and most of all Sierra and Serenity like it, so I'll be getting another Drinkwell.
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post #9 of 31
9/13/05 at 1:28pm
I bought the cat-it fountain for Clinton since he suddenly decided he no longer liked his bowl. It is a frustrating thingy. I have to add water to it at least once a day, and it scares me to death because the adapter gets so hot. I unplug it at night, but it still worries me when I leave for classes in the morning. All in all, I know it's worth it though because he drinks so much more water now!
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post #10 of 31
9/13/05 at 2:20pm
i have the petmate freshflow, & i like it ok. i had to put water in their dish every day anyway, so it's no big deal to add some. i don't fill the reservoir each day, just top off the water level. i clean it when it stops pumping, which usually means there's too much hair in it (i have wall-to-wall vinyl flooring - hair blows everywhere!). but the girls like it & drink much more than they did before, when they just had a regular dish. of course, Cable & Java also love to drink from the toilet so they obviously are not real particular
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post #11 of 31
9/13/05 at 2:37pm
I've never had any issues withthe cat it and found it easy to dissemble and clean.. it's diswasher safe, except for the rubber bits, which should be washed in cold water to preserve their dimensions. I also think it's easier to refill than the fresh flow because the water doesn't pour out all over when you tip it over the right way.
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post #12 of 31
9/13/05 at 3:06pm
we have the CatIt fountain and the guys like it pretty well. we used to have the petmate fountain, but after a couple years the motor burned out. it cost the same to buy a new on as buy a new motor. i like the CatIt because it's easier to clean and easier to refill. also the water lasts much longer that the petmate one with 3 cats in the house.

you should definitely contact the company or see if you can exchange it for something that you like better.
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post #13 of 31
9/13/05 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fluffysimba
Well I have my Persian and he's getting his ruff all wet and I have one of those Le Bistro water things. I'm not happy. It is relatively easy to fill and so far I haven't made any messes BUT - it's turning his ruff a reddish color. NOT good for a show cat!!! I don't know what I'm gonna do...found something with a smaller bowl attached to the waterer so might try that.
Could you keep a bib on him? A small one?
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post #14 of 31
9/13/05 at 6:24pm
I like the jumbo Petmate. It doesn't run out of water that often and cleaning every week or so is easier than remembering every day to change a water bowl. It is also easy in myopinion to add more water to. I also keep an extra small one upstairs.
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post #15 of 31
9/13/05 at 6:39pm
I haven't had any trouble at all with the catit. Easy to clean, Easy to refill. The cats get upset when they don't have it running.
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post #16 of 31
9/13/05 at 6:43pm
My cats ignored the Drinkwell fountain, so I donated it to the local cat rescue society. Sam will drink from a dripping bathtub faucet, or from the bowl of my little indoor table top fountain. Then the pump died, and the thing was just sitting there one day, I noticed that he was still drinking from it. I took the whole top off, and that's now his water bowl. He won't drink from any other, and he got used to it when it had flowing water in it. I have no idea why he decided that this particular bowl with still water was fine to drink from.
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post #17 of 31
9/14/05 at 10:02am
I've considered getting my cat a fountain. However I think he prefers being served his water.
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post #18 of 31
9/14/05 at 10:58am
I just got one of those for my cats to try and cure drinking from the toilet....it worked well. I have a large Petmate Fresh Flow one (I think? The one with the clear blue resevoir and waterfall?) and I haven't had to refill it since I started it up on Monday! It holds plenty for me...maybe I have a larger size? I know the woman I bought it from was using it for a large dog.
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post #19 of 31
9/15/05 at 12:06pm
I noticed that Josie used the water bowl next to her food to splash water onto the food to make it soft. She won't drink out of it though. She prefers to drink out of the cup on the bathroom sink or from the sink if it's running. I read in Outwitting Cats that cats prefer not to have their water and food in the same place. Well, that explains it! So, I'm going to be going to get a fountain pretty soon.
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post #20 of 31
9/15/05 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RinaDaventry
I just got one of those for my cats to try and cure drinking from the toilet....it worked well. I have a large Petmate Fresh Flow one (I think? The one with the clear blue resevoir and waterfall?) and I haven't had to refill it since I started it up on Monday! It holds plenty for me...maybe I have a larger size? I know the woman I bought it from was using it for a large dog.
I have that same fountain. I like it, except for the fact that I have a terrible time getting the pump apart to clean it....
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post #21 of 31
9/15/05 at 2:28pm
I just got a Cat-It fountain a couple weeks ago and I'm in with it! When I was putting it together and filling it up I was thinking, "Wow, they thought of everything with this one!" I'm sorry you and your kitties don't like it! I had a Drinkwell before it and I hated it because it was hard to clean and it was ugly. I love the way the Cat-It looks. It DOES take a lot of water though. I used 4 16.9 oz bottles of water to fill it and about a week later I put in 4 more. Cupid rarely drinks water because his food has so much in it, so I know he's not drinking that much. How can it make water evaporate so quickly? Anyway, my only real complaint is that I always want to pick it up by the handle and then the bottom comes off.
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post #22 of 31
9/15/05 at 9:32pm
does anyone else's cat-it adaptor get hot, or do i have a defective one?
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post #23 of 31
9/15/05 at 10:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by danalee2682
does anyone else's cat-it adaptor get hot, or do i have a defective one?
Mine definitely got hot too, which was another reason I didn't like it.

I went cheap-o and just bought a $14 Le Bistro waterer for now...doesn't have the "flowing" action of the other ones but the kits will just haveta deal with it for now--tomorrow's payday, so maybe I'll head to petsmart and get another drinkwell. Sigh.

Little furry monkeys are sucking me DRY! I keep telling them to go get a job and start pulling their weight around here, but all they do is sit around and nap and act cute.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as one of my cats!
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post #24 of 31
9/15/05 at 10:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by danalee2682
does anyone else's cat-it adaptor get hot, or do i have a defective one?
Mine is warm, but not really hot. It's about 1/3 as hot as a light bulb gets.
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post #25 of 31
9/15/05 at 10:51pm
thanks guys - glad i'm not the only one with a warm adaptor! he sures loves that darned fountain...i just have no desire you use my fire insurance - EVER!

Quote:
Originally posted by OllyExtra05.
Little furry monkeys are sucking me DRY! I keep telling them to go get a job and start pulling their weight around here, but all they do is sit around and nap and act cute.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as one of my cats!
AMEN!
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post #26 of 31
9/16/05 at 5:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by danalee2682
does anyone else's cat-it adaptor get hot, or do i have a defective one?
mine gets really warm too. i asked hubby about it but he wasn't too worried about it. i'm not real happy with how expensive the CatIt filters last and how much they cost. does anyone have multiple cats and have those filters last longer than 2-3 weeks?
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post #27 of 31
9/16/05 at 6:51am
mine does, but once a week, i wash it backwards with hot water to get the furr off the front. so mine lasts a month or 2. the charger gets warm, but most chargers tend to, really, and my husband also thinks that's normal.
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post #28 of 31
9/16/05 at 7:57am
I have a cat it fountain and love it so far. Its easy to take apart, clean, and put back together. I really like that it is so quiet, you wouldn't know its there until the water level is too low.
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post #29 of 31
9/16/05 at 8:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by StitchFL
I have a cat it fountain and love it so far. Its easy to take apart, clean, and put back together. I really like that it is so quiet, you wouldn't know its there until the water level is too low.

What kind of fountain do you have, Stitch?
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post #30 of 31
9/16/05 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PurrPaws
I have that same fountain. I like it, except for the fact that I have a terrible time getting the pump apart to clean it....
i don't take the pump apart, i just clean off the outside... i'd never be able to reassemble it if i took it apart! i have a petmate freshflow...

Quote:
Originally Posted by OllyExtra05
Little furry monkeys are sucking me DRY! I keep telling them to go get a job and start pulling their weight around here, but all they do is sit around and nap and act cute.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as one of my cats!
i've been saying that for years!
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