Tips for new water fountain?

[princessesme]

Esme and Naku got spoiled this Christmas and got a brand new drinking fountain for Christmas! I think I was more excited than them, because I am pretty sure they haven't used it yet. This is the fountain they have: http://amzn.com/B000L3XYZ4

I have had it setup for a little under a week and it is located where their old water bowl was. A few of their scratchers and toys are their too, so they are used to the area. I have tried putting them near it, sprinkling my fingers in it a little so they see it is water, but they just do not seem remotely interested in it.

Does anyone have any tips or previous experience with getting kitties used to the new fountain?

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I would try turning it off and seeing if they will drink.  Then maybe just keep it on for a short period of time and gradually increase it.  Are you filling it with the same water (tap, bottled, etc)?  I have heard when you move you should consider bringing some water from your old house because it can smell different.  I wonder if the filtering process would do that to the fountain too?  I have a different brand but I assume they all have filters.

 

[princessesme]

I am filling it with the same tap water that they were drinking before, but it does have the filter in it. I will try turning it off tonight and for awhile to see if they at least take some interest in it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[princessesme]

Turning the fountain off worked, at least so far! I saw Esme drinking out of it this morning, so I plugged it in for a little bit and I will see what happens later.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Ooh glad that worked so far!  

 

[freddus]

I got that same filter for my lot just after New Year's!  I've left their old water bowl sitting next to the fountain, for the moment, but I'll eventually move that one elsewhere in the house. Both my dog and my mother's dog drank from it straight away, but my cat Minstrel was a lot slower about it. It surprised me, as I mainly bought it for him because he loves paddling in water! He finally started drinking from it a bit and, once or twice, we've caught him actually drinking from the spout. However, he does still prefer to splash his paws in the old bowl.

I guess it's just a gradual process? I hope your two work it out well!

 

[princessesme]

I thought about doing the same thing (having their old bowl next to the new fountain), but once Esme started drinking from it, I'm holding off for now. Naku doesn't really drink much water and I think he tends to drink when no one is around, but Esme drank twice from the fountain yesterday! Once while it was off and once while it was on, so it's looking good! I'm still rotating keeping it plugged in, just in case Naku still isn't drinking from it. I'm tempted to setup a little webcam to see what happens while we aren't home.

Good luck with Minstrel!

 

[freddus]

I just realised I wrote filter in my last post when I meant fountain. Oops. Oh, well. Setting up a webcam sounds like an awesome idea! Just to give a bit of an idea about what's going on.