Do You Have a Cat Fountain for Your Cats?

[easysurfer]

After spending pretty much the last week, ordering and returning and ordering another and reading reviews and watching cat (and dog) videos of pet drinking fountains, I finally found one (I think) that might do the trick.

I know there are cat lovers here. Do you have a cat fountain for your kittens/cats? Do they drink a lot more water if you have one? Any favorite fountains you own or tried?

 

[Racer X]

We have one for our cat. I honestly couldn't say if he drinks more or not? He seems to enjoy it, however.

The only downside is cleaning the blasted thing. It needs a complete drain, disassemble, wash, and rebuild about once a week. Otherwise cat hair gunks it up.

 

[mpeirce]

I know there are cat lovers here. Do you have a cat fountain for your kittens/cats? Do they drink a lot more water if you have one? Any favorite fountains you own or tried?

No cat fountain here, but the one gadget my two cats really really love is their heating pad.

Amazon.com : Milliard Pet Bed Warmer, 23 x 12" : Pet Bed Warmer

They especially enjoy it this time of year, but I'm surprised how much they like the extra warmth even when (according to me) it's not especially cold.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

We had one and it did not make our cat drink any more water. In fact the need for filters made it expensive and the odd shape made it hard to get completely clean. We went back to a regular bowl and the cat didn't mind.

 

[braumeister]

Our cat drinks a lot of water. The tastiest by far is from a dribbling faucet in the bathroom sink, but he also uses this:

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Drinkwell-Original-Pet-Fountain/dp/B00063446M

 

[easysurfer]

Drinkwell, I've read is a very popular brand.

I have one cat that I rarely see him drink at all. He does though, lap up and steal the gravy from my other cat come feeding time of wet food. So, I guess he gets his fill of water that way. My other cat, sometimes in the morning when I bring in the bowl of cold, filtered water, she'll help herself. But, from looking, combined they only drink about 8 ounces a day and I'm reading cats ideally should drink about an oz for each lb of weight to stay the best of health.

As for the feeders, I ordered one that was very cute, had a fake flower on top where the water came out of. But after 48 hrs of trying, the feeder pretty much was ignored and when I gave up and put out the regular bowl, the drinker cat went up and starting drinking from the regular bowl which made me say, back to the drawing board.

The one I ordered (from Walmart, about $30 less than Amazon), Aqua Stream, has a somewhat simple design which hopefully, is easy to clean so I won't quit (if the cats like the fountain):

 

[Sarah in SC]

My cats would probably love something like that, but our well water has a high mineral content and would make cleaning it a bear. So they sadly must survive on water out of a bowl, and whatever they get when they bother me at the sink!

 

[Big_Hitter]

I've had both of those but this is the best one I've ever used, hands down

Before this I think we tried about 5 different kinds of fountains; we have two of these

http://www.amazon.com/Catit-Design-...&qid=1455649558&sr=1-5&keywords=cat+fountains

 

[Big_Hitter]

1) it holds a LOT of water
2) it's really quiet
3) it doesn't get moldy or nasty in the pump/filter like the others do - I don't know why but it just doesn't

 

[easysurfer]

I've had both of those but this is the best one I've ever used, hands down

Before this I think we tried about 5 different kinds of fountains; we have two of these

http://www.amazon.com/Catit-Design-...&qid=1455649558&sr=1-5&keywords=cat+fountains

How long before your cat(s) started using the fountain? I had the model with the flower. The first night, they thought it was a toy and took that off. My cats would go right up put their noses to the water but no drinking. So, I decided to try another.

I know the majority of reviews of that Catit are positive.

 

[Big_Hitter]

How long before your cat(s) started using the fountain? I had the model with the flower. The first night, they thought it was a toy and took that off. My cats would go right up put their noses to the water but no drinking. So, I decided to try another.

I know the majority of reviews of that Catit are positive.

our cats started drinking immediately

yeah, if I were a cat I'd be hatin on the flower

 

[easysurfer]

our cats started drinking immediately

yeah, if I were a cat I'd be hatin on the flower

My cats have always drank from a bowl so probably didn't put 2+2 together that the fountain is not a toy. That flower I thought is cute but obstructed the surface area. Glad your cat(s) like the Catit.

 

[RunningBum]

I have a garden tub, with faucet on one end and drain in the middle, so I can drip water from there and it's got a couple foot run to the drain. They both used to like to drink from that. One of them will wait until the water reaches the drain, for some reason. Maybe it's the noise that reassures her it's running water. But now, one stands up by the faucet and drinks directly from there, and the other drinks from a bowl I leave in the tub. I usually only turn it on for a few minutes in the morning and evening and whenever else they seem to be hanging around, but I've let it slowly drip while I was away on vacation. This also helps prevent pipes from freezing.


I read too many reviews about noise, filters, breakdowns, and cats knocking over those fountains to deal with it.

 

[Big_Hitter]

no way they can knock down a catit

 

[RunningBum]

btw cats generally seem to like water away from where their food bowl is. I think it has something to do with their sense that food (esp. dead animals) contaminate their water supply in the wild so they look for water in a different place.

 

[calmloki]

Our latest cat is pleased with water from the swimming pool, water from a bowl, water from the porcelain fixtures, and her most favorite of all: the overflow pan under a big outside aloe plant. Odd, since she has to hold her head sideways and stuff her face between the planter and pan lip, but I figure its a cat thing - she wants an enhanced level of difficulty.

 

[Andy2]

We have several cats and they are all different: one will only drink from the lake, two drink from whatever water bowl is handy, the fourth drinks from the shower floor. When it rains two of them drink from puddles that form on the deck - they just have to do something different .

We did try a fountain at one stage but it was difficult to clean and one cat was scared of the noise it made so we gave it to charity.

 

[easysurfer]

btw cats generally seem to like water away from where their food bowl is. I think it has something to do with their sense that food (esp. dead animals) contaminate their water supply in the wild so they look for water in a different place.

I still can't figure why cats like to dip their paws into a standing water bowl and dirty the water up .

 

[FUEGO]

Ours prefers the toilet. She hardly drinks from her water bowl outside but when we let her in the house during the recent cold weather, she zoomed right to the toilet to get the clean refreshing taste of toilet water.

 

[Amethyst]

We haven't had a cat for a few years now, but I have lived with them most of my life, and every cat has been happy to lap from a short tumbler of water next to the bathroom sink. The tumbler lifts the water level to their head height, and it's very easy to clean and refill the glass.

Of course, you have to be the kind of owner who doesn't mind cat feet on the bathroom vanity.

Amethyst

 

[Badger]

We have 4 cats (one we recently brought in from outside) and have tried 4 different brands of fountains with little success. They are a pain in the neck to clean and require regular scrubbing out to get rid of the bacterial slime that coats all places that water touches. A few months ago my wife brought home yet another fountain that was only $20 and a couple of the cats seem to get some use out of it. Mostly they drink out of the 5 large ceramic bowls that I threw on the pottery wheel. Two will dip their paws. One likes the falling water from the bathroom faucet. When the one was outside we would provide a clean bowl for her and then she would drink dirty water from puddles. Cats are strange but always a good source of entertainment.

Cheers!

 

[Sarah in SC]

We haven't had a cat for a few years now, but I have lived with them most of my life, and every cat has been happy to lap from a short tumbler of water next to the bathroom sink. The tumbler lifts the water level to their head height, and it's very easy to clean and refill the glass.

Of course, you have to be the kind of owner who doesn't mind cat feet on the bathroom vanity.

Amethyst

Is there any other kind of owner? I didn't know I had a choice!

And I forgot to mention that Roscoe, my new-ish kitten, prefers to drink out of whatever glass YOU are drinking from, with his bowl a distant, distant second choice.

 

[Marita40]

Agree 100% with you Sarah. My cat stares me down if I am drinking a glass of water and LOVES when he gets to share the glass (cat owners will understand. . .I haven't died yet.) The bowl with fresh water changed twice daily goes untouched.

 

[braumeister]

We had an old house many years ago where the basement wall had a pretty substantial crack in it. Every time there were heavy rains and the ground got saturated, water would flow in that crack and about six feet over to the drain.

We always knew where to find the cats when those conditions occurred. They would be sitting in the basement watching the water flow to the drain. Nothing is more fascinating to a cat than moving water!

 

[Dancer373]

I've tried fountains which they will drink a little from but then they go sit on the side of the sink and stare at me until I turn the water on for them. Ok, they have me well trained