Cat fountains?

[Katleya]

Does anyone use a cat fountain for their cat's water?
I've been seriously considering one for various reasons:
- The water is in movement, and it would be an easier alternative than opening the tap every once in a while,
- Most customers' feedback was that it enticed their cats to drink more,
- The water is filtered, so it's cleaner (no hair, etc.), and not as harsh on kitty kidneys (he eats dry food, so I worry about stones),
- It seems like something my cat would enjoy.

Overall, the reviews are pretty good, but a few people commented that because there is a pump, it can be noisy. Which wouldn't be an issue if we placed the fountain in the kitchen, but we can't (no floor space due to poor design, unless we put it smack in the middle of the kitchen and remember not to trip over it). So that would pretty much leave the fountain in the bedroom with us, and I'm sure you can see how that could be a problem: I don't know how sensitive to sound the people who left the reviews are, but it is something I have to take into account.

It looks like this, and it's called the Catit Sense 2.0 Flower Fountain (it looks silly, but it had the best good review/low price ratio).

 

[JackSkellington]

I have a fountain (not the same as the one you posted though) for my cat and he loves it. He certainly has drank more with it (compared to without it). The fountain makes a little noise but not much.. I generally don't notice the noise much.

 

[Mia]

I have two like this for my three cats:

Image from the internet.

Two of my cats drink from them all the time. Another requires a fresh bowl of water, and they all drink from an outside bowl of rainwater that fills up from a downspout. They are drinkwell 360's, and are really quiet. They require cleaning once a week, and changing the filter every month or two. The pump, needs to be taken apart and cleaned on a regular basis every two months or so. When I bought them they were sixty dollars canadian each.

To make them even quieter, I placed a rubber mat underneath (it's a cut in half old rubber hot water bottle) to absorb sound from the vibration, also if you smack the top of the fountain lightly with your palm it puts everything back in place that is loosened by the vibration.

My cats like them a lot, placing them in an area where there are two ways to approach it, so they can escape any noise or unknown cat fear is optimal. One of my cats has never figured out how to drink from it properly, and water drips on his head and ears when he drinks from it, but he doesn't seem to mind that.

 

[Katleya]

Thank you both for the your help. @Mia , these are very good tips, I'll be sure to put it on a mat to absorb vibrations. I actually like the fountain you showed, I'll see if I can find it here. That daisy fountain looks silly, and I think my cat would enjoy yours more.
(Now, my parents' cats... these 2 girls would be trying to punch the water and making a mess)

 

[Streetwise]

please tell me what you think of it after you had it a while- id love socks the big nervous boy to drink water

Does anyone use a cat fountain for their cat's water?
I've been seriously considering one for various reasons:
- The water is in movement, and it would be an easier alternative than opening the tap every once in a while,
- Most customers' feedback was that it enticed their cats to drink more,
- The water is filtered, so it's cleaner (no hair, etc.), and not as harsh on kitty kidneys (he eats dry food, so I worry about stones),
- It seems like something my cat would enjoy.

Overall, the reviews are pretty good, but a few people commented that because there is a pump, it can be noisy. Which wouldn't be an issue if we placed the fountain in the kitchen, but we can't (no floor space due to poor design, unless we put it smack in the middle of the kitchen and remember not to trip over it). So that would pretty much leave the fountain in the bedroom with us, and I'm sure you can see how that could be a problem: I don't know how sensitive to sound the people who left the reviews are, but it is something I have to take into account.

It looks like this, and it's called the Catit Sense 2.0 Flower Fountain (it looks silly, but it had the best good review/low price ratio).
View attachment 35444

 

[Bolletje]

I used to have one, but my cats kept flipping the thing over.

 

[Katleya]

please tell me what you think of it after you had it a while- id love socks the big nervous boy to drink water

I sure will, Streetwise. I probably will only get it a few weeks from now, but I'll update the thread with my review and Charlie's reaction to the fountain.

 

[Bolletje]

Haha, my boyfriend is a bit of a literal thinker, he was wondering how a cat fountain would work, thinking it was a contraption that spewed cats. Silly man.

 

[Katleya]

I'd totally buy that, though. Kitties, kitties everywhere! Your boyfriend is onto something, and he needs to get to working on it asap.

 

[Katleya]

Well I couldn't find the fountain that spews cats, but I just bought the one with water, only a smaller model because of space constraints (I got the one that looks like a urinal).
Can't wait for next week to set it up.

 

[toothless]

Well I couldn't find the fountain that spews cats, but I just bought the one with water, only a smaller model because of space constraints (I got the one that looks like a urinal).
Can't wait for next week to set it up.

please review it when you have the time,ive been thinking of getting one as well.
whenever i have three buckets of clean water ready for putting in the fish tank and they all have the tap safe/decholorinator liquid put in,he heads straight for the buckets to drink,the chlorine and chloramine must taste nasty to them,so id imagine filtered water must be like that,its definitely on my list of things to buy.

my dad has a water butt outside the house and he gives biscuit rain water,she prefers it to the tap water,again it must be the chlorine thing.

 

[Katleya]

First part of the review, because the fountain came in earlier this afternoon:

Which fountain?
I got the Drinkwell original fountain, same brand as the one Mia posted about, but mine is a smaller model because it's only one cat, I don't have a lot of room, and also since I wasn't sure how he'd welcome the fountain, I chose to invest in a smaller, less expensive version. I think my parents' cats would love the bigger one, though.

Set up & noise?
Set up is fairly easy, the pieces come apart for maintenance, it should be easy to clean, and the filter is easy to place.

Noise level is OK. The electric pump makes the same type of noise as those in fish tanks. It might be slightly louder, I'm not sure because the only fish tanks I've been near in the last few years were in Chinese restaurants and, as you can guess, my bedroom is quieter than a crowded restaurant (shocker, I know ).
Obviously there's also the noise of flowing water, really like a little fountain more than a faucet, because it's really the water coming into contact with the water in the bowl that you hear. I find that sound rather soothing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it made some people very bladder-conscious. I'll try to record a snippet so that you can get a better idea.
I'm considering unplugging the fountain while I sleep, though. But first I'll try a denser mat, all I had on hand was a large piece of cardboard & a thick rag, so it probably doesn't mute the vibrations as well as, say, one of those foam yoga mats would. They're super cheap here, so I'll get one in a few days. Also, my cat's restauration area was chosen because I have some marble floor in one part of the room (where there used to be a fireplace), so maybe it's noisier because of the nature of the floor?

My cat's impression?
My cat spent a good 40 mn terrified with the new noise. I must say he is the cat version of Katleya (Catleya? Cat-Katleya?), meaning he's scared of just about everything, so I actually expected that kind of reaction from him.
He's since dared approach the fountain several times, because his food is next to it, but I'm not sure he's drunk from it yet. At the moment he's sleeping quietly curled up, so it seems the fountain is no longer a concern.

Next update in about a week, hopefully by then I'll be able to say if he drinks more from it, if his breath is better as a result, if he's been sticking his paws and making a mess, etc.

 

[Katleya]

Unexpected plus: the water pump noise partially drowns out some of the outside noises that make me so cranky all the time. Meaning the water fountain might somehow help with my sensory overload... and overload from sounds is among the most likely to make me go full ugly meltdown.

 

[Streetwise]

never thought of that

 

[Katleya]

I'll record that snippet tonight, when it's really quiet in the apartment aside from the fountain.
But yeah, I had only thought of the adverse effect... this effect actually came as a pretty good surprise!

 

[Katleya]

So I can't post an audio file because I can't record it in a format that is supported here, but the comparison with a fish tank pump is really accurate.
The noise gets terrible if there isn't enough water; one night my cat was drinking, and the water level fell just below what was necessary (there was water, just not a liter) at some point... the buzzing suddenly became so loud I heard the cat jump back in fear, and then he was stuck belly next to the floor for a good 5 minutes, even after I unplugged the fountain.

As for the latest update in my review:
- My cat definitely drinks more, with the added bonus of a fresher breath because he is hydrated enough. The last few days before the fountain came had been very hot here, and he probably didn't drink enough, to the point that I dreaded having him yawning next to me (not even in my face, just in the vicinity).
- I think there's also been an improvement in his urine flow: he use to have this weird "syncopated" stream (but no kidney issues), and now I hear a continuous flow when he goes, so I'm less worried.
- He has started drinking from the tap part rather than from the bowl, and hasn't made a mess. He doesn't try to stick his paws into the stream and box it or whatever, which was a concern of mine --but it's probably something that might happen with other cats. It's also really cute seeing him drink from that part.
- Still easy to clean, not too cumbersome, and the filter does catch a lot of hair (even though Charlie gets brushed every other day & has short hair).
- Still works well as my own personal white noise machine, I haven't been able to hear that fridge in the building next to my room but twice in the last month, instead of every 10 minutes, and as a result I have been much less tense. I don't feel like jumping at people's throat anymore (and that's not just because I haven't seen many people lately).

In a nutshell, I definitely recommend it, and thank you again, Mia, for your suggestions!

 

[Aeolienne]

What's the typical electricity consumption of these devices?

 

[Mia]

What's the typical electricity consumption of these devices?

Class 2 power supply
input: 120V 60Hz 9W
output: 12 VAC 200 mA

 

[Running Girl]

I had the Catit fountain. Nice, but too much work to clean it weekly. But if you don't, the parts get smelly. Cats liked it fine. They weren't the ones that had to clean it.