Cat Fountains.. Which Are Good But Not Too Expensive?

xenathecrazy

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I'm considering getting a cat fountain but don't have a big budget. I've been looking at the Catit Flower Fountain and I see that I can buy generic brand filters to make them more affordable. Is that a good fountain or is there something better for around the same price range?
 

lisahe

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We got a Pioneer "Feng Shui" fountain (here it is on Chewy, where it gets mixed reviews) when our previous cat was very sick. She did fine with it and our present cats like it, too, but we don't use it because they like playing with the water rather than drinking it! It works best for them to just put extra water into their food.

This particular fountain seemed easier to clean than the Drinkwell that we had earlier.
 
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xenathecrazy

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Playing with water is what I’m afraid of. I’m trying a fountain to see if it minimizes the mess he makes now. He’s a Maine Coon and water is an attraction for him. He has to paw at the water and splash before he drinks and he’s overturned the water bowl several times. I keep trying different bowls but it’s all the same. I’m currently trying a pet water bottle stand which he’ll use sometimes but he prefers his bowl. I also add an extra tablespoon or two of water to his food so if a fountain doesn’t stop the water mess, I’ll just stick with regular bowls and spill mats.
 

duckpond

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i have the catit fountain, mine like it ok, but its not their fav. The favorite is a petsafe fountain. I think they play with it less than they do the catit fountain. Its easy to clean, i break it down weekly and throw it in the dishwasher. Sometimes i use the filters, but i use filtered water, so most of the time i do not. The Petsafe seems to be the favorite for my guys.

 
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xenathecrazy

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I was also looking at the Petsafe fountain since he likes streams of water from the faucet. At the same time, he likes to paw away and play with that stream and put his head in it so I wonder if I'd be walking into more of a mess than I do now. :lol:
 

lalagimp

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I've always used Drinkwell Platinum. I buy genuine filters in bulk packaging on Amazon, and I highly recommend the $4.xx cleaning brush set.
Replacement motors are under $20.
 

Willowy

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I have the Drinkwell and the Catit. I and the cats like them both. They're easy to clean---I've had other fountains before that we liked better but if they're hard to clean eventually I get tired of cleaning it.

The filters don't really do anything for water quality; they're mainly to keep fur away from the motor. If you clean it often enough the fur shouldn't build up too badly. So you could go without filters or just use the cheapest.
 

Elfilou

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Just pick one that isn't plastic, I did and regretted it. You have to clean it very often and itll still get gunky cause... well, its plastic. Plastic is porous.
 

Luckytheordinary

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I don’t have a fountain but I’ve seen the filters that go into the catit fountain. Those filters serve the purpose of mechanical (filtering physical matter like what Willowy said —hair, large pieces of dirt etc.) and chemical (i think they have
 

Luckytheordinary

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I don’t have a fountain but I’ve seen the filters that go into the catit fountain. Those filters serve the purpose of mechanical (filtering physical matter like what Willowy said —hair, large pieces of dirt etc.) and chemical (i think they have
Oops accidentally hit post. Let me continue.

Activated carbon in the filters that absorb chemicals and keeps the water “fresh”). Once the carbon absorbs up to its capacity it is no longer useful and the filter can be replaced. When I was keeping a fish, I had a similar filter in my fish tank that used an activated carbon filter — I went a full year before changing the filter as the filter also serves a breeding ground for beneficial bacteria and tossing it away would remove the effectiveness of the biological aspect. (In a cat fountain, there isn’t much of a need to have beneficial bacteria because there are minimal waste products ie: food, waste that would need to be broken down.

Anyways, I agree with willowy that it is optional to replace the filters. Just use clean water to begin with and clean the fountain on a regular basis.
 

sweetblackpaws

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I have been buying The Original Drinkwell for years. The only reason I replace them is they get gross since they are plastic, but the pumps last a long time and every cat I have had liked them. I replace the filters once a month and clean the fountains weekly with hot water and mild dish soap.
 

lilbirdie

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I use Cat Mate even though it’s ugly. It’s about $30, works great and is easy to clean. The filters are more expensive than other brands, though. I didn’t realize because I bought it when the filters were on sale. I thought they were always that cheap. Nope!
 

lilbirdie

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By the way, and this might just be me, but we had Catit flower fountains at my old job and I HATED cleaning them. We didn’t have a dishwasher on premises so it had to be done by hand. If you have a dishwasher it might be better.
 

Purr-fect

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We use the pioneer pet stainless steel fountain. It was about 70 dollars...stupidly expensive. My wife bought it. The filters are about 4 dollars each. Grrrr.

You might be able to buy a used cat fountain. Just clean it thoroughly, and put in a new filter if it uses one. I recomend stainless steel or ceramic. Test it to make sure the pump works.

I do think the flowing water, as opposed to a dish of water, encourages our cats to drink more. Both of our cats are males and a previous male had to go to the vet for urinary tract crystals. .... so encouraging water consumption is important to us.

20180918_103054.jpg
 

Vega's Dad

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I don't have one but saw someone got Pioneer Swan fountain. It seems lots of fun and the cats love to play with it (lots of mess too I guess :p ).
 

foxden

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One way to minimize the mess around a cat fountain is to use a plastic tray underneath. A "boot tray" is inexpensive and is large enough to catch almost any water the cats have splashed out of the fountain.
The plastic tray can make your setup noiser, so we use something like this shelf liner under the fountain. This helps cut the noise
 

RajaNMizu

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We have a Pagoda fountain that was about $75.00. Not inexpensive. It's ceramic, easy to clean IMO at the filters are about $4 each. I chose it because it does not look like a pet fountain. I paired it with an oversized placemat underneath it that is washable and protects the wood furniture that its on. I'm pleased with it but most importantly, Mizu likes it. Raja prefers her bowl but recently took a sip out of the basin. My brave girl.:lol:
 

Etarre

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Sometimes you can find some of the major brands of pet fountains at discount stores like TJ Maxx/Marshall's at a fairly significant discount. Just throwing that out there....
 

daftcat75

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Krista and I like the Pioneer Pet Raindrop fountain. Picture of it a few posts up. It’s super-quiet. We had a Whisker City fountain before it that was plastic and loud.
 

RajaNMizu

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A few minutes after my post, my son's friend looked at me, alarmed and said "uh, the cat? It's drinking out of your fountain?" I laughed and said "no, it's drinking out of it's own fountain. She's supposed to do that." :biggrin:
 
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