CatIt Water Fountain Issues

[TeaMatcha]

Hi all,

Did anyone ever experienced any issues with CatIt Water Fountain?

I cleaned the fountain 2 days back and changed the filter and water. But the water was running low today and hence, I opened up the fountain and was intending to clean it. But to my horror, the yellow was dirty, the filter was dirty as well. The motor pump seems have the oil leaking out.

I've attached some photos for reference.

Now, I'm worried about my cat's health as she's drinking from that fountain. I'm just gonna hold off the fountain for now and switch it back to a bowl of water instead.

 

[IronCladLou]

Hello TeaMatcha,
I do not believe there is oil in these motors. I clean my Catit fountain once a week. I use a mild dish soap and baking soda paste and then rinse like mad. You need a safe, mild abrasive to break down biofilm. I take a pairing knife and carefully pry off the two covers on the motor. Inside you will find the impeller. I scrub all the motor components and clean out the cavity where the impeller goes with a cotton bud. Everything easily snaps back together. Be slow and careful the first time you take the motor apart. It will become easier after a few times. In addition I installed a Waterdrop undersink carbon filter (Amazon) to fill the cat fountains as well as for our own use.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
The product manuals aren't all that user friendly, but this will provide you links to whichever product you have so that you can see what all the little parts look like. I IronCladLou is correct, the motor housing, the impeller and all the pieces need to be cleaned, and also there's no oil.
Product manuals

Also, it's noted in the manuals for all pet fountains to avoid letting the water drop below a certain level as it will burn out the motor if it runs while it is dry.

 

[LTS3]

The yellow-brown staining is just bacteria sludge. Water fountain motors and those that go in aquariums do not contain any oil or toxic stuff that would leak out into the water. Just take apart the motor as best as you can and scrub the removable parts with soapy water. An old tootbrush works great to get into crevices.

 

[TeaMatcha]

Hello TeaMatcha,
I do not believe there is oil in these motors. I clean my Catit fountain once a week. I use a mild dish soap and baking soda paste and then rinse like mad. You need a safe, mild abrasive to break down biofilm. I take a pairing knife and carefully pry off the two covers on the motor. Inside you will find the impeller. I scrub all the motor components and clean out the cavity where the impeller goes with a cotton bud. Everything easily snaps back together. Be slow and careful the first time you take the motor apart. It will become easier after a few times. In addition I installed a Waterdrop undersink carbon filter (Amazon) to fill the cat fountains as well as for our own use.

I've been using the fountain for months and when I first got it, I take off the covers and impeller of the motor and scrub it clean with a pet safe soap. I do it everytime I wash it. But even during the first time, there's some "oil" on the motor pump. I thought that it's normal so I just washed it off a couple of times.

 

[TeaMatcha]

Hi
The product manuals aren't all that user friendly, but this will provide you links to whichever product you have so that you can see what all the little parts look like. I IronCladLou is correct, the motor housing, the impeller and all the pieces need to be cleaned, and also there's no oil.
Product manuals

Also, it's noted in the manuals for all pet fountains to avoid letting the water drop below a certain level as it will burn out the motor if it runs while it is dry.

Ah! That might be the reason why. The water did drop to a very low level before I washed it. I think that it burn out the motor.

 

[Tigger's Mum]

I have the Catit Flower Fountain. Had it for about 5 years now. I'm in the UK and live in a hard water area. The motor my one has is different to yours. My son cleans our one out. Takes him about 5 minutes.

If the motor has gone faulty, you can easily get a replacement from Catit. Over here it costs around £9 ($11) so inexpensive to replace if needed.

Where I live the water changes depending on what time of the year it is. Sometimes we get more limescale than other times as our water comes down from chalk hills. Maybe something similar happens to your water supply.