water fountain

[smithfamily2012]

What are your oppinions on the drinkwell original and water fountains in general?

 

[nyghthawk]

I'm curious as well. I saw some at Petsmart yesterday, but the prices made me think twice about buying a fountain right now.

 

 

[burkey]

It's not a Drinkwell, but my two adore their fountain. We have the Pioneer Pet Big Max. It is stainless steel and extremely easy to clean. I purposely looked for steel because I've read that it's pretty common for cats to have allergies or other issues with plastic dishes.  It is virtually silent as well, which is a huge perk!

 

[karrecat]

My cats will only drink moving water. Lenya won’t even touch still water, and Bärli will try to topple over the water bowl.

I’ve only tried the Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain (TCS reviews are here). There are many positive reviews on the Internet- it’s especially useful for multiple-cat households. However, when mine came, it constantly leaked every night because there was a defect. My cats did love to drink out of it though. So I don't have a lot of direct experience with Drinkwell fountains.

Now I have a beautiful ceramic fountain generously given to me by a friend (I wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise!). The cats are very happy with it.

 

[jin xiong lor]

Water Fountains are supposedly better for cats as it can entertain them and entice them into drinking more water during the day/night.

With my young cats, I haven't noticed a huge difference if at all, with them drinking more water. Water fountains do look very nice though if you invest in the more expensive ones.

The are two main reasons as to why I do not use water fountains from MY Experience:

Some water fountains are hard to clean as you really have to get in there to clean off the residue or gunk. I've had to use toothpicks to pick the little holes of the motor to poke out gunk, which took a lot of time to clean thoroughly so that the water would be able to run normal.

My cats didn't really increase their water intake if at all. Probably because I feed them 1oz of can food + 1/4 cup of water in that 1 oz.

If you do go through with the water fountain route, please do get bowls that are stainless steel. Anything other than plastic will do. Plastic bowls do not smell great because of the cats saliva and other residue stick easily on plastic and bacteria harbors easily on plastic. Water fountains are great though, everyone has different experiences and results!

Currently I'm just using a PetSafe Healthy Pet Waterer (Large Size) from Petco. It's really nice and has a neat modern look to it. The Large IS HUGE, almost good for a dog, and holds LOTS of water for my young cats (:  All their heads can fit, so they can drink together! Its at a good price and easy to clean/refill!

 

[scarlett 001]

My cats LOVE their stainless steel water fountain. To given them options, I also leave out a regular bowl of water upstairs.

I use bottled spring water instead of tap water, and that has cut back on hard water deposits on the fountain.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I have had 2 Petmate FreshFlow fountains.  We bought the 2nd one about a year ago.  The first we had for more than 5 years.  Mooch tends to spalsh the water before she drinks (they can have difficulty seeing close up) but with the water moving she does this a LOT less.  She used to soak the wall by their bowls with her splashing!  It's a little annoying taking apart everything to clean it; including the pump. But there are worse chores.

 

[raintyger]

My kitty just stared at the fountain like it was from Mars. But if your kitty drinks more water because of it, that's great! Be sure to get one from a store who will let you return it if it doesn't work out. I got mine from Petco and was able to return it. I added water to my kitty's food instead and it worked out.

 

[oneandahalfcats]

I have no experience with the Drinkwell fountains, but do have a Pioneer Big Max fountain. Initially the cats just stared at this wondering what the heck is that? It does look a bit like a spacecraft. Eventually they all started drinking from it after realizing it wasn't going to be shooting any death rays. I had purchased the Raindrop model around Xmas, but unfortunately the motor died shortly after. I think it was just a one off defective motor. My local pet store (Pet Valu) took this back and I traded up for the Big Max. Max really likes this as he used to be a regular tap drinker.

The Big Max is quite a bit larger however but does works quite well. I guess it depends on the cat but with my three, I find that they don't drink enough to justify the size so often-times half of the fill of water ends up in my house plants. This fountain would be more suitable for a large dog I think. If I had to do this again, I would probably go back to the Raindrop model. If you have just one cat, the Raindrop would most likely be quite sufficient.

 

[abbyntim]

We have two Drinkwell Platinum fountains and the cats used to love drinking out of them. They still like to play under the running stream on occasion, but now they are more like soothing water fountains at either end of the house.

I should explain. Several years ago, our male had a very bad constipation episode. The emergency vet who dug him out suspected dehydration. So we bought a fountain to encourage more drinking. I think it helped, as we saw both cats drink out of the fountain very frequently. But we continued to feed dry food.

Two years later, he had another very serious episode of constipation. We added a second fountain at the other end of the house, the end where the cats sleep and laze all day, in case the male was just too lazy to walk all the way to the kitchen. He enjoyed having it! But at the same time, we transitioned them from dry to wet. Now we rarely see them at the fountain. But I enjoy the sound of the running water as I sit at my desk and type!

 

[matts mom]

If you've transitioned from dry food to wet, that might account for the cat's drinking less, as wet food has a very high moisture content. Mine drink very little when eating wet food. If you're concerned at all, you might try mixing an ounce of water to each feeding(stir it into the food) to help keep hydration up. This is a trick that my vet approves of for my own thick-furred boy during the hot summers when I worry most about dehydration.  

 

[momof3b1g]

We have had Drinkwell fountains for years. All my cats love them. I like how it keeps the water clean. There is always hair or something in standing water.

 

[abbyntim]

 
If you're concerned at all, you might try mixing an ounce of water to each feeding(stir it into the food) to help keep hydration up. This is a trick that my vet approves of for my own thick-furred boy during the hot summers when I worry most about dehydration.  

Oh, I'm not concerned at all. It's kind of funny that we even bought a second fountain as we started our transition from dry to wet. I didn't think the reduction in water consumption would be so extreme. But I can tell by what I find in the box that they're very well hydrated!

At the present time, I am mixing some homemade bone broth in with their wet food, but it's more to help with my male cat's current health issues. But it's definitely a good trick to make sure kitties stay hydrated.

 

[smithfamily2012]

So what are the recommended wet foods? Which are better? I would like to do a comnination of wet and dry.

 

[Kat0121]

I had 2 water bowls for the cats in the same room as the litter box but it was rarely touched. I had read in a few threads that cats don't drink much water so I kept them full for whenever they wanted some. Then about a week ago, I figured out why the bowls went untouched when I went into the kitchen and all 3 furkids were lined up at the dog's water bowl enjoying a drink. it's a double dish meant for food and water but I keep water in both sides because I'm not home during the day in case she needs a refill. So I figured that if they are all going to share the one dish anyway, I'd get a bigger one so I got them the drinkwell platinum fountain. The cats took to it right away and have had several drinks out of it since I set it up about 2 hours ago. the dog had no idea what to make of it until I called her over to it, dipped my finger into the water and let her lick my finger. then she stuck her nose in and got a big drink. bigger doesn't always mean braver.

 

[molldee]

I have the Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel Big Maxx. It's awesome. It's so easy to clean and my cats love the running water. I've had Drinkwells and Petmates but wasn't impressed because it was annoying to clean.

 

[cocheezie]

I know nothing about water fountains. One of my cats loves to drink out of the bathroom tap. I'd love to get him a water fountain, but I'm always finding bits of wet food in the water dishes whether they are near feeding areas or not. I envision a big smelly slimy mess if he started using a water fountain. I'm sure that those bits of wet food would get into some hidden inaccessible crevice. It's easier to keep an eye on the water dishes (four) and stare at his bottom sticking up out of the sink a couple of times a day.

 

[hbanan]

I just got this one at Petco: 
I wanted to get one because my kitten is obsessed with water from the sink and the two streams look like running water. Also it's ceramic instead of plastic, which is better for the kitties to drink out of. Oscar loves it! As soon as I took it out of the box, he knew it was for him.

 

[random gemini]

I have a Drinkwell Big Dog fountain for my dogs because one of my dogs was refusing to drink from anything except the toilet, which is just gross. 

One thing I will say... do NOT ever let it run dry. We went through a very busy period at Christmas and we kept forgetting to refill the fountain and it ran dry several times over the holiday season.. It was our mistake, so I went ahead and replaced the pump, which was 15$. No big deal. I was annoyed with Drinkwell's shipping though. I had to wait two weeks for them to ship me the pump, because they wanted 50$ for 2 day shipping. Not overnight, 2 day. 

It has to be cleaned regularly, about once a week and the filter should be replaced monthly. 

Overall though, I do like the fountain. Just don't let it run dry like I did and you should be fine. If anyone knows of an alternative source for replacement parts besides ordering directly from Drinkwell, let me know!

 

[tdonline]

We have a Drinkwell Hy-drate filtration system.  It's basically the pump and filter in a kidney-shaped container.  You suction-cup it to any bowl or container.  Many years ago I thought how great it would be to buy a filter/pump without the whole fountain.  I just wanted a simple bowl (stainless steel) that I could easily wash.  I hated the slimy plastic fountains and having to take it apart to wash.  I even took the pump out of the Petco fountain and placed it in a large bowl.  Complete failure as the pump would move about.  That's where the suction cups are crucial.  I also thought about using a fish tank filter/pump but never got around to the DIY project.  So the Hy-drate really is a fulfillment of my dream water fountain system.  And all for about $11.

It's worked well...except my cats do not drink from it.  I'm hoping it's because their main meals are canned and I also add in water.  I did see one cat drink from it once early on.  Likely out of curiosity.  Otherwise the thirst drive just isn't there.  I syringe water into them occasionally as they take miralax and I worry about the water needed for their colons.  I leave the Hy-drate plugged in anyway.  Just in case when I travel and they have days when the sitter doesn't visit twice and they have eat a little extra kibble.  Hopefully they will drink from the Hy-drate bowl in that circumstance.