Cat water fountains
 

I have been thinking about buying an electric water fountain for my cat Maggie. She hasn't been drinking as much as she did when I was giving her cat milk too often. There are many of these on the market. Could you recommend a really good quality one ? Thanks, Laurie

I used one for about 8 months then gave up, cleaning the filter was a pain and it was hard to clean down inside some of the smaller spots, and I knew there was slimy guck in there but couldn't get at it. The water pump got all gross and it's impossible to clean inside of it. In the end I gave it to the Goodwill. The one I bought was from Canadian Tire, here it is: [url]http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443280013&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672759&bmUID=1207255420659&deptid=1408474396672676&ctgrid=1408474396672684&subctgrid=1408474396672759[/url]

I don't think I'd ever use one again unless they could make it out of metal or glass and make it way easier to clean. But I'm a freak when it comes to clean.

Thanks Stacer. I have a huge water fountain hanging on my diningroom wall. It is at present empty and holding dried lavender, for all the reasons you mentioned in your post. It was almost impossible to clean. Thanks for making me THINK. Laurie and the Fountainless Maggie.

Hi Laurie,

I used to have a Petmate Fresh Flow fountain, and it was indeed a pain in the butt to clean. Not impossible, you could disassemble the pump and get in all the nooks and crannies, but it took forever if you wanted to do a thorough job. And only 1 of my 2 cats at the time drank out of it, so I had to leave dishes down anyway. I ended up donating to a local shelter.

Also, since you're feeding Maggie canned food, she may not actually need to drink that much more water. My cat hasn't touched his water dish AT ALL in over 2 years, since I took away all the dry food. And he's diabetic! Yet I still faithfully put fresh water down for him twice a day, just in case :rolleyes:. Here's some info on feline water requirements from [url=http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm]Max's House[/url]:

[QUOTE]The cat has evolved to obtain her water requirements almost entirely on the moisture content in her food - inherited from her desert-dwelling ancestors. Cats can live for long periods without drinking water when receiving food containing 67-73% water but become dehydrated when the water content of the food is 63% or less. Canned diets contain enough water that cats consuming them rarely need to drink. ....... [B]Feeding a canned diet containing 78% moisture virtually guarantees homeostatic control of water balance in the cat.[/B][/QUOTE]

You could always add an extra tsp or 2 of water to her canned food if you want to be sure she's well hydrated.

I've also got one of those Fresh Flow fountains - a pain to clean, and now, with my kitties on wet food, they don't drink from it, as sugarcatmom stated.
I haven't actually seen them drink from it at all since they've been on the wet, but I keep it out there for them anyway.

I'd save your money, if I were you - if they are eating canned, a bowl of fresh water would be suffice - because Maggie probably won't drink out of it anyway :laughing: :rolleyes:

:laughing: to present the "other side" :D
I have a PetMate Fresh Flow Deluxe Fountain for Duffy (kidney failure, drinks a good amount of water, eating raw with extra water added [from stainless steel bowls]), all her life she had a regular stainless steel bowl for water (sharing w/a couple of dogs even, yum yum :dog: slobber :D).

Then she pretty much stopped drinking water, the vet techs kept mentioning "she's slightly dehydrated", shortly after she was diagnosed w/CRF so I got the fountain hoping she'd drink more. She is. :thumbs up (Of course it did sit there running for a month before she started to drink out of it :rolleyes:)

I don't find the filter troublesome to change or the whole thing a pain to wash :shrug:

I just wish they'd make it in stainless steel cuz I am not fond of plastic bowls for animals, but since she has always eaten/drank from the far side of the any/all bowls she doesn't actually touch any of the plastic while drinking :D.

o would love to have one that actually looks nice but all the ones i see are robotic looking i wish some one would make one that looks attractive and souns nice like the watrefall ones you can get for entertainment

and yeah isf you feed wet foood exclusivly healthy cats will get must of thier water from that

I've had two different kinds. One was a pain to clean. It was also a little loud and I think they were afraid to go too near it. Another I recently got from a friend who saw it discounted at Petco, it's like a dome. That one is also a pain to clean, but I tried it out and none of my 4 drank from it.

I put two large bowls of water for them out every morning. They only drink now and then. The one that drinks the most water is Vlad, but he does it from the faucet and I have a feeling he just likes the feel of running water on his tongue. I've never seen him drink from the bowl, but as soon as I turn on the faucet, he's there!

If you want a fountain for your girl, try looking on ebay, or in the clearance isle. I say this only because some of them are expensive and I'd hate to see anyone waste money like that if it's not going to be used.

Mine often get a little water over their canned food (for me, not for them :D ) and they will go drink from the dogs' slobber-water bowls rather than their own, so I removed thir water dish, it was just collecting dust anyway. I also give them milk, but they wait for it to turn to cheese before eating it :yuck: so I might as well just give them yogurt!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this. Keeping these units clean and free of bacteria especially with the plastic assembly is a concern to me. Adding 2 T. of water to her food was a simple solution . Laurie

I have one by drinkwell, it's the platinum model because i have several pets drinking out of it i needed a decent size with extra water storage.

It's been great, i admit at first some of the cats thought it was some horrible object i brought out to torture them :crazy: but they soon got over it and all readily drink from it, including the dogs.

It is a bit of a pest to take apart and clean but it's worth the hassle imo.

oh, i got mine at petsmart.

We have one exactly like the posted at Canadian Tire. Both the wife and I have found it fairly easy to clean. The pump pops apart easily and the impeller comes out to be cleaned. I have kept many aquariums over time. It is just as easy to clean as any aquarium filter.

Our cats and dog use it with no problems at all. We had the domed one at one point and found it to be a hassle. The pump was under powered and getting the water to flow over the dome consistantly was a headache.

Bill

Mine gets even more water with the canned. She eats such tiny amounts at a time, I have to put water in the dish to keep it moist, and she 'drinks' a ton at each feeding of the canned.:thumbs up

For the next day's portion that was refrigerated, I put water in it and microwave it for 10 seconds. This creates kind of a broth with the canned food. Again, even more water so she doesn't need to drink from anywhere after that.

She has filtered water she will drink from a dish after eating dry. I have the fountain, but she doesn't see to like it anymore than the dish, and I worry about the cleanliness aspect as well.

Actually, I can't tell when the filter is too dirty - it looks the same as when I installed it? But I am a clean freak too, so I worry regardless.