Cat water fountain recommendations!

kellyt86

Hi all,

I have 4 cats, two of which will only drink running water from the tap and never from bowls! (Despite me witnessing drinking from puddles but still!).

This means that whenever we visit the bathroom we are usually accompanied by one or two cats drinking from the bath or sink respectively!

One of these is long haired and likes to 'wash' his paws in the bowls of water we do place down, splashing it everywhere and making it very dirty with mud and fur!

Previously we have had two different water fountains:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Drinking-Fountain-Food-Bowl/dp/B0006L2LWS

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/cat_fountains/freshflow/80895

However for last couple of years coped with running the water from tap for two and the other one drinking from the bowl (when the contents haven't already been emptied all other the floor).

However we now have 4 cats and feel it might be an idea to try a fountain again!

Problems we had before were that Louis (the long haired beasty) would still splash it everywhere and the water would get dirty very quickly because of his muddy paws and hair. I also found that they were very difficult to clean despite having filters and one of them built up limescale quickly.

I have seen now through zooplus that there are many more types available than when we last bought one some years ago.

However average prices seem around £30-40 which I don't mind paying but want to get it right first time!

So please would welcome any recommendations, especially from anyone that may have had similar issues as me!

Thanks in advance!

spike241

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/cat_fountains/catit/67700

I use this. I don't have an splashers so I don't know if it's any good for those.
I find it very easy to clean though.
You just pull the top bit off and remove the filter to clean. That makes it sound harder than it is

It feels sturdy and mine have never come close to knocking it over.

Haven't had a problem with limescale either.

Battleaxe44

We have a water fountain for our cats, they love it. I don't know if it is the running water but sue beats havining to go upstairs to the bathroom and turning the tap on for Miss F to have drink..she has been a tap drinker since a kitten..

Our fountain is a Petmate, so easy to look after

qwerty79

We have a pet mate but as we live in a hard water area we use bottled water. We have 9 cats. 3 dogs. 2 upstairs bowls 1downstairs bowl a water fountain at raised level and a large garden bowl plus 2 solid paddling pools which the dogs bath and drink in.

the_pink_panther_2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petmate-06039-Cat-Mate-Fountain/dp/B001NYGB8W/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1376814377&sr=1-1&keywords=cat+water+fountains

I had this one. Might be the same as poster #4. Worked well. Don't have long haired cats. One did like to play with the water. There wasn't much splashage but like I say, maybe a long haired one is different. You can take the motor and fliter out and wash in the dishwasher. It did build up limescale but think limescale build up depends on the water in your area and how often it's cleaned. I did find that when once I accidentally let the water level get below the marker which the water level should not get below (so silly on my part) it killed the motor and I had to buy a new one. Having 4 cats I guess you'd have to pay more attention to this as water level would probably drop more quickly. As I've never owned any other kind of cat fountain I don't know if this is a feature of all or most of those available. If limescale is a problem, and you have access to clean rainwater then maybe this would be better? Was thinking as I've seen how some cats love to drink pond water so wondering whether it's a better option- not saying it is, just might be worth looking into.

G-WWBB

We've used two different types, as we too have the same problem with kitties loving taps!

The first was the one you posted from Zooplus: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/cat_fountains/freshflow/80895
It was great at first, but quickly became clogged and would slow the flow down considerably. It was a pain to clean too (I don't know whether this can be washed in the dishwasher) but inside limescale would build up in parts which are just too narrow to reach.

So we ended up ditching that one and invested in this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drinkwell-D2UK-RE-20-Platinum-Fountain/dp/B004ZPARQ8/ref=sr_1_8?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1376820536&sr=1-8&keywords=cat+water+fountains
The kids love this one, as the water flows out of the spout at the top and down on the the slope, they all try to drink from the spout. It's a quiet unit, only noise is from the disturbance of the water when they drink from it. There's a filter covering the motor which catches most fur bits, which is easily removed, quick rinse under the tap and replace. It's easier to clean than the first one too.

As for the tap problem, all are cured bar our one stupid ginger who thinks the tap dripping is just magic! (he is currently licking the windows frames so I didn't expect much from him to be honest...)

Pink Panther, thanks for the link to the one you've used, you've convinced us to buy that one too. The fact it's so easy to clean is a winner!

kellyt86

Thank you very much all!!

spike241 wrote: »

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/cat_fountains/catit/67700

I use this. I don't have an splashers so I don't know if it's any good for those.
I find it very easy to clean though.
You just pull the top bit off and remove the filter to clean. That makes it sound harder than it is

It feels sturdy and mine have never come close to knocking it over.

Haven't had a problem with limescale either.

Thanks Spike I was looking at a similar one:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/cat_fountains/catit/277485

Think it's a new version, it does look easy to clean as no smaller parts.

How often do you find you are replacing the filters? Having 4 beasts I expect to replace them quite often !

kellyt86

Went with this one in the end:
http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/cat-supplies/cat-food/cat-feeders/cat-water-fountain-fresh-and-clear-by-catit-in-blue.html

So far so good! All four beasts have drunk from it, and my splasher has tried to splash it but didn't manage to get it on the floor! So thumbs up so far!

Also only £19 so much cheaper than many if the others :money:

KiKi

I use this one, and it comes HIGHLY recommended. There's no splashing (cats can't get to the water). There are no filters involved. The quality is great, it runs silently, and my cats LOVE it.

It costs a bit more, but then you don't have to pay for filters at all. Got mine from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucky-Kitty-Ceramic-Drinking-Fountain-UK-Plug/dp/B005ELO7FO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376852796&sr=8-1&keywords=lucky+kitty+fountain

EDIT: just seen you've already purchased! Never mind, it might help someone else.

kellyt86

KiKi wrote: »

I use this one, and it comes HIGHLY recommended. There's no splashing (cats can't get to the water). There are no filters involved. The quality is great, it runs silently, and my cats LOVE it.

It costs a bit more, but then you don't have to pay for filters at all. Got mine from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucky-Kitty-Ceramic-Drinking-Fountain-UK-Plug/dp/B005ELO7FO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376852796&sr=8-1&keywords=lucky+kitty+fountain

EDIT: just seen you've already purchased! Never mind, it might help someone else.

Thanks anyway :-)

I was seriously considering this one, I saw it on zooplus.
It does look very good, but thought it was a bit steep at £50, thought I'd try the £19 one for now... See how I get on