My kittens prefer drinking out of bowls over drinkwell fountain

[Cooper's mom]

Well it arrived, I got the Pioneer Pet teardrop ceramic fountain. It set up easy, it's beautiful, Cooper checked it out but didn't drink from it. I have it in my bathroom, but I think I'll have to unplug it at night as I'm a horribly light sleeper.

[NRD]

I have a variation of this issue. When I first got the Drinkwell a year ago, my guys were at first curious and standoffish, but within a few days two of them started drinking from the fountain with some regularity. Hersh even liked licking at the little stream as it came out. After a couple of months, though, they started using it less and less and preferred the bowls I have around for them. Finally, they stopped using it altogether. Yes, I change the water regularly, clean and scrub, etc., tried leaving it off for days and then turning it back on. Nothing has worked.

I am resigned to their not liking it. They get plenty to drink anyway, though. Like Marie, I make soup for them two times a day with their wet food. In addition, Little Hersh and Hersh both looove to lap the warm--yes, warm--water I run in the bowl I use to eat pasta with dinner many evenings. I put olive oil on the pasta, some is left in the bottom of the bowl, and when I go to rinse it out, I first fill it with water. They are all over it, lapping away. I know they love the taste of olive oil, since they lick the outside of the olive oil bottles. I figure this is good for them, it's 98 percent water and maybe 2 percent olive oil, which isn't bad for them. Hmm, maybe if I added a bit of olive oil to the Drinkwell....

[princessbear]

Originally Posted by Lineth

Danna drinks from a foam cup I bought her water fountains, bowls you name it I bought it but she never liked them. At night I always take a cup of water for me because I like to drink water before I go to bed. Well, I started noticing stuff on my cup and thought "wow, I need to dust this place because dirt keeps getting to my water." I just cleaned the water and drank from those cups until one day I woke up to go the restroom and caught Danna drinking from my water cup ewwwwwwwwwwwwww it was then I realized it wasn't dirt, but most likely Danna left stuff in the water when she drank from cup everyday...nasty I know. Well, now I still take my cup of water but I put a lid for mine, and leave an open cup of water for Danna. She drinks from it everyday...Man I still can believe I was drinking water out of the same cup as Danna who knows for how long she was drinking and I didn't find out until I saw her that night that I woke up ewwwwwwwwwwww....m ilk

I had the same experience with my Princess - I was suffering from a cold/cough about 5 years after she came to live with me and left a short glass of water on the night stand for when I woke up coughing - I woke up one morning and there she was drinking out of the glass. Ever since then, she refused to drink out of her water bowl. I tried bringing a bowl up on the nightstand - nope. I tried putting water in a glass and leaving it downstairs where her bowl used to be - nope. Only near the end of her precious life did she start drinking out of an additional glass downstairs on the coffee table... Drinking out of a glass was one of her quirks and I just loved it.

My new girls did not like the pet fountain I bought them - I have two bowls of water for them - upstairs and downstairs. BOTH of them (mom and daughter) drink from the far edge of the bowl, spilling water over the side as they drink, so I put the bowl on a small plate to catch the spills.

[paulw]

I had the catit fountain is was too loud, I went back to a water dish, I empty and clean it every day, I keep a brita pitcher in the fridge for clean water. I have seen those stainless Steele fountains that look good, but they are pricy and knowing my cat she won't use it anyway.

Also rosie will only drink water alone, soon as she sees me she stops, strange

[Cooper's mom]

Well, my daughter reported she saw Cooper drink heavily from the fountain. Yea!

[cooncatbob]

Originally Posted by paulw

I had the catit fountain is was too loud, I went back to a water dish, I empty and clean it every day, I keep a brita pitcher in the fridge for clean water. I have seen those stainless Steele fountains that look good, but they are pricy and knowing my cat she won't use it anyway.

Also rosie will only drink water alone, soon as she sees me she stops, strange

I change my cat's water with water from the Brita pitcher I keep in the fridge too.
Chiquita drinks the same water I drink, she also likes drinking from a glass so I keep a half full Lexon glass on the coffee table for her.

[Cooper's mom]

I'm happy to report that new kitten Jackson really likes the fountain, he drank from the still pool and from the bubbler part. At least I know this wasn't a wasted purchase.

[Lineth]

Originally Posted by princessbear

I had the same experience with my Princess - I was suffering from a cold/cough about 5 years after she came to live with me and left a short glass of water on the night stand for when I woke up coughing - I woke up one morning and there she was drinking out of the glass. Ever since then, she refused to drink out of her water bowl. I tried bringing a bowl up on the nightstand - nope. I tried putting water in a glass and leaving it downstairs where her bowl used to be - nope. Only near the end of her precious life did she start drinking out of an additional glass downstairs on the coffee table... Drinking out of a glass was one of her quirks and I just loved it.

My new girls did not like the pet fountain I bought them - I have two bowls of water for them - upstairs and downstairs. BOTH of them (mom and daughter) drink from the far edge of the bowl, spilling water over the side as they drink, so I put the bowl on a small plate to catch the spills.

Awwwwwwwww cats they do funny stuff, but it was not fun for me when I was drinking water with stuff that she left in it...but I thought is was dirt who knows for how long she was doing that lol....It is a show watching her drink from a cup. She won't drink from nothing else but a cup...

[princessbear]

Originally Posted by Lineth

Awwwwwwwww cats they do funny stuff, but it was not fun for me when I was drinking water with stuff that she left in it...but I thought is was dirt who knows for how long she was doing that lol....It is a show watching her drink from a cup. She won't drink from nothing else but a cup...

Luckily, I caught her before I drank from it. She was sooo funny ... she would paw at the water first, then lick her paws - she would do that about half a dozen times - then she would drink directly from the glass. When I went away and my friend came twice a day to feed her and keep her company, I would leave two glasses out (she had early stage kidney disease and drank alot of water) and she would only drink from the one on the left (guess she was a lefty).