[silvio]

We have two cats, Shaza and Casper and while Shaza happily drinks from her bowl and eats what we give her (which at the moment is a veterinary diet due toher skin conditions), Casper is a fussy eater and drinker. We have to change brand and type food every so often otherwise he sniffs at it and give it a cvold shoulder. He also drinks from the tap/faucet of either the kitchen or the bathroom sink.

We decided to invest in a cat fountain and after a lot of review reading and research settled on the Catmate Drinkwell Platinum that can hold ariund 5 litres of water.

I was very excited about this and prepared my camera to film the occasion of Casper reaching for the new fountain to test it. I was amazed that after a good sniff and a thorough look-over he ignored it!

I was a little taken aback. I had put the flow on the lowest as he does not like it when the tap is running a thick flow. He literally jumped away from it.

Then when Shaza came to drink she was also completely dazed by it but lowered her back to the ground and left. She was afraid of the new fountain.

We have now put her water bowl near the fountain and stood patting her on her back until she drank. With time she may accept it. But Casper is a different story. He now resorts to drink form Shaza's bowl. Imagine, in his 6 years this is an occasion as he has been drinking from the taps since he was around 7/8 months and could jump to the kitchen top.

Does anyone have a few training tips we can try to ease their "fear" of the fountain? I think the motor hum although whisper quite, is putting them off a little.

 

[maggie23]

mine is a tale of woe unfortunately so even though i don't have any advice, thought i'd let you know i was unsuccessful with the water fountains, too. :dis

our first kitty loved drinking out of the bathtub faucet as well so we thought she'd love the fountain. we also thought it would be more convenient than getting up and turning the faucet on and off every time she waited at the bathroom door! but alas. she did not take to the fountain at all and it was a pain in the ___ for us to clean all the time, too.

our 2nd and current cat didn't like them either. so, instead we just change her bowls of water everyday. she really likes drinking out of the bowls actually.

we decided to scrap the fountains (we tried 2 different kinds) and give them to the humane society for someone else to try. i also decided i didn't like them anyway as there were too many nooks and crannies and corners that i found too hard to clean and i worried about slime and giardia. fresh washed water bowls everyday are not an inconvenience for me and i feel it's a lot safer for my cat's health in my case.

if you're going to keep at it, i wish you luck. i know lots of people love them. just didn't work for me.

 

[GhostTown]

I had the same problem with the one I bought. $50 bucks down the "my cat hats it" hole of doom.

 

[kittywitty]

I've had cat mate and pet mate fountains and neither of my two cats drink from them. My previous cats did but that was when I fed them dry food so they needed the water. My current cats only eat high quality canned food and do not drink water at all. However, I always keep a fresh bowl of water just in case...

 

[rascaljade]

I bought the Pioneer Pet stainless steel fountain (the smaller version of the two, with a ramp for the water.) It doesn't really make any noise, but all 6 of my cats use it through-out the day. I'm very happy with my purchase! Even Isabella, who came to me at 6, having never seen a fountain before, dove right in, so to speak. Different models have positives and negatives. This is definitely a great fountain, IMO!

 

[Victoriax]

my cat's have a petmate fountain & they all use it well, but as they have had the fountain since kittenhood they don't know any different, if on a very hot day I place water bowls around the house the just sniff at them & will occassionally have a lil drink from them

Kittywitty you say that your cat's do not drink ANY water at all??? my cat's are on a high quality grain freed canned diet but they still drink water, is it OK for cat's to ot drink any water at all???

I like the petmate fountain as it has a replaceable carbon filter but even so I still clean it every day & replace with fresh filtered water from the fridge x

 

[spotty cats]

Perhaps he'll adjust in time.

All our fountains get used and have right from the start.

 

[BurmBlue]

I have the Catit Drinking Fountain. Rocket loves it.
It has a dome where the wates flows down and then into another section next to it.
He always drinks on the dome part. So cute!

 

[dweamgoil]

I had a few before I simply gave up. I feed raw so it's not a huge issue with hydration. Now, they drink out of a regular bowl when it gets really hot.

 

[hoofmaiden]

Keep in mind that cats are not SUPPOSED to drink a lot of water. Descended from desert cats, they have a low thirst drive and are set up to get the great majority of their moisture from their FOOD. This is one reason why feeding dry food is such a very bad idea. Feed raw or canned food (while providing clean water at all times) and you won't have to worry about your cats getting enough water--they will be getting it as nature intended, from their food. And no need to buy expensive water fountains!

More on this here:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health

Feline Nutrition

Edited to add that I would worry if I saw my cats drinking much water.

 

[goombella]

Mine take our catit fountain apart, so I don't use it. They take the lid off, pull out the filter and dump the water all over the floor while it was still plugged in. Did anybody else have this happen with their cats? They rarely drank from it anyway.

 

[kty78]

I wanted to get a fountain at first because my cats didn't drink out of the plastic bowl set that their previous owner sent with them. I read a lot of reviews and did see some where cats had taken them apart. I could see Ollie doing that, he knocks the top off the litter box, and can open the lid on rubbermaid tubs. I just use a large ceramic crock and they drink out of it.

 

[Jacq]

Someone on the forums posted some beautiful (but really expensive) ceramic cat fountains, that you can customize by size, colour, and glaze. I looked at them wistfully for a few days before realizing there's no way to justify like $200 on a water dish.

Since it's gotten so hot here (35 C... internet says that's 95 F), and we aren't able to open our balconey doors with the constructions, I've been putting some ice cubes in her regular (tiny, stainless steel) water dish. She drinks lots more since it's gotten hot, probably more to cool off then actually being thirsty.

 

[kty78]

Someone on the forums posted some beautiful (but really expensive) ceramic cat fountains, that you can customize by size, colour, and glaze. I looked at them wistfully for a few days before realizing there's no way to justify like $200 on a water dish.

Since it's gotten so hot here (35 C... internet says that's 95 F), and we aren't able to open our balconey doors with the constructions, I've been putting some ice cubes in her regular (tiny, stainless steel) water dish. She drinks lots more since it's gotten hot, probably more to cool off then actually being thirsty.

I want one of those fancy fountains too. Too expensive, though. I saw some on etsy.

 

[Galathiel]

I toyed with the idea of a fountain. However, I imagine the only one that would drink from it would be my dog. I never see Sienna drinking from the bowl. She comes over to watch it swirl a bit when I set it down after refilling (I use a large low sided ceramic dog bowl for water). I do add about a tablespoon of water to her canned for each meal and she doesn't seem to want/need more. And believe me .. it's hot enough outside! it has gotten up to 102 so far this year. Thank goodness for A/C!

 

[GhostTown]

Weather wise, it always seems like the Northwest is on a different planet than the rest of the contiguous country. 44 or 45 states will be boiling in heat, freezing cold, or anywhere in between...... Idaho, Washington, Western Montana , and Oregon are completely opposite.

I'm with the others in that I think my cats don't care about the fountain due to their wet food diet.