[Leivies_Lavish_Cat_Lounge]

Ok so shopping around for a water fountain for my cats (someone recommended this to help them drink more). From what Ive seen there are 3 choices; plastic, ceramic, and stainless steel. I assume plastic is the worst because of bacteria? Kinda leaning towards ceramic at this point because (silly) it comes in black lol. Unless of course there is a real good reason why steel is better than ceramic? I wonder how easy they break with a 2 year old around?

 

[scottd]

Make sure the ceramic is safe. I know there were some pet bowls that were made in China full of bad stuff.

I would go for stainless steel. A 2 year old can't break steel. It's also a lot easier to clean and you don't have to worry about bacteria.

 

[Victoriax]

my cat's have had a plastic cat mate water fountain for 3 year's & I have just ordered the Pioneer raindrop stainless steel fountain to replace it.

the plastic one has been very good & reliable for the whole 3 year's but it has discolored slightly over time & has some surface scratches from cleaning etc. which I do worry about bacteria growing in as these are the most discolored part's of the fountain which I cannot get back to white anymore even with bleach.

I think stainless steel is probably the most hygienic option as Scott mentioned you can never be sure that ceramic does not have any contaminant's in it.

just hope my kitty's like their new fountain, I think I will keep the plastic one running with the new one to make sure my kitty's are drinking '-)

 

[BrnTabbyLvr]

The ceramic is pretty, but very breakable. One drop on the kitchen floor during a wash, and it's likely shattered. I have the Pioneer Big Max Stainless Steel. Love it. I didn't realize how huge it would be but since you have 5 kitties, it'll be good. It holds about 100 oz or so of water, and I have to refill using a 32 oz bottle about every 2 days or so for my two kitties. They love it! It is VERY easy to clean and assemble and is virtually silent as long as it has enough water in it. I clean mine on Saturdays or Sundays and the entire process takes about 10-15 minutes (dumping, cleaning, and refilling.) Filters are reasonable and can be found online for pretty cheap. Oh, and I would recommend shopping online for the fountain rather than going big box store. You'll save lots of money. So yeah... I totally recommend the Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel. I'd say the Raindrop one would be good too, you'd just have to refill more often. Hope this helps.

 

[LakotaWolf]

I use one of these in my garage:

Glacier Point Perfect Pet Fountain™ - The Pet Fountain Solution by Sierra BioScience

And I use a stainless-steel one in the backyard.

:}

 

[Pandoragem]

I have a Pioneer stainless steel fountain and am very happy with it. The pump is tiny but completely disassembles for cleaning.

 

[kty78]

I have been looking at the Drinkwell fountains on Amazon. I keep 2 large ceramic bowls of water out for the cats and change it at least once, usually twice a day but my concern is when we go away for a few days, even though I have someone to come and feed them and I ask them to change the water daily, I'm guessing that they probably just look to see if there is water and leave the same water. The fountains filter the water and keep it moving so it doesn't get stagnant. There are several different drinkwell models, some with larger reservoirs to hold more, which you might need for 4 cats. I was thinking of the platinum.

 

[BrnTabbyLvr]

I almost got the Platinum 360 one myself... decided on the Pioneer Big Max because of the reviews saying how easy and fast it was to clean. I'm sure the Drinkwell one would be great too!

 

[Leivies_Lavish_Cat_Lounge]

The ceramic is pretty, but very breakable. One drop on the kitchen floor during a wash, and it's likely shattered. I have the Pioneer Big Max Stainless Steel. Love it. I didn't realize how huge it would be but since you have 5 kitties, it'll be good. It holds about 100 oz or so of water, and I have to refill using a 32 oz bottle about every 2 days or so for my two kitties. They love it! It is VERY easy to clean and assemble and is virtually silent as long as it has enough water in it. I clean mine on Saturdays or Sundays and the entire process takes about 10-15 minutes (dumping, cleaning, and refilling.) Filters are reasonable and can be found online for pretty cheap. Oh, and I would recommend shopping online for the fountain rather than going big box store. You'll save lots of money. So yeah... I totally recommend the Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel. I'd say the Raindrop one would be good too, you'd just have to refill more often. Hope this helps.

I will look into the big 100 oz ones... I found a regular sized one on ebay for less than 40 including s&h cheaper than walmart.

Thanks for all the input I wish steel came in black lol Most everything in the house is black or tan with the exception of the bathroom which is black and purple

 

[matacks]

I have the petmate freshflow fountain.

My cats really like it although it requires maintenance to keep going. It really needs to be thoroughly washed about every four days and filled with fresh water. It does have a charcoal filter that keeps the water good longer than a regular water dish but you cant let it go for a week because it gets all slimy.

I have heard some people rave about the drinkwell water fountains.

The one I have is likely made from and older plastic that probably contains BPA but I'm not gonna get over worried about that. I still drink from plastic cups containing BPA although theres a new trend of plastic products with BPA free labels on them. I think it is a bigger deal concerning plastics that contain hot fluids like coffee cups.

 

[scottd]

I ended up getting the Drinkwell Platinum fountain from one of the vendors on here. $35 shipped for it. I couldn't pass it up. It's plastic but it's BPA-free and I'll be sure to clean it every few days with cat-safe antibacterial soap.

 

[matacks]

^ wow, that's nice that they thought of making it from BPA free plastic. If I ever upgrade from the freshflow fountain I'll likely pick up that model. Looks good.

 

[Penguin_Dreams]

I know you're asking about water fountains, but if you're primary goal is to get them to drink more, put multiple water sources around the areas they like to hang out and not just by their food bowl. It seems obvious to humans to have food and water next to each other and it's so convenient because there's a faucet right there in the kitchen with the food, but cats prefer water that's not near their food. There's probably a reason for that but I don't what it is. I just know it works.

 

[scottd]

I know you're asking about water fountains, but if you're primary goal is to get them to drink more, put multiple water sources around the areas they like to hang out and not just by their food bowl. It seems obvious to humans to have food and water next to each other and it's so convenient because there's a faucet right there in the kitchen with the food, but cats prefer water that's not near their food. There's probably a reason for that but I don't what it is. I just know it works.

What you say is true. We have 3 bowls throughout the house and I'm guilty of leaving the bathroom sink on a slow stream for Tina. Her food is kept on a table because the dogs will eat it otherwise. I have noticed they all drink more with more bowls.

 

[Penguin_Dreams]

I would totally leave the tap on for my boy if I thought he'd actually drink from it (at least until the first water bill came in). He looks interested but he's reluctant to get any stray drops on his face or paws.

My two had a plastic Drinkwell thing when I first got them and it required some fairly frequent disassembling to clean the whole thing and get the gunk build-up out. Then they changed the shape of the filters, the motor stopped working so well, and I gave up on it. They loved it while it was working but it does take a bit of maintenance. I hope your Tina enjoys it.

 

[Malaika219]

I have the Pioneer Big Max for my 3 cats.
I love it because it keeps the water fresh and cold. All 3 can fit their heads in at the same time (no fighting for the water).

It does require regular cleaning or it gets slimy (as above posters have mentioned).

I didn't want a plastic one. I don't eat/drink out of plastic and I was concerned about the ceramic containing lead. At least the stainless is easy to clean and sanitize.

 

[Victoriax]

Pioneer raindrop pet fountain

I received my kitty's new stainless steel Pioneer raindrop fountain last week, I set it all up, turned it on & was dissapointed that it was soooo loud, I had read reviews before buying & had seen several comment's saying that this fountain is almost silent but that is definitely NOT the case with the one we have.

it is the top part that is vibrating aginst the basin that is causing the noise so I have put some lil plastic feet on the bottom of the top part wich fixed the problem & the fountain is indeed nor almost silent

other than needing to do the lil modification I love this fountain it look's good & hold's a decent amount of water plus my klitty's took to it straight away which is the most important thing

 

[Malaika219]

Great that yours took to it immediately. Mine? Not so much. They were fine with it not running, but once I turned it on all bets were off. They walked around it staring, gingerly placed paws in it, gave some toys a bath. It took about 4 days before they were indifferent.