[Angela_Grace]

For Christmas, I thought it'd be nice to give Pierre a water fountain and switch it out with the one that refills itself after it goes below a certain level. (No batteries required, just gravity.) I thought he'd like it since he was constantly moving his old one around just to see it bubble. WRONG!
I don't think he likes it. He was afraid of it in the beginning (as I figured) but I haven't actually seen him drink water out of it. I KNOW he's played with it because he's taken out the little spinner thingy and I've had to put it back in. I've only ever seen him paw at the water and it's worrying me.

Does anyone else have one of these water fountain types? How does/did your cat react to it? What would you recommend to me to get him to drink out of it?

I'm really debating on putting another water bowl somewhere else in the house just to ensure that he will be drinking enough water, but at the same time I don't want him to weasel out of it and only go to the "regular" water bowl.

Perhaps I just went a little too far for my cat and maybe cats don't even like those things. I don't know!

 

[Alpaca]

I figured water fountains are more trouble than they're worth so I don't use one. I'm guessing at least one of mine will just play with it rather than drink from it too.

However, I do provide two water bowls for them, add water to their wet food and have them on 1/2 raw diet.

 

[RachandNito]

My pet fountain gave my cats chin acne and it progressed into a horrid infection until I pinpointed the source of the fountain. If its made of plastic I am offering this to you as a word of caution. Since I figured out the source of my cats' problems, the infections have subsided. And since then I have encountered 3 other people whose cats have also gotten chin acne from their plastic fountains.

I will never buy another. That's not saying that all cats will have a reaction and that fountains aren't a great way to encourage your cats to drink more. My cats LOVED their fountain. It was a shame it had to be taken away

 

[littlesushi]

we have two pet fountains and i never see our cats use them. they are on an wet/raw diet, so i've read that they might never drink water, but i have put out a bowl in case they get thirsty and they seem to go for the bowl every time if they do want a drink. O_O

 

[kwarendorf]

I have the fountain shown below. Both of my guys drink from it all the time and don;t seem interested in it as a toy. I have to fill the reservoir every 24-36 hours. On the other hand, my GF's cats won't go near fountains. They prefer to drink out of a big drinking glass. Go figure

 

[reando]

I have a Drinkwell fountain that my cats love. I fill it twice a day. Almost like they are drinking from a faucet.

 

[Angela_Grace]

I have the fountain shown below. Both of my guys drink from it all the time and don;t seem interested in it as a toy. I have to fill the reservoir every 24-36 hours. On the other hand, my GF's cats won't go near fountains. They prefer to drink out of a big drinking glass. Go figure

So it seems that it just depends on the cat I suppose. I think I'm going to set out another little bowl for him whenever I'm home. When I'm not home, I turn off his fountain (because I'm paranoid he'll bite through the wire or something) and I have faith that he drinks from it whenever it's off anyway.

Man, I guess it's true what they say - cat owners are slaves to their cats! Hahah!

 

[doodlebug]

I don't know how big that fountain is, but it looks like a pretty confined space for the cat to stick his head in. He may not like the closed in feeling.

 

[Angela_Grace]

Doodlebug, I thought the same thing and was worried he'd never take to it.

And to everyone that responded, I have a great update! I JUST witnessed Pierre drinking from his fountain! I was so excited that I interrupted his drinking and picked him up to give him a big hug. Ha!

I should also mention that the fountain was ON and in full swing.