Cat water fountains

My cat wouldn't drink out of a water bowl and didn't like the water fountain. He used to like taking a drink from a glass of water I had got for myself so I used to leave glasses of water around for him.

My rescue cat refused to drink from the water fountain I bought her but drank from any glass of water left around so I gave her her own half pint glass.

Ours wouldn’t drink from his! So we gave it to a friend for their cats who use it just fine. When we had our last cat who wasn’t great at drinking, the vet advised us to not put the water bowl near the food bowl and this worked for that cat. Current cat drinks from his water bowl near the food bowl.

Meant to say as well, it's really easy to set up, keep the water topped up, change the water every 2 weeks, strip down, clean and change the filter every 4 weeks. Not at all complicated or else I would be tearing my hair out as I'm easily confused these days

Here's the one I got my girls kittylester from Amazon:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G2SC8L2H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1&tag=gransnetforum-21
For two reasons, their water bowls always looked full as if they weren't drinking from them, and the unusually hot summers. Betty took to it right away, took a while for Tillie though bless her.
I hope your lil one recovers well and you find the right water path for them

I haven’t read the thread, so sorry if I’m repeating. I am very careful to ensure my little cat gets as much fluid as I can get into her. So she has bowls of water in every room in the house plus a water fountain, which she definitely prefers. If I think she isn’t drinking enough I add a teaspoon or so to her wet food the make extra gravy. She likes that.

I also keep her water away from her feeding station and of course her litter tray. Apparently cats won’t drink from water near their food in the wild because of contamination.

So many cats seem to suffer from kidney disease. So I’m doing what I can to avoid this.

Have glanced at this thread a few times thinking it said ‘car water fountains’ imagining cars are becoming so big they now have water features 🫣

Ours had a Cat Mate fountain, bought on the advice of our vet when one of them showed symptoms of early kidney problems. We were really surprised that all three used it from day one. Until then they’d just ignored the clean water put out in bowls for them every day, and only drank out of puddles, seemingly the muddier the better. The Cat Mate was cheap enough and easy to clean. Its filters had to be changed regularly, but that was no big deal. I hope you find something that suits your cat, Kitty. They’re such contrary critters, aren’t they?

My cats won’t drink from a water dish in the back hallway where they are fed, but are entirely happy to drink from the dogs’ ceramic water bowls upstairs and downstairs, and from the various bird baths around the garden.

My sons cats have always had one, they use it fine.
My two cats, one like to drink from the bathroom tap and the other from the Plant saucers under the plants. I can win on this..
So in hot summers we leave bowls of water around the garden for the cats and other animals who fancy a drink.
The fresh water I always put out never touched! And it's away from their food.
So might be worth a go? Good luck

What a groovy idea. Never heard of this before But obviously good for cat health to filter out bacteria etc.

But be careful. One of my old cats. A very funny and naughty black and white,, would've used it as a play thing and had his mates round.

Hope your cat gets better soon.
👍😻💐
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kittylester

We had a huge vet bill last week because our cat was dehydrated following the hot weather. The vet suggested trying a water fountain to encourage her to drink.

I looked on the long river company yesterday and was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number and options available.

Please can someone give me some advice. TIA.

Have you tried collected rain water for the cat? All our pets have preferred "natural" water, to tap water.

CatCrone Far too expensive!

I read a report which said only use stainless steel cat fountains as plastic ones harbour germs. My cat will only drink dirty water such as rainfall that collects in flower pot saucers or from next door's bird bath. Bowls are ignored completely and he rarely drinks from the tap any more. I despair of his contrariness.

My cat used to jump in the kitchen sink and drink out the tap when she didn’t use her bowl

I doubt mine would drink from a fountain, as they prefer a bowl of water outside the back door to the one that is changed daily indoors, so I gather that rainwater is better than tap water.

I am very sure they would play happily with the water from a fountain and probably soak everything around it.

Left a tap gently dripping and the cat found it and loved it

forgot to say I also add water to his morning meal with his 2 meds added. it's like chicken soup which i make myself. This is to make sure he gets his meds.

I've had big vet bills too for similar reasons kittylester. A couple of years ago, my then 16 year old boy got a blocked urethra. So he had a catheter and an overnight stay, but managed to remove the catheter himself despite the 'flowerpot' and i was just called to collect him.

On Vet's advice I stopped leaving him bowls of dried catfood and only give him a few now and again. He wolfs them down like he was starved!

I haven't tried a cat fountain as he is really fickle about using anything I've bought ie cat beds, cat igloos I think it would just be a waste of money. His water of choice is outdoors , bird bath, puddles etc although I have spotted him very occasionally, using the water bowl I leave out for him in the bathroom. I too have read that cats don't like water near their food and prefer a water bowl with a wide surface area..

I think the reason my ginger now uses the waterbowl indoors is because he is becoming less and less mobile with joint issues and going outdoors a lot less. He's been on Loxicom for years for this issue but his front shoulders are both now visibly affected.

My DD's 2 house cats, Siamese, both use a ceramic water fountain. It's a ceramic one and I can't say I particularly notice the noise from it when I visit.

My cat has water available all the time - she never drinks it! I resort to putting it on her food. Wet meat , cat biscuits and a good slug of water , she wolfs it down .
Its the only way she she takes water in the house . Although I have caught her drinking out of the loo! She will also lap at puddles. They are very fussy and curious creatures!

Lots of funny answers - yes, cats may well do something different!

We collect rainwater in several butts, so usually (they ran out THIS summer!) we can put new water in the several bowls we have available.

Our present treasure likes to drink outside, has we've spotted drunk from the pond as well, also the water in trays under plant pots!

My daughters cats like to drink from a glass.

*typo.even though.🙂

He liked those,even those hes a bit particular with his normal food.

Our old boy likes to drink from outside water,(rains a lot here in the North😁) he used to use an old cleaned out takeaway plastic container, but then i bought a washing up bowl that wasnt deep enough for sink,so i put it outside,& by chance he spotted the rainwater had gathered in it,so he makes a point of drinking from that everyday.We have got him an inside water bottle,but since moving i dont think he likes the taste of the tap water.The bottle is similiar to the ones in offices etc but smaller (you know the upside down big water bottles?) But it lets down into a type of dish/holder,so its constantly filling as he laps the water,But as i said he wont use it as much with new water supply(i think its very chlorine-tasting here)He did love it at old house.They've probably got them on amazon or somewhere.Trouble with leaving taps running is it can be costly i imagine if you have a water meter,or wasteful of water resources anyway if you havent.Our cat has never liked it from tap anyway.Have you tried your cat with the specialised cat milk,or the Hydralife cat drinks or cat soups that are available now? Hydralife in particular is very good to help quench their thirst, i got my cat some in hot weather just so he was drinking enough when indoors.