52 replies to this topic

[sums]

is there a better brand than others? a good place to buy?

[TEO]

I purchased a Drinkwell brand Original model from Amazon after reading customer reviews - several years ago.
Works good, has filters that require periodic changing, not difficult, but an ongoing small expense.

[TEO]

Note: the model I purchased has an approx 50 oz reservoir.

Edited by TEO, 21 January 2011 - 07:04 PM.

[georgi]

I heard they get very dirty quick, though. Can anybody confirm/deny this?

I always wanted to get one for Tuna. He loves sitting on the counter in the bathroom when I am getting ready for work in the morning. He is just waiting with anticipation for me to brush my teeth and turn the sink on.

[TEO]

A once every month or two thorough cleaning would probably be about right, based on a friend with two cats.

[sums]

so amazon has the drinkwell plus the filters plus the little cleaning kit. is the cleaning kit necessary? or can i just use a toothbrush and a scrubbie sponge?

[TEO]

so amazon has the drinkwell plus the filters plus the little cleaning kit. is the cleaning kit necessary? or can i just use a toothbrush and a scrubbie sponge?

Cleaning kit is convenient, I'd probably opt for a bottle brush kinda thing over a tooth brush, but I'm not fond of cleaning.

[sums]

it's not that expensive, like 7 or 8 bucks. i don't have a bottle brush so i might spring for it.

(i was just listing cleaning supplies i do have )

[Janine H]

Has anyone tried this yet? Pros, cons?
I know its a bit more pricey than other products but they way they explain it, it lasts twice as long as others and is better for the environment.

http://i14.photobuck...ms/a343/j9ddcny
/desertssands.jpg

http://www.desertssand.com/

They sell it at my local grocery store. Think I'm gonna try it.

[Janine H]

Oops, that was supposed to be a new thread

And the picture didnt work:rolleyes:

[TEO]

Haven't seen it yet, would try.

[seany]

I've used a Petmate Fresh Flow for years.
http://www.amazon.co...95658393&sr=8-8

The cats definitely drink more with it than from a bowl. I prefer this to the Drinkwell (which I tried first) because the Petmate water flows down a ramp instead of free-falls so it's significantly quieter. Definitely get the 108 oz version. With 2 cats, I need to fill it up every 3 - 4 days. The 50 oz version you'll be filling every day or two and that gets old.

I clean mine every 3 - 4 weeks. One important cleaning tip is to make sure you snap the cover off the pump and clean the intake grate of cat hair and grime that will surely get trapped there. If you do that every time you clean it, the pump will last for years. There's some tight corners and raised plastic tabs in the base that are kind of a pain to clean, but not ridiculously so. I normally just immerse all the parts in the sink with hot water and some dish soap or oxy clean and let everything soak for a while, then take a sponge and toothbrush to it, then rinse well. Not a big deal to do once a month.

[reveur]

I've used a Petmate Fresh Flow for years.
http://www.amazon.co...95658393&sr=8-8

The cats definitely drink more with it than from a bowl. I prefer this to the Drinkwell (which I tried first) because the Petmate water flows down a ramp instead of free-falls so it's significantly quieter. Definitely get the 108 oz version. With 2 cats, I need to fill it up every 3 - 4 days. The 50 oz version you'll be filling every day or two and that gets old.

I clean mine every 3 - 4 weeks. One important cleaning tip is to make sure you snap the cover off the pump and clean the intake grate of cat hair and grime that will surely get trapped there. If you do that every time you clean it, the pump will last for years. There's some tight corners and raised plastic tabs in the base that are kind of a pain to clean, but not ridiculously so. I normally just immerse all the parts in the sink with hot water and some dish soap or oxy clean and let everything soak for a while, then take a sponge and toothbrush to it, then rinse well. Not a big deal to do once a month.

this.

[Rayzeeday]

just got one about a month ago at wal-mart for $32.00. We have to clean it every eight or so days, with wo cats and two ferrets using it funk happens.

[Karen]

We got ours at the local animal shelter thrift store for $20 and the cats LOVE it!
They used to drive me nuts (like you Georgie) waiting on the sink for fresh flow of water....

Sums, we clean it once every 3 weeks or so (if you keep it out of the sun, if it's in the sun you have to clean more) and it only takes 5 minutes tops to clean. It has a charcoal filter in a cotton bag which you rinse out for a period of time and then put a new one in.

I highly recommend it and so do our kittehs.

The brand we have is Petmate Freshflow

[sums]

wow, this has been really helpful you guys, thanks! forest and i are going to petco this afternoon to see what they have. the petmate is available on their website so i hope they have one in the store. definitely going for the 108oz. since i haz 3 kittehs and you never know when another one is going to come live with us

[vinandtonic]

I heard they get very dirty quick, though. Can anybody confirm/deny this?

I always wanted to get one for Tuna. He loves sitting on the counter in the bathroom when I am getting ready for work in the morning. He is just waiting with anticipation for me to brush my teeth and turn the sink on.

we had a drinkwell for a while..but it just kept getting funky. I would clean it every 2 weeks, taking apart the entire thing, including the pump housing, and it was still funky. I didn't want my cats drinking that, so we switched back to regular water bowls.

[nancykind]

i have the petmate deluxe and try to take it apart to clean it every 1-2 weeks. i have water delivery in those big 5 gallon jugs so i don't use the filters. when you clean it make sure you take it right apart and get the fur off the battery intake. keeping the intake clear will help the motor live longer.

[Karen]

i have the petmate deluxe and try to take it apart to clean it every 1-2 weeks. i have water delivery in those big 5 gallon jugs so i don't use the filters. when you clean it make sure you take it right apart and get the fur off the battery intake. keeping the intake clear will help the motor live longer.

JP just spent 20 minutes doing this!

[sums]

so... if you put already filtered water in it, you don't need to buy filters?

(did not make it to petco yesterday. might go this morning if i can get motivated to get dressed )

[seany]

If you use the filters, even with filtered water, it will probably cut down on the funk and you'll have to clean it a little less often. You can definitely run it with out them, though.

[Karen]

We use filters with filtered water.... it never occured to me not to use the filter!

[georgi]

I don't mind Tuna brushing his teeth with me.

[nancykind]

i clean it often enough and use "good" water, so that i personally don't feel the need for the filters. if i used tap water - which i could never do because ours is horrible - then i'd probably use the filters, too. i've never tried to filter our tap water - 'cause it is truly THAT bad - so i can't speak for filtered water but i imagine it's on par with the delivered water that's been purified. it would all come down to how you feel about your filtered tap water and how often you clean it.

[sums]

i have a multi pure filter for my tap. it's a really expensive/good filter system so i think i can probably pass on the fountains filters.

i went to petco and there was no discount on the petmate brands so it looks like i'm going to order it online

[sums]

with the shipping and handling from petco.com it's almost the same price as if i just go buy it in the store. which i think is on the agenda for today

[nancykind]

some coupons.... the 15% off one expires today. wish i'd thought to check this site yesterday!

http://www.freeshipp...g/search/petco/

[sums]

oops! too late

yesterday there was one that was free shipping on $65 or more so i started putting stuff in my online cart. everything else i wanted (save for one thing) was exempt from that offer

the new fountain is put together and running it's so quiet! floyd loves it, luna is ok with it, she liked it better before i plugged it in, and tiger is a little sketched out by it

[nancykind]

haven't heard 'sketched out' as a reaction before, i don't think!

[seany]

I'm sure they'll all end up loving it My glutinous cat, Cassady, is ridiculous with it some nights. He'll sit there for what seems like a very long time. The fountain is quiet, but all I can hear is "lap, lap, lap... lap, lap, lap... lap, lap, lap... ... ... ...." It's within earshot of my bed, so eventually I'm all: "Enough already!"

[sums]

nancy, you've never met my tiger "sketched out" is a perfect way to describe his reaction sometimes!

[sums]

sean, i put it on the other side of the house

[nancykind]

moving water should be instinctual for them. do keep us posted!

[sums]

after i got the whole thing assembled and plugged in i read some more of the instructions (looking for warranty info) and it says you shouldn't plug it in, just put it by their existing water dish for like a week until they get used to it. that was this morning. oh well

[TEO]

Oh please, who has the patience for that?

[sums]

said the aries to the aries

[nancykind]

oops! i never did that.

[Karen]

I never did that either. Just assembled it, filled it and the cats were all over it!

[sums]

forest raised a good point about the charcoal filters; even though we are using filtered water, the water recirculates through the fountain and picks up outside debris. smaht boy!

[Spidergawd]

It's surprising how quiet they are, right? I've found that if you can hear anything at all, it needs to be filled or cleaned.

[sums]

yes when it starts making noise, it needs more water. i clean out the little plastic screen thing every few days and did the 1st big cleaning and replaced the filter after a month.

[Spidergawd]

So now over the last couple of weeks black mold (or what looks like it anyway) has been developing in the fountain. IN the water. Not at all sure why. All I can think of is two things:

1. Change to summer - more sunlight and more mold spores?
2. Discontinued using the filter. This was just fine for the past few months (cleaning when it got visibly dirty), but now mold. We're going to start using the filter again and see what happens.

Anyone else run into this?

[seany]

Never had block mold, but I do find that it needs more cleaning, more often in the summer. I tend to soak everything in hot water in the sink with some Oxy Clean (basically peroxide) to "bleach" it, clean all the cracks and crevices with a brush, and then just make sure I really rinse everything well to remove any residue.

[sums]

no mold in mine. i also have been cleaning it more often though. in the warmer weather the cats go in and out a lot and the fountain is close to the back door.

[Rayzeeday]

The good thing about it for us is it broke Desmond of splashing water on the floor. But after about three months they prefer a plain water dish again. Invaluable to break Desi of his habits and its always here to use again.

[vinandtonic]

So now over the last couple of weeks black mold (or what looks like it anyway) has been developing in the fountain. IN the water. Not at all sure why. All I can think of is two things:

1. Change to summer - more sunlight and more mold spores?
2. Discontinued using the filter. This was just fine for the past few months (cleaning when it got visibly dirty), but now mold. We're going to start using the filter again and see what happens.

Anyone else run into this?

that's why we stopped using ours. we cleaned it thoroughly every week and just couldn't get rid of the black funk.

[nancykind]

yikes, never had black funk. i might do a diluted bleach cleaning/soaking (there's probably directions on the bottle that you could go by) but also might just go get a new one. i use bottled water, not tap 'cause our tap water is awful. i wonder if that has anything to do with my lack of black funk

[sums]

i used filtered water from my high end water filter AND the filters for the fountain and no black funk for me so maybe that does have something to do with it...?

[Spidergawd]

We have a water cooler thingie, and fill the bottles from the purifier at the store. So it's not tap water, which is good. The kittehs seem to prefer the filtered water, as they are princesses.

I like the bleach/oxy clean idea. Guess you have to be REALLY sure it's rinsed thoroughly.

[pixiebug]

i tried the drinkwell fountain, and Kisa hated it. She also waits at the faucet for a drink, so I don't know why. We gave it away before we brought Jasper home, so I don't know if he'd like it our not. Too much work anyway.

Both of our kitties prefer to drink out of cups over bowls. But they're weird.