Cats' favourite tipple (Catit Fresh & Clear Small Drinking Fountain)

Member Name: Cat19

Product:	Catit Fresh & Clear Small Drinking Fountain
Date:	06/08/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Encourages cats to drink more water

Disadvantages: Needs to be near a plug socket

As far as I am concerned the trouble with most, if not all, water fountains is that they are mains powered. My cats' dining quarters were not situated in a convenient spot for plugging something in and so I have long put off making the switch to a fountain, although always keeping an eye out for that elusive battery powered model. But with the new addition to my feline family in October last year, I realised I could not hold off any longer.

I rarely saw my older cat, Billy, drinking from his bowl. We always kept his water fresh, but seemed he was either drinking on the quiet or finding his water somewhere else, puddles perhaps. Edward the Persian was another matter though. I have never seen a cat consume so much water, I was actually concerned enough to mention his drinking habits to a vet at one point but thankfully all is well with him. Yes, Edward drinks copious amounts of water, he does not go outside and I just felt terribly sorry for him drinking from a bowl particularly as he was prone to dropping biscuits in the water and his long fur would get wet through as it trailed into the bowl as he quenched his thirst.

Thus I resigned myself to getting a mains powered fountain and putting up with unsightly wires; my cats' needs ultimately being more important than my own desire for an aesthetically pleasing gadget. I decided to buy this particular fountain as it seemed completely up to the job and was half the price of most of the others in the pet shop.

The fountain comes in a few pieces and there are instructions for putting it together although it would be intuitive for most people; mine was ready to use within a few minutes of taking it out of the box. The filter holder and filter are placed inside the main compartment of the fountain (the white part in the picture), the blue ring is put in place on top of the unit and then it can be plugged in and filled up with water.

Although this is described as a small fountain, it holds two litres of water, which I thought was rather a lot. On the blue ring around the top there is a small hole, as you fill the fountain up it is important to watch for a small red dot to appear and when it does it means the fountain is full. The water bubbles up through the middle of the blue ring and then flows back around the edges of the circular unit.

It took me a little while to adjust to the sound of bubbling water, I kept thinking I had left a tap running or had a leak. I did not initially notice any whirring noises from the pump itself, however a few months on and this has become more noticeable, but not much different to the noise of a fridge and it does not bother me.

The filters need to be changed regularly and it is recommended every three weeks or so. When I went to change mine after three weeks, I found it was virtually spotless and I can easily double the supposed life of the filters. As I live in an area with extremely hard water, I always top it up with water I have filtered myself anyway and I hope this will prolong the life of the filter and the unit itself too.

Of course the only opinions that really matter are Billy's and Edwards. As I mentioned, Billy never really bothered much with drinking he water we have put out for him in bowls, but he absolutely LOVES the water fountain and did from the word go. I have never seen him drink so much water before.

Edward on the other hand was sceptical and quite scared of it at first and I was disappointed as I thought I might have to get the bowl out again. However I decided to give it time and the next day after seeing his big brother drinking he overcame his concerns and soon he was happily lapping it up too.

I am amazed at how much water they are drinking; I tend to top the water up every time I see the red dot has gone right down and I must pour in a litre of water every day. The problem of Edward's long fur getting wet all the time is solved too, as you can see from the picture the cats drink from the top of the unit which is about 7 inches off the floor so an adult cat can drink without bending over. He can't really drop biscuits in either and I am so delighted to see them both enjoying cool, fresh and clear water. I would highly recommend this product.

I bought my fountain for £20 although I have seen it retailing from £13 since then. A pack of three replacement filters is typically £4.

Summary: A less expensive water fountain that has been a huge hit with my boys.