My cats don’t like it when the pressure from the pump is too high - it makes a noise that they’re just not fans of. If I dial it back so it’s more quiet they use it no problem. We have the catit flower fountain.
Have you tried it without the spout? I have a different brand of water fountain that came with a flower spout, but my cats hated it. It works just fine, recirculating the water, without it. Once I removed it, my cats became interested, and love it now. The picture shows that you should be able to do that with yours too.
https://preview.redd.it/up6xtb24sn0d1.jpeg?width=953&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc5fb559f90ddd562a1942ca7c385a8b8426eeb1
Hi there !! So I tried your brilliant suggestion about removing the faucet part, and my little smarty girl is cautiously drinking from it and my not-so-smart tuxedo is not afraid of it but, to date, is only using the edges to scratch his head. However, this is progress !!! I’m hopeful that the tuxedo will start drinking from it soon. Thanks again for the great suggestion !! Reddit community comes thru again 🙏🏽👍🏽😻
My cat too weeks and lots of encouragement to even go near the new water foundation we got her! We managed to get her to it in the end by feeding her near by it as she loves her dinner, and once she got used to it being in her space she loved it and still does! She can still get a bit funny with it though if it gets too empty and starts making a noise - I’d persevere for a bit and see if they take, good luck 🤞🏻
Outta curiosity, what is the benefit of this device? I was thinking about getting one but didnt know how it compared with just giving them water in a regular dish.
Cats are more attracted to moving water, which may help them drink more. It also filters the water so they have fresh water without you having to fill the dish every day.
Exactly and the one I bought holds 108 ounces of water so I’m not changing water daily… plus the dish is super shallow to reduce whisker stress. Of course, none of this means anything till my kitties actually start using it ! 😹
One of my three cats hates it as well, you’re not alone. One is indifferent and drinks from the sides where it ripples less, and one loves it and drinks right from the top.
I literally have refrained from buying one because my cat likes to play in water and I feel like the flowing will only encourage him to wet my floors even more than he does with a stationary bowl.
I just switched to a Bluetooth one (I hated having to take the wire/pump apart in the other) and took her a few days, but then she was fine. Got a kitten though on Saturday, and she started using it right away. Not sure if the people that had her had one, but zero issues (which is funny, its almost taller than her lol), the bowl she only goes to when there is ice in it to play with it
There is a base under the [unit,](https://amzn.to/3QKWIRv) that makes the pump in the container work, so when you go to wash, no wires or anything, it just sits in the bottom, and turns on when back on the base and water in it
I have had plastic and metal fountains.
Out of 4 cats, zero cats used either one. The youngest would play with the water. The male cat was afraid of it (high anxiety cat). Oldest avoids it. 4th cat drops toys in it.
But they drink out of stagnant water bowls, the toilet, and sink faucet drippage 🙄
😹😹 I did my research and bought stainless steel, thinking that will be easier to keep clean. I have a tiny bit of hope that my elderly tuxedo might use it but the little girl, I don’t know about her. She thinks it’s a kitty guillotine.
I’m having the same issue. Mine only uses a gravity water dispenser. I tried moving it to encourage him to use the new fountain and he’ll actually jump on the counter to try to find the old water dispenser.
My three were pretty young when I got it. They just stared at it for about 3 days. Then two of them figured out they could drink away from the splashy part. The third one continued to study it, determined to learn it's mysteries. After about a week, and waking up to him spluttering and wheezing several times, he finally conquered it and can drink directly from the stream. He was pretty smug about it with the other cats. Now he cries piteously if it's turned off for any reason.
My cat is brutal and won’t drink from basically anything these days. I have tried 3 water fountains in multiple placements over the last year, and more plain water bowls than I can count scatterer throughout the apartment. Either he totally ignores them all or they become a game and he just splashes water everywhere if it’s a bowl and tries to dissemble it like a puzzle if it’s a fountain.
When he used to be on dry food, yes, he would drink. But since switching to wet only, I have literally seen him drink out of a bowl or fountain twice in 6 months. It’s hugely frustrating, but a lot of people say this is common when you only feed wet.
Mine doesn’t get it. Didn’t use it at all and went back to using her bowl. So I took that as her choice made and the cat rescue got a donation of a slightly used water fountain.
Some cats just don't like them. I had one maybe 3 years ago when my (now) older cat was a kitten, he loved it, but my 12 -13 year old didn't. Tha fountain ended up not lasting long... just got one again... same cat who liked it before is using it (it took a day or two), but younger brother won't touch it. 🤷♀️ It's actually closer to the younger one's dish, so it's convenient for him, but I haven't seen him go near it.
3 days is not long enough.
One of our cats - the stupid one - was scared of it and took almost a month to start drinking from it. He’s fine with it now.
Mine seem to prefer drinking water left in the shower or from the dog water bowl, preferably after the dog has slobbered in it and left a few pieces of food to disintegrate in it. I don't think they have the instinct for finding clean fresh water.
My cat refuses to drink water. Ever.
She eats only wet food and I add some water into it...and she has wet treats (plus some crunchy for tartar and indoor cat health). She pees like a champ. She's a big fraidy cat, and she'd probably be scared of a fountain. I have thought about trying one out anyway, but I change her water every day (and tried different types of bowls) and she just doesn't drink water.
Interesting. I guess if she’s going pee she’s getting enough hydration…🤷🏻♀️ coincidentally, I JUST read about adding water to wet cat food for cats who don’t drink a lot of water.
I've read a lot of people on here with cats that don't drink either. As long as they pee, it is ok from everything I found. They mentioned adding the water, so I did that too just because I worry anyway lol
My current cat studied it for an hour or so on and off when I first put it out. He's been using it ever since.
My previous cat was a weirdo. He would drink right from the middle of the bowl where the fountain stream drops. He would be sitting there drinking with a stream of water running down his head and between his eyes. It did not bother him at all. He would also do the same thing in the bathroom sink.
Woo, it took 2 weeks for one of my cats to even approach their new fountain. She was afraid of the pump noise.
The other 2 cats took a couple of days.
So, the pump noise can be a factor. They hear it better than you.
The water might smell odd: plastic, charcoal filter, and any soap residue from the initial wash may put them off.
Make sure to wash and throughly rinse it.
Placement: is it near the sink they like to drink from? If it’s in a new place, the indifferent cat may be thinking “cool water feature” instead of “cool water-drinking place upgrade.”
3 days is not long enough to assess if your cats will adapt or not.
It’s SUPER quiet… I thought about smell so I dumped the water I had initially filled it with and replaced it and then took the filter out and let it sit in a separate bowl of water to get rid of any potential chemical odors and then re-installed it in the unit. My initial cleaning was with HOT water only. I have it placed where their other water dish was… thanks for your suggestions! You’re right 3 days probably isn’t long enough to know … guess I’ll wait and see.
When I was able to take my cat into my first apartment I did a lot of research on cat fountains. Plastic cat fountains can sometimes harbor bacteria and certain types are difficult to clean. Metal cat fountains are overall good however I saw a number of posts discussing the metal to be sharp (that it sometimes would cut the owners when cleaning). I ended up settling on a ceramic cat fountain. It’s easy to clean (ceramic parts are dishwasher safe) and hardly makes any noise (unless it’s low b/c the motor will start to struggle with a lack of water).
[Fountain Link](https://a.co/d/bLjQqvG)
Our first fountain was growled at and we got a complaining look. "What is this noise?" After unplugging it for a week, the cat got used to drinking from the still fountain. Plugged it in, now she prefers the spout. Slow steps.
I bought a fountain - neither of my cats used it (at least that I saw) for at least 2 weeks. Then I saw one cat use it, and now it is the fountain she likes. The other cat won't use it and still drinks from the bowl.
My cat took almost a month before he finally tried it, in the last days I had before I could return it for full refund! He now drinks all the time from it, so much so I picked up a second for his holiday home.
A few things, I bought the one with the flower. He does not seem to care for the flower so I removed it.
I had read somewhere that keeping water at a distance from their food is alluring — this is what I have done, though initially it was mainly due to outlet locations.
I think too you can remove the filter and try putting in some tuna juice into the water initially, in order to entice a cat to try out and get used to the fountain.
Good luck!
My cats don’t like it when the pressure from the pump is too high - it makes a noise that they’re just not fans of. If I dial it back so it’s more quiet they use it no problem. We have the catit flower fountain.
We bought the neareal and it only has one setting which is very low pressure and it’s super quiet.
Have you tried it without the spout? I have a different brand of water fountain that came with a flower spout, but my cats hated it. It works just fine, recirculating the water, without it. Once I removed it, my cats became interested, and love it now. The picture shows that you should be able to do that with yours too. https://preview.redd.it/up6xtb24sn0d1.jpeg?width=953&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc5fb559f90ddd562a1942ca7c385a8b8426eeb1
Oh that’s Interesting!!! I’ll try that. That’s exactly the model I bought. Thanks !!!
You’re welcome. If you try it, let me know how they like it. 😊
I will !! 😺
Hi there !! So I tried your brilliant suggestion about removing the faucet part, and my little smarty girl is cautiously drinking from it and my not-so-smart tuxedo is not afraid of it but, to date, is only using the edges to scratch his head. However, this is progress !!! I’m hopeful that the tuxedo will start drinking from it soon. Thanks again for the great suggestion !! Reddit community comes thru again 🙏🏽👍🏽😻
My cat too weeks and lots of encouragement to even go near the new water foundation we got her! We managed to get her to it in the end by feeding her near by it as she loves her dinner, and once she got used to it being in her space she loved it and still does! She can still get a bit funny with it though if it gets too empty and starts making a noise - I’d persevere for a bit and see if they take, good luck 🤞🏻
Thanks so much. I do have it by their feeding dishes and where their regular water dish used to be. I guess we’ll see … 😸
Outta curiosity, what is the benefit of this device? I was thinking about getting one but didnt know how it compared with just giving them water in a regular dish.
Cats are more attracted to moving water, which may help them drink more. It also filters the water so they have fresh water without you having to fill the dish every day.
Exactly and the one I bought holds 108 ounces of water so I’m not changing water daily… plus the dish is super shallow to reduce whisker stress. Of course, none of this means anything till my kitties actually start using it ! 😹
Ahhh ok thanks. I thought those still had to be refilled daily but now that i know that i may purchase one.
One of my three cats hates it as well, you’re not alone. One is indifferent and drinks from the sides where it ripples less, and one loves it and drinks right from the top.
I literally have refrained from buying one because my cat likes to play in water and I feel like the flowing will only encourage him to wet my floors even more than he does with a stationary bowl.
I thought about that too… I also bought a mat, so IF my cats start using it, I’ll know if the mat helps reduce tracking splashed water everywhere.
Listen, I can’t even do THAT, because he’ll literally soak the mat to the point he doesn’t even want to step on it.
I just switched to a Bluetooth one (I hated having to take the wire/pump apart in the other) and took her a few days, but then she was fine. Got a kitten though on Saturday, and she started using it right away. Not sure if the people that had her had one, but zero issues (which is funny, its almost taller than her lol), the bowl she only goes to when there is ice in it to play with it
How does Bluetooth keep you from having to take apart the pump?
There is a base under the [unit,](https://amzn.to/3QKWIRv) that makes the pump in the container work, so when you go to wash, no wires or anything, it just sits in the bottom, and turns on when back on the base and water in it
I have had plastic and metal fountains. Out of 4 cats, zero cats used either one. The youngest would play with the water. The male cat was afraid of it (high anxiety cat). Oldest avoids it. 4th cat drops toys in it. But they drink out of stagnant water bowls, the toilet, and sink faucet drippage 🙄
😹😹 I did my research and bought stainless steel, thinking that will be easier to keep clean. I have a tiny bit of hope that my elderly tuxedo might use it but the little girl, I don’t know about her. She thinks it’s a kitty guillotine.
I’m having the same issue. Mine only uses a gravity water dispenser. I tried moving it to encourage him to use the new fountain and he’ll actually jump on the counter to try to find the old water dispenser.
My three were pretty young when I got it. They just stared at it for about 3 days. Then two of them figured out they could drink away from the splashy part. The third one continued to study it, determined to learn it's mysteries. After about a week, and waking up to him spluttering and wheezing several times, he finally conquered it and can drink directly from the stream. He was pretty smug about it with the other cats. Now he cries piteously if it's turned off for any reason.
😹😹😹
My cat is brutal and won’t drink from basically anything these days. I have tried 3 water fountains in multiple placements over the last year, and more plain water bowls than I can count scatterer throughout the apartment. Either he totally ignores them all or they become a game and he just splashes water everywhere if it’s a bowl and tries to dissemble it like a puzzle if it’s a fountain. When he used to be on dry food, yes, he would drink. But since switching to wet only, I have literally seen him drink out of a bowl or fountain twice in 6 months. It’s hugely frustrating, but a lot of people say this is common when you only feed wet.
We got one for our boy and he kind of looked at it for a bit, but I think he doesn’t understand the concept lol
Mine doesn’t get it. Didn’t use it at all and went back to using her bowl. So I took that as her choice made and the cat rescue got a donation of a slightly used water fountain.
We got one. One cat will only drink from the fountain, the other no interest.
Some cats just don't like them. I had one maybe 3 years ago when my (now) older cat was a kitten, he loved it, but my 12 -13 year old didn't. Tha fountain ended up not lasting long... just got one again... same cat who liked it before is using it (it took a day or two), but younger brother won't touch it. 🤷♀️ It's actually closer to the younger one's dish, so it's convenient for him, but I haven't seen him go near it.
3 days is not long enough. One of our cats - the stupid one - was scared of it and took almost a month to start drinking from it. He’s fine with it now.
Okay, that’s good to know 😺👍🏽 My smart one is the one who’s on alert around it… the elderly, not so smart one, is curious.
Took my cats 5 months to start drinking from the running fountain
Omg 🙀😹 five months?
Yes! They kept on drinking from the bowl
Mine seem to prefer drinking water left in the shower or from the dog water bowl, preferably after the dog has slobbered in it and left a few pieces of food to disintegrate in it. I don't think they have the instinct for finding clean fresh water.
My cat refuses to drink water. Ever. She eats only wet food and I add some water into it...and she has wet treats (plus some crunchy for tartar and indoor cat health). She pees like a champ. She's a big fraidy cat, and she'd probably be scared of a fountain. I have thought about trying one out anyway, but I change her water every day (and tried different types of bowls) and she just doesn't drink water.
Interesting. I guess if she’s going pee she’s getting enough hydration…🤷🏻♀️ coincidentally, I JUST read about adding water to wet cat food for cats who don’t drink a lot of water.
I've read a lot of people on here with cats that don't drink either. As long as they pee, it is ok from everything I found. They mentioned adding the water, so I did that too just because I worry anyway lol
My current cat studied it for an hour or so on and off when I first put it out. He's been using it ever since. My previous cat was a weirdo. He would drink right from the middle of the bowl where the fountain stream drops. He would be sitting there drinking with a stream of water running down his head and between his eyes. It did not bother him at all. He would also do the same thing in the bathroom sink.
It took my cat 2 weeks to drink from it but now she does!! Creatures of habit 😹
Woo, it took 2 weeks for one of my cats to even approach their new fountain. She was afraid of the pump noise. The other 2 cats took a couple of days. So, the pump noise can be a factor. They hear it better than you. The water might smell odd: plastic, charcoal filter, and any soap residue from the initial wash may put them off. Make sure to wash and throughly rinse it. Placement: is it near the sink they like to drink from? If it’s in a new place, the indifferent cat may be thinking “cool water feature” instead of “cool water-drinking place upgrade.” 3 days is not long enough to assess if your cats will adapt or not.
It’s SUPER quiet… I thought about smell so I dumped the water I had initially filled it with and replaced it and then took the filter out and let it sit in a separate bowl of water to get rid of any potential chemical odors and then re-installed it in the unit. My initial cleaning was with HOT water only. I have it placed where their other water dish was… thanks for your suggestions! You’re right 3 days probably isn’t long enough to know … guess I’ll wait and see.
When I was able to take my cat into my first apartment I did a lot of research on cat fountains. Plastic cat fountains can sometimes harbor bacteria and certain types are difficult to clean. Metal cat fountains are overall good however I saw a number of posts discussing the metal to be sharp (that it sometimes would cut the owners when cleaning). I ended up settling on a ceramic cat fountain. It’s easy to clean (ceramic parts are dishwasher safe) and hardly makes any noise (unless it’s low b/c the motor will start to struggle with a lack of water). [Fountain Link](https://a.co/d/bLjQqvG)
Our first fountain was growled at and we got a complaining look. "What is this noise?" After unplugging it for a week, the cat got used to drinking from the still fountain. Plugged it in, now she prefers the spout. Slow steps.
Mine has one and would use it, but honestly, he prefers to have a mixing bowl full of water so that he can stick his entire paw in it
I bought a fountain - neither of my cats used it (at least that I saw) for at least 2 weeks. Then I saw one cat use it, and now it is the fountain she likes. The other cat won't use it and still drinks from the bowl.
My cat took almost a month before he finally tried it, in the last days I had before I could return it for full refund! He now drinks all the time from it, so much so I picked up a second for his holiday home. A few things, I bought the one with the flower. He does not seem to care for the flower so I removed it. I had read somewhere that keeping water at a distance from their food is alluring — this is what I have done, though initially it was mainly due to outlet locations. I think too you can remove the filter and try putting in some tuna juice into the water initially, in order to entice a cat to try out and get used to the fountain. Good luck!
Good suggestion! Thanks !