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I've had the same Petmate black plastic water fountain for years, but noticed lately that it's had a LOT of disgusting bio-film build up on the surface of the water, and the plastic gets unbelievably slimy even though it is completely cleaned regularly. https://www.amazon.com/Petmate-Deluxe-Fresh-Flow-Dog/dp/B0002DI3TK I fill it with clean tap water (we're in Chicago and our water quality is great), and it gets completely disassembled and run through the dishwasher to sterilize once a week for everything but the pump, which we take apart and clean by hand, and replace the filters with fresh regularly. But still it is getting incredibly gross, and I can tell that the animals don't want to drink from it - they'd rather drink the bowl in the other room dry, and then I hear them licking the dry bowl, when this one is full. It's obviously time to buy a new fountain. But which one? My gut instinct is to go for stainless steel to prevent bacteria build up, but some information I've seen also says that non-porous ceramic can be as good, or better. At the same time, they warn that if you get cheap, porous ceramic, it will be lovely. Great - how to tell? http://glacierpointforcats.com/2015/10/29/pet-fountain-slime-the-good-news-2/ I've seen people saying that Glacier Point fountains are made in the USA and high quality, but drat, are they ugly. We have a small combined kitchen/dining/living area where the fountain lives, so ideally it won't be very loud either. I'd buy a couple to try out, but the nicer looking ones are rather pricy, and I don't want to shell out for something that I'll need to quickly replace if it doesn't work well. I have two cats and a midrange (35lb ) dog drinking from this, with other water also available in a bowl in the other room. A larger reservoir would be helpful so it doesn't need to be filled constantly - right now we fill it every couple days, and that's okay. Any recommendations? Pictures because, hey, who doesn't like pictures?  
EVG fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Mar 2, 2017 |
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Mar 2, 2017 20:49
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:35 |
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ceramic is the way to go. I bought my cats an expensive Drinkwell fountain because I liked the look. They both ignored it for months so I sold it. Turns out their lack of water drinking isn't because they want moving water. But Drinkwell ceramic fountains are a good option http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...AQ&gclsrc=aw.ds This one seems to be a more reasonable shape while still being attractive https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Drinkwell-Ceramic-Pagoda-Fountain/dp/B00BD3UN8C pandaid fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Mar 2, 2017 |
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Mar 2, 2017 22:49
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Why ceramic over stainless?
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Mar 3, 2017 00:15
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EVG posted:Why ceramic over stainless? Stainless appearance - it's too 'cold' looking for the home. A fountain is big and that much stainless is an eye sore. It's also can have that metallic noise when some water splashes on an uncovered part. You've poured water into a stainless steel bowl. And you've poured it into a ceramic bowl. Which one sounds nicer.
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Mar 3, 2017 02:23
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pandaid posted:But Drinkwell ceramic fountains are a good option Do they have this kind of motor?  I've bought a couple fountains that both used this cheap little motor, and regardless of what kind of filter they had, the motor would always get gunk buildup in a few days. It ended up being more effort than it was worth to keep in clean.
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Mar 3, 2017 04:49
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FutonForensic posted:Do they have this kind of motor? I don't think I've seen any fountains that DON'T use that motor. I'm okay with cleaning the motor out weekly - we do that now - but something is still getting bacteria build up. Our current fountain wasn't always this nasty so maybe age has something to do with it.
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Mar 3, 2017 15:46
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EVG posted:I don't think I've seen any fountains that DON'T use that motor. I'm okay with cleaning the motor out weekly - we do that now - but something is still getting bacteria build up. Our current fountain wasn't always this nasty so maybe age has something to do with it. The plastic fountains I've seen all have crazy nooks and crannies where bacteria builds up. We went through a couple before moving to ceramic. Simpler design, so easier to clean properly, and ceramic because I was concerned that a stainless version would be light enough to be pushed around. So I have a semi-anti-recommendation, but the reasons why are important because they were not obvious to me when I bought the thing. Got this: https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Pet-...ds=pet+fountain It's okay, not annoying enough for me to replace, but here are the issues I've had with this design: -That huge, open pool collects everything. Everything falls in. It's a drat magnet for hair, dirt, leaves somehow; I don't know. Definitely needs cleaning once a week, could stand more often. At least cleaning it is easy enough. -That wide water expanse encourages evaporation. I have to top this up twice a day. Not the end of the world, but it makes going out of town difficult as there is no other reservoir. But I will say that part of the reason we bought this is that one of my cats is prone to blackheads along the chin/around the mouth. Since moving to a ceramic waterer and stainless steel feeding dishes, his condition is much improved. And yeah it uses the exact same water pump that everything else uses.
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Mar 18, 2017 16:28
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I've had similar experiences with fountains. Water always evaporates quickly, it gets buildup, etc. I haven't found one that's perfect yet. Maybe I'll go back to filling a bowl by itself...easier to clean, ensures that water is fresh. Not necessarily a bad option.
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Mar 23, 2017 14:34
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Best cat fountains ever: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirstyCatFountains?ref=s2-header-shopname Not cheap but I've had mine for 5 years and absolutely adore it. Easy to clean, never had a problem with it, and my cat drinks more water since getting it. Here's the pretty fountain I purchased from ThirstyCatFountains a long time ago. It still looks and works as well as the day I bought it.  Previously, I had purchased a plastic Drinkwell pet fountain. It was unpleasant to clean and eventually a part broke after a couple years. I upgraded to their expensive stainless steel version, which was also unpleasant to clean and a part broke on it after only one year.  I recommend buying something ceramic that will last a lifetime and only fill it with reverse osmosis or purified/distilled water. Actually, regardless of what water fountain you get, use fancy water to prevent calcium deposits in your fountain. That is the bane of fountains and I think may have lead to the early demise of my Drinkwells. Also, if at all possible, get something that is easy to clean! You will thank me later. Ferryll fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Mar 29, 2017 |
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Mar 28, 2017 16:01
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:35 |
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Definitely +1 ceramic and something easy to clean.
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Mar 29, 2017 13:54
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