Can you recommend an easy-to-clean cat fountain?

June 6, 2020 7:13 AM

I have this cat fountain and I hate it. To clean it I have to carry it to the sink and I always cause a minor flood. i've had it for years, and right now no matter what i do it's so noisy, like too much water dripping at once (even though it's actually just trickling as usual). I think I want to replace it. Any recommendations for a good fountain that I can clean out easily??
posted by DMelanogaster to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

Best answer: I hated that one too. I have this one now, my second bucket style one, and it's great. What I like about it is: small enough to carry when full, large enough to go for a week with two cats drinking. The little water level indicator and the auto-shutoff when empty are the best features.

Maggie likes to stand with her feet on the rim and it's got a low enough center of gravity that there is no risk of tipping. We use it without the flower thingy, so it just bubbles up in the middle with no dripping sound.
posted by buildmyworld at 7:20 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a Catit Flower Fountain that's pretty easy to clean as long as you have a bottle brush (or buy their cleaning set). You can fully disassemble the motor and clean it, too. It's pretty much impossible to spill water when you're carrying it unless you really tip it all the way on its side.
posted by neushoorn at 7:24 AM on June 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

Sometimes I still wake up in a cold sweat remembering cleaning that one. We just decided to get largish metal bowls that would be refreshed regularly and it seems to keep the monsters satisfied. Well, one expects the bathroom sink to be turned on for her. But I guess what I am saying is no-fountain may be a viable option.
posted by jjray at 7:45 AM on June 6, 2020

I have that one, a set of brushes does make it much easier to clean. The vet doesn't recommend any porous fountains, only nonporous ones like metal and ceramic. One thing I have heard about but not tried is just taking the motor from that fountain and rigging it up in a glass bowl. Way fewer pieces.
posted by wnissen at 7:47 AM on June 6, 2020

Ugh, we had that same one and hated it for the same reasons. We use the Catit now, as linked above. The whole thing comes apart, so I don't fuss with the bottle brush, I just put it in the dishwasher.

I found any fountain to be a bit noisy given the flooring I have, so I cut up an old yoga mat to put underneath and voila, no noise except the cute little trickle.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:03 AM on June 6, 2020

This doesn't solve the noise, or the spilling, or the keeping a fountain you hate, but I have that fountain and solved my cleaning anxiety by buying a second one. Now I can swap it out with a clean one, and throw the dirty one in the dishwasher (break it down, pull the motor, no heated dry)-- gets rid of the problem of leaving a dirty fountain out because you don't have 30 minutes to clean it RIGHT NOW.
posted by cosmonaught at 8:05 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

We have the Pioneer Pet Raindrop oval pet water fountain in ceramic. I just checked and it apparently also comes in stainless steel. We've had it for years and years after succumbing to pet fountain cleaning fatigue. The bowl and fountain are two solid pieces, very easy to clean by hand or run through the dishwasher. The pump housing is a little plastic clamshell, you can wash it in five seconds with your normal dish soap and sponge/scrub brush. The big caveat here is that you definitely need to periodically disassemble and clean the pump itself to keep it running well. I find the ease of regular cleaning well worth the hassle of cleaning the pump (really, maybe 5 minutes of my time every few months).

Added bonus--they sell replacement parts if anything ever breaks, so you don't have to buy a whole new fountain. Our pump just crapped out after 7 years (!!!) and we were able to order a new one, no problem.
posted by ailouros08 at 8:19 AM on June 6, 2020

BEHOLD THE BUCKET
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:21 AM on June 6, 2020

We like our Aurora: it’s made of porcelain, doesn’t gurgle loudly, and comes apart for cleaning.
posted by migurski at 9:11 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I just took the pump out of mine and put it in a bowl. Works just great and the cat loves it.
posted by essexjan at 9:11 AM on June 6, 2020

The Petkit one Is pretty quiet and has a bucket-like liner you can remove which contains all the parts that touch the water, and it’s very easy to carry those parts around without spilling or splashing. It does have some funny shaped stuff under the waterline so you have to use a brush or something to clean it but any old brush works fine and the water is filtered on its way back to the tank so it doesn’t get gross very quickly.
posted by aubilenon at 9:13 AM on June 6, 2020

Response by poster: I ordered the Catit Flower Bucket. Thank you!
posted by DMelanogaster at 10:46 AM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I knew exactly what fountain you were describing before I clicked. Ugh, that thing! When mine got noisy it was because the pump needed to be taken apart and cleaned out. If you decide you want to keep this one as a backup or something, here's a video on how to clean the pump.
posted by k8lin at 12:37 PM on June 6, 2020