I had always just kept clean water in a clean bowl for my cats, for well over 20 years, without any reason to change it. Then last year at some point, our 6 year old male developed a UTI. Took him to the vet, got antibiotics, and, as I am prone to do, did exhaustive research on the whole subject after the vet mentioned that sometimes cats that are prone to UTIs aren't getting enough water, especially if they are fed even a partial diet of dry food.
And then I realized that the poor cat was telling me the whole time. Every time the wife or I were in the bathroom, he jumped on the sink, waiting for us to turn on the tap. So we bought a fountain. It's been over a year, with only that change, as well as changing to only foods with less filler, and NO CORN products, problem solved. So I am now a fountain fan, lol.
(08-22-2013, 12:43 PM)ohiotom76 Wrote: Thankfully our cats aren't particular about only drinking from running water. We just keep stainless steel bowls full of water throughout the house for them. I suppose one thing that would concern me about these fountains is how easy/difficult they are to keep clean. Does anyone know if they have a tendency to develop mold inside the internal parts? I had a few decorative water fountains as well as a decorative humidifier (it would create a glowing bowl of fog), and both of these were a pain to clean. The nozzles would get clogged up with what I'm assuming were calcium or hard water deposits, and the water container was regularly developing a residue along the walls of it.
Tom, after the events described above, I thought all the same things. The only fountain I found that I liked was the Drinkwell 360 Stainless Steel Fountain. I've had it for over a year now, and I love it. 90% of the thing is good quality stainless steel, so it is very easy to clean, can be scrubbed, etc. The top fountain bits are plastic, but comes apart into pieces for easy cleaning, and is easy to reassemble quickly after you've dome it once or twice. Plus, it actually has an active carbon filter, which is a plus, and, it runs just fine without the filter as well.
It isn't cheap, and the link above was the cheapest I could find it last year when shopping around.
