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 On: 2008-04-13
This thing is horrible. Currently the cheap little pump isnt working after the flimsy plastic body fell six inches into the bathtub after its housing fell apart while I was trying to clean it.
I will be calling the company Monday morning to try to get them to take it back. I cannot believe that the only products in this category all look about the same and are all made of cheesy plastic. (Really you shouldnt use plastic for any animals drinking water, including humans, it leaches nasty things like plasticizers and endocrine disruptors into the water.)
The thing is enormous, and it is hard to find a good place to put it.
Then you have this huge surface of water open to anything that falls in. Theres a weird kind of strainer that keeps bits of food and larger items out of the pump, then this silly filter that keeps other smaller things from going into the larger area where all the dust and bits of food are. Its too big to easily clean, but if you do not clean it often, it gets slimy.
The filter does what again? I dont really think it has any actual effect. It keeps things from traveling from the water reservoir to the area where the cats drink from, which, again, is this huge surface of water open to cat food, bugs, dust, and anything else falling into it. So why the filter?
I will be trying to improve on this design and will write back if I manage to do so.
 On: 2008-03-27
I like this a lot - its easy to clean, and easy to refill. Pricey, but I think its worth it.
 On: 2008-02-24
I had two previous automatic drinking fountains..I have cats and they , especially the older ones, benefit from increased water intake. The platinum fountain reservoir design works because one of my younger cats would actually rock the earlier versions off the base and I would come home to a flooded kitchen floor! This keeps the water cool and fresh and my cats empty it on a regular basis.
The only drawback is that cat hair does collect and clog the unit so it is necessary to at least partially disassemble and clean it quite often and this can be a bit messy and difficult. And I did have to replace the plastic reservoir once because it fell over during the cleaning process and cracked. I suppose that glass would make it heavier but it would also make it more durable.
Still, overall, I would recommend this unit for pet owners who are concerned about their pets fluid intake. This is especially important for older animals who tend to suffer decreased kidney function as they age.
On: 2008-02-18
Ive had this running for almost a month now, and Ive had no problems with it. You could hear it hum a bit, but I set it back on the mat I had for their old bowls of water, and didnt notice it any more. The hum was carried into the hard floor which made it louder.
Its a good product, but could use some refinement. First, when you fill it up, you then have to tip over the water container to put it back in place. It doesnt leak much while tipping it over, but it does leak a bit. That could have been easily corrected in the design using a rubber washer and spring. The other issue is of energy use. It uses very very little power..no issue here. Its just there are dozens of these adapters plugged in everywhere using power and I would like to see more efficient use of power. I dont really think this needs to run 24x7. A simple circuit could be added to filter the water occasionally, and turn it on when the cat comes near it.
Excluding the refinements that could be made, I think its a very good product, and the cats love it. No more running the shower faucet for Kitty to get a drink. Overall I would recommend it. Much better than the old bowl of water.
On: 2008-02-02
When I first set up the fountain, the noise the pump was emitting was unacceptable. I followed all the instructions and did some research on the web. I concluded that the noise was considerably higher than what was normal.
I contacted the manufacturer who was very helpful. They walked me through some steps in which I had to disassemble the pump and reseat a particular piece inside. Once back together and back in service, there was no change in the noise level. They then agreed to send me a new motor, and I didnt even have to go through the trouble of returning the defective motor.
Once I got the new motor installed, the noise level was reduced to an acceptable level. I have a dog and cat and I feel that they are drinking more water because of the fountain. The problem is despite the fact that the reservoir is 168 oz., you still have to remove it from the fountain and top it off every single day because if the reservoir level isnt completely to the top, the unbearable noise of the pump returns.
The fountain itself is cheap and not well made. I hesitate to suggest that it would be a bargain at even half the price. I assume it costs so much because of the need for extra customer service. Perhaps they should consider making a quality product instead.
So if you like high maintenance, over-priced hunks of plastic then you should buy this fountain.
On: 2008-01-24
My cats love this! It holds a lot of water and the filter keeps it fresh.
The motor gave us some issues. I had to pull it apart several times to get it to work.
I would buy this again as the cats love it, but i wish it had a better motor.
On: 2008-01-23
Our 3 cats no longer jump up on the kitchen sink whenever we turn the water on, they now have their very own running water faucet and hang out around it like a bunch of office workers around the water cooler. They love it and thanks to the Drinkwell Pet Fountain we no longer have urinary track infections in the cats. The water is well filtered and airriated for the better health of our cats. Laddie, Sammie and Holly say a big thank-you to Amazon for making this great product available at a very fair price.
On: 2008-01-20
Cant believe it...our cat was drinking water out of every sink, or bathtub. Now....kitty is happy with his drinkwell and gets plenty of water. This product is a winner in our household!
On: 2008-01-12
Our family has two cats that refused to drink from bowls and only wanted water from the sink. After the purchase of the Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain, we have reclaimed the sink. We have had the fountain for 2 months and have had no problems. The fountain is easy to clean and the cats prefer it over the sink!!!!
On: 2008-01-09
I like this fountain. More importantly, my two cats and two Lhasa Apso dogs love it. Like other reviewers have stated, my pets drink from the running stream in preference to the pool. I think that they drink more water from the fountain than from a bowl, which is good for their kidneys and overall health. Strangely, the cats drink more from our "Big Dog" fountain, and the dogs from this smaller one.
This fountain, as well as the other, require cleaning as often as any bowl would, which is about once a week for us. Cleaning it requires complete disassembly and special brushes (get the Drinkwell Cleaning Brushes), and is therefore much more complicated and time-consuming than regular bowls. It is worth this extra effort to me, but would not be for others. Also, it can be used with or without a special filter, which should be replaced from time to time. I choose to use them.
I have not owned this fountain long enough to have any issues with it. If interested, there are a lot of comments available regarding Drinkwell fountains by googling them.
On: 2008-01-08
I like this fountain. More importantly, my two cats and two Lhasa Apso dogs love it. Like other reviewers have stated, my pets drink from the running stream in preference to the pool. I think that they drink more water from the fountain than from a bowl, which is good for their kidneys and overall health. Strangely, the cats drink more from our "Big Dog" fountain, and the dogs from this smaller one.
This fountain, as well as the other, require cleaning as often as any bowl would, which is about once a week for us. Cleaning it requires complete disassembly and special brushes (get the Drinkwell Cleaning Brushes), and is therefore much more complicated and time-consuming than regular bowls. It is worth this extra effort to me, but would not be for others. Also, it can be used with or without a special filter, which should be replaced from time to time. I choose to use them.
I have not owned this fountain long enough to have any issues with it. If interested, there are a lot of comments available regarding Drinkwell fountains by googling them.
On: 2007-12-02
This is by far, the BEST water fountain on the market. My cats love it!!!!! Easy use and easy clean.....
On: 2007-11-26
We purchased the Fountain for our Cat. She loves it, because it actually has a stream of water. It needs to be cleaned at least about once a month, and we add a little water pretty much on a daily basis. For us its a perfect solution to our cat always wanting to drink fresh water from the faucet.
On: 2007-11-19
We have three water faucet-obsessed cats. We couldnt go near a faucet in our house with out all three of them attempting to drink from it. It was cute at first but quickly got annoying.
We bought this in hopes to cure them... it worked. First of all the fountain is really quiet, I am surprised people comment on the noise. You can also tweak the water pressure, which is nice because they like the slowest level.
It also holds tons of water, the extra reserve is great.
Finally, as I mentioned above, it has totally worked on getting them to stop lurking at every sink faucet (and toilet and shower) in the house.
On: 2007-11-18
We have three water faucet-obsessed cats. We couldnt go near a faucet in our house with out all three of them attempting to drink from it. It was cute at first but quickly got annoying.
We bought this in hopes to cure them... it worked. First of all the fountain is really quiet, I am surprised people comment on the noise. You can also tweak the water pressure, which is nice because they like the slowest level.
It also holds tons of water, the extra reserve is great.
Finally, as I mentioned above, it has totally worked on getting them to stop lurking at every sink faucet (and toilet and shower) in the house.
On: 2007-11-12
This is a wonderful way to get your kitties to drink more water, especially if you dont want to be running to the faucet each time they meow at you. LOL. The fountains do require a certain amount of maintenance to keep them running. You need to disassemble them and clean them weekly but I think it is worth it to keep my furchildren hydrated....
On: 2007-11-11
This is a wonderful way to get your kitties to drink more water, especially if you dont want to be running to the faucet each time they meow at you. LOL. The fountains do require a certain amount of maintenance to keep them running. You need to disassemble them and clean them weekly but I think it is worth it to keep my furchildren hydrated....
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