Best Cat Water Fountains for Cats Who Ignore Bowls
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The title of this article is almost a misnomer. The best cat water fountain, as in a cat’s favorite thing that dispenses water? lol. Does such a thing even exist? We all know cats and water are not always friends, so to think they can have a favorite object that dispenses water feels like a lie. LOL. But alas, it can happen! We’ve used water fountains since I can remember, mostly because Thelma and Louis got into a very annoying habit of knocking over every water bowl they saw as kittens, because let’s admit it: I’m sure it was fun.
Over the years we’ve gone through a few of them. Most were fine, the cats drank from them and they did the job, but they were all plastic, and plastic is the thing to watch, because mold forms down in the crevices you can’t really get to.
The one we use now has a stainless steel basin, and that’s the whole reason I like it. I’ve never found mold in its crevices. A little still shows up on some of the parts, but it gets filtered out, so that makes me feel good.
What cat owners actually report
We’re not the only ones who landed on “the material matters more than anything.” Here’s what owners say:
“I have a stainless steel one and clean it once a week and take the pump apart and clean that 1-2 times a month and it gets gross but not as gross as I would say as the plastic ones I’ve had in the past.”
— via Reddit.com
“The water fountain is 100% worth it. Stays cleaner and gets my cats to drink SO much more water. My older cat especially has a real thing about moving water. We used to have to let the bathroom sink drip constantly and I hated that.”
— via Reddit.com
“TBH this will be driven by your cat’s preferences so you might need to try a few models before you’re successful.”
— via Reddit.com
Why Cats Prefer Moving Water
The most common theory: in the wild, still water sources are more likely to be stagnant or contaminated. Moving water, streams, runoff, is fresher and safer. Cats evolved a preference for it, and that instinct persists in apartment cats who have never seen a stream.
According to Cornell’s Feline Health Center, the moving-water preference is also why many cats drink from running faucets or even toilet bowls (please don’t let them do that one). A fountain gives you the moving-water benefit without your cat learning that the bathroom sink is a beverage station.
One note on that pink film you’ll eventually find: it’s a bacteria called Serratia marcescens that grows in damp plastic, which is why a stainless or ceramic drinking surface and a weekly clean make such a difference.
The fountain we actually use
The one we use now is a cordless model with a stainless steel drinking tray. I would say it’s definitely the one I’d buy. We’ve had no problems with it, the cats like it, it’s quiet, and we’ve never had one die on us.
The cordless part is genuinely great. Here’s how we run it: we have two of them, one plugged in so that base is always charged, and the other one not plugged in, so that one is truly wireless. We just switch the bases out every week, so there’s always a charged one ready to go.
PETLIBRO Cordless Cat Water Fountain (Stainless Steel Tray)
The cordless, stainless-tray fountain we actually use. Battery base, quiet pump, and the parts that need washing are dishwasher-safe.
Cleaning, which is most of the work
With the two fountains, we try to clean them every week. It’s on our list. Sometimes it goes a few days longer than that, I’ll be honest, but we try to replace the filters every couple of weeks and clean the fountain itself every week. The stainless basin is a big part of why this one stays manageable, the gunk that does show up is on the easy-to-reach parts, not buried in a plastic crevice somewhere.
If it makes you feel any better about your own slime situation, you are very much not alone:
“the slime is the WORST !!!!”
— via Reddit.com
“I have a Catit fountain with the exact same pink slime and using filtered water didn’t change anything. Thought I was crazy finding that stuff all over the pump.”
— via Reddit.com
Noise
This part is simple: we do not hear it at all. It’s very quiet, which is great, because a pump you can hear from the next room is a pump a sound-sensitive cat will avoid. If a fountain is loud enough to annoy you, assume it’s annoying your cat more.
Other picks worth knowing about
These are the fountains that come up over and over in owner threads, with the real-world notes attached.
PetSafe Drinkwell (ceramic). The durability favorite, and the one stainless/ceramic holdouts keep recommending.
“Petsafe ceramic drinkwell, mine has been chugging along well for 3 years now. I replace the filter sponge every 6 months or so and everything is dishwasher safe except for the pump.”
— via Reddit.com
PetSafe Drinkwell Ceramic Pet Fountain
The durability pick. Ceramic, quiet, dishwasher-safe except the pump, and owners report years of use out of it.
Catit Flower (plastic). Cheap, well-loved by cats, but it’s the plastic-and-slime tradeoff in a nutshell.
“I have this Catit brand. It is plastic, which isn’t the best. I’ll be upgrading to stainless steel in the near future. But regardless, my cats adore it.”
— via Reddit.com
Catit Flower Fountain (3L)
Cheap and a reliable cat favorite. It’s plastic, though, so plan on a diligent weekly clean.
When Thelma comes in
Sometimes your cat picks the bowl anyway. I don’t really know how Thelma ended up with this fishbowl. We got it as a toy, the kind with a little turtle in it, and then we just noticed she’d started drinking from it. She used to drink from the fountains, and she still will if we take the bowl away from her. But for some reason I feel like she drinks more water out of the bowl with the turtle in it, so the fact that she’s drinking at all makes us happy.
We try to wash it as much as we can. We put it in the dishwasher once and she boycotted it for a few days, so now we just do it by hand.
Louis is a different story. His diet consists of mostly wet food, so we’re less worried about water for him. We do see him sneakily drink from it sometimes, but it’s not something we often see. But the vet says that he’s good when it comes to hydration.
Where to start
If you’ve never owned a fountain and you just want the short version: get a stainless steel or ceramic drinking surface if you possibly can. The plastic ones work, but the mold-in-the-crevices thing is real, and it’s the reason people give up on fountains. Whatever you buy, plan to clean it every week and swap the filter every couple of weeks, because the fountain itself isn’t the work, the cleaning is.
And if your cat still snubs the whole thing for a bowl with a turtle in it? That’s allowed. A cat who’s actually drinking is the entire goal.
Hi! I’m Lindsay. I run this site alongside my hubs Cory and our very opinionated cats, Thelma and Louis. We’re so happy you’re here!
