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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Cat drinking fountain?

35 replies

Darker · 05/07/2026 17:26

Yes or no?

I’m mesmerised by the ads extolling the benefit of a fountain, rather than a bowl.

Would this be a waste of money?

Any tips?

OP posts:
GentleSheep · 05/07/2026 17:28

When I had 3 cats they loved it. They would queue up to drink from it in the morning! So yes, I was glad I bought one.

dancingdeidre · 05/07/2026 17:28

One of my cats will only drink moving water and the other drinks more from the fountain. Worth it for us.

MerylSqueak · 05/07/2026 17:29

My cat was terrified.

MerylSqueak · 05/07/2026 17:31

She is a total wuss though. She's also terrified of her vibrating mouse toy 🙄

Littletreefrog · 05/07/2026 17:32

Mine hated it as it gave off a hum even though apparently this was a super quiet one. Whenever we are in the kitchen we leave the tap dribbling for her and she loves that.

tinyspiny · 05/07/2026 17:41

Ours will only drink from a fountain , she has one on each floor .

WhatHappenedToYourFurnitureCuz · 05/07/2026 17:45

All of mine love it. Anything that encourages cats to drink is a good investment, especially if you feed them dried food.

Pieceofpurplesky · 05/07/2026 17:54

Mine won't drink out of a bowl. Or the drinking fountain. She will drink out of the water feature thing outside and the dirty pond - she's 19 so I think it might be her water of life!

GloriousGoosebumps · 05/07/2026 18:26

Not quite what you asked, but we have a cat fountain which works via gravity rather than electricity and that’s been quite successful. I bought it from Argos but a quick look shows they only have the electric ones now. There’s no noise part from the odd gurgle and the bottle holding the water is large enough to mean that we don’t have to refill it too frequently.

WimbleOfWombledon · 05/07/2026 18:27

Can anyone recommend a nice quiet one? - want to but one for DCat but he’s scared of everything!

OfDragonsDeep · 05/07/2026 18:31

Do the cats put their paws in them and flick the water everywhere?

leporello · 05/07/2026 18:34

Mine isn't interested and will only drink water out of my glass 😐

WhatHappenedToYourFurnitureCuz · 05/07/2026 19:08

WimbleOfWombledon · 05/07/2026 18:27

Can anyone recommend a nice quiet one? - want to but one for DCat but he’s scared of everything!

I have this one and it's very quiet: https://share.google/E50KMZsGIYSzrxgJA

My scaredy cat is fine with it.

RotatingPenguin · 05/07/2026 19:17

We have the daisy one. It only makes a noise when the water needs topping up.

tinyspiny · 05/07/2026 19:17

Ours has the Catit Pixi as well , upstairs she has the rechargeable motion detecting one which is even quieter .

Helpforahoarder · 05/07/2026 19:17

OfDragonsDeep · 05/07/2026 18:31

Do the cats put their paws in them and flick the water everywhere?

My cats do this - then they dig their paws right in it and tip it over flooding the floor.

it’s now banned in our house although I may let them have it this summer on an Extension mead in the garden.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 05/07/2026 19:20

We have one from Amazon. Cat prefers his bowl in the living room but he does drink from it sometimes.

SuitcaseAndSecrets · 05/07/2026 19:26

My cat prefers it.. my daughters have cats.. they all prefer it
Amazon are good for them.( Change filter often).

Davros · 05/07/2026 19:32

OfDragonsDeep · 05/07/2026 18:31

Do the cats put their paws in them and flick the water everywhere?

My three I’ve tried them with have never stuck their paws in. I just see it as a back up in case they don’t get enough mucky water outside or there’s no one to run the tap

sweetpickle2 · 05/07/2026 19:39

Mine only drinks moving water- either a fountain or out the tap.

We've tried a few over the years, this one is the most inoffensive looking, easiest to refill/clean, and is totally silent- https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7LK7M63?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

Amazon

Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7LK7M63?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-the-litter-tray-5550820-cat-drinking-fountain

NeverDropYourMooncup · 05/07/2026 19:49

Mine tried to convince me that it was a complete waste of money and that they would never lower themselves to drink non green water. The elderly cat particularly wanted to worry me as she stopped jumping up onto the sink and demanding the tap was turned on for her (or stealing an unattended glass DP thought would be perfectly fine where he left it).

Little gits were using it at night or in brief little passes on the way back from the litter boxes when they thought nobody would catch them. They did prefer it to be sort of hidden so they felt safe when using it (could go with their backs facing the wall to avoid a surprise attack from the other cat).

I'm not keen on the plastic ones as they attract a lot of limescale, which is harder to remove from plastic than metal or china - and the pump needs taking out and cleaning in all of them - but it's definitely been worth it to know that there is always a secretly acceptable water option 24/7.

MiddleAgedDread · 05/07/2026 19:53

Dcat is obsessed with water and often found in the bath or on the sink waiting for a tap to drip! He drinks out of this, it’s completely silent. https://www.amazon.co.uk/PETLIBRO-Stainless-Mains-Powered-Dockstream-Dispenser/dp/B0F62F4C6Q

Amazon

Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PETLIBRO-Stainless-Mains-Powered-Dockstream-Dispenser/dp/B0F62F4C6Q?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-the-litter-tray-5550820-cat-drinking-fountain

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 05/07/2026 20:28

One cat loved it, one, the one that drank from taps, hated it. This one (and the dogs) were shit scared of it. Gave it to a colleague, her cats fight over it. Dickhead cats.

Gofaster2023 · 05/07/2026 20:31

leporello · 05/07/2026 18:34

Mine isn't interested and will only drink water out of my glass 😐

Mine too. He likes to paddle in the dog's water bowl too. Out fountain was rehomed to someone with a normal cat.

Jurassicparka · 05/07/2026 22:35

I got one in case they ran out of water in the bowl in this heat. A couple of weeks in, one prefers bowl but now also uses fountain and one immediately preferred the fountain. We have this one because the plastic one id had in the past tended to get worn and scratched somehow and so harder to clean. https://amzn.eu/d/0cb4fXaR

Amazon

Amazon

https://amzn.eu/d/0cb4fXaR?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-the-litter-tray-5550820-cat-drinking-fountain