Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain

I have been using the Platinum Drinkwell pet fountain for over a year and I don't have a single complaint about it. Great Item!

It is very silent, the only time when it becomes noisy it's when the water runs low, which incidentally comes in handy so that one can top-up when needed. As soon as the motor is totally covered with water (about 1.5") the noise stops. The fridge is noisier! The level can be easily maintained my leaving the reservoir at the back full, so that the water level self-regulates.

The motor can be easily switched off from the mains, but I never do, so that the water is always running and filtered, and I have not noticed any change in my electricity bill. Other than their Kw prices going up!

In order to clean it, it has to be dismantled, but it is a job that a 5 year old can easily do. The see-through water tank at the back comes off easily for top-ups, and the rest is a two-piece affair, bottom tray and filter case separate in one motion, plus the tiny motor inside (1x1.5"), which needs to be descaled once a month in hard water areas, and a couple of bits and bobs (flow lever and hair-catcher)which come off for thorough cleaning and are very easy to put back in place when re-mounting the thing together.

It takes me in total 5 minutes to wash and clean everything, and there is no unreachable part. The hardest to reach is the pipe which connects to the motor, it's about 4 inches long and with a small bottle brush it cleans in seconds. No bleach needs to be used, I use washing up liquid and vinegar, and it's just dandy.

If you compare to washing and filling one or more bowls daily, it's actually a time saver! And that's without counting the other benefits of running water (cleaner, no hair/dust/rotting food bits floating, cats drink more).

The fountain should be cleaned once weekly, but I have been leaving it for two weeks once (pet sitter didn't want to clean it!) and the water did not smell at all, in fact because of the charcoal filter (a padded thing with a white and a black side which can be rinsed, without using soap) it ran clear as always, and there has not been any green algae, EVER!

There is a two-position lever switch on the front to regulate the flow of water slower or faster, and in neither position there is any noise whatsoever.

This is the only model on the market featuring a spout which makes the water cascade down, something that my cats prefer to the water-slide of other models.

My cats started drinking from it directly, and I have to top the water up daily, which means they are well hydrated! And they also play with the water flow occasionally.

In a multi-cat household, water runs out from bowls real quickly, without counting the possibility of the bowl being tipped while you're out!
But a pet fountain would benefit all, even only pets, as drinking lots of water will prevent kidney disease and possibly a lot of other nasty conditions.

Go for it!

I have had several drinking systems for my cats, including a simple bowl, and this is the only one that just works. It is built solidly and works without a fuss - and my cats love to drink from it.

Before I got the Drinkwell, my cats would often refuse to drink except from the tap, and when I refused them this one of them actually got a kidney stone! In comparison to the aggravation, pain and cost of having that removed, the Drinkwell is an easy choice to make :)

The drinkwell provides clean water for a long period of time and needs to be refilled only once per week for my two cats. Cleaning it is simple, except for the water container where green furry stuff tends to grow and the container needs a good scrub at least every other week. The carbon filter inside the Drinkwell itself means that the water the cats actually get to always is nice and clean.

My cats were enjoying using the Drinkwell Platimium for a little over 7 months and I then found water on the floor and the inner side that slots into the body had split. I have just read that the guarantee period is only six months for how much it cost I expected that it would be at least a year.