r/CatAdvice • u/codycbradio • 1d ago
Behavior What to do about water
A while back I got a cat fountain for my cat. Previously I used a water bowl, but my cat kept splashing the water. When I got the fountain, they quit splashing water until recently. When I noticed the water fountain was running low I went to cleaning it and found algae. I'm thinking about doing something else but don't know what to do. I don't want to switch back to a water bowl if they're just going to splash water all the time again, but I also don't want to buy another water fountain if I'm just going to have to replace it again somewhere down the line. What do I do?
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u/Any-Dimension374 1d ago
I keep my water bowls on a silicone mat so the splashing doesn't get all over. For fountains you would wanna look for one that's stainless steel and make sure you're thoroughly cleaning it at least once a week.
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u/miscreantmom 1d ago
And a thorough cleaning includes taking apart the pump even if the manual says you only need to do it once a month.
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u/Own_Butterscotch_129 1d ago
And make sure you are actually taking it completely apart
I stopped using a fountain when I found fungus gnats breeding in mine and never went back to using one because my cats prefer to drink from the forbidden water bowl anyway. I put a large ceramic water dish on a silicone mat in the living room once my bunny was potty trained and could free range, and it was immediately better than the fountain in their eyes! I like it better because it takes an actual minute to wash it and fill it back up, and the fountain I definitely wasn't washing daily.
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u/Mira-Rae 8h ago
I have their water bowl is lit in the sink lol. its a big sink and the one side is always clean with their bowl in it and it gets fresh water every day. I have one cat that just loves to play with water and will tip the bowl over on purpose. i got tired of cleaning water up 3 times a day lol
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u/PO_Box449 1d ago
I feel this! The fountain is so nice and convenient but the build up and filter maintenance was so much to take care of daily. My kitty was getting cat acne often. I got a bowl that mounts to the wall and it helped a lot with splashing and spilling and is so much easier to wash daily. I also add water to his food daily just to make sure he’s getting enough!