Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain 168oz

I have two cats and I definteley spoil them rotten! When I first decided to get a water fontain for my cats I chose the Petmate Freshflow over the Drinkwell because the Drinkwell was more expensive and I was completely against the idea of listening to running water all day. Unlike most customers I've heard from the Petmate worked farily well as a water BOWL. It was easy to clean and my pump never stopped working as I've read many others did. However, the water running down the little ramp really didn't satisfy my cats. They did drink from it, but they would still jump at any chance to drink running water out of a faucet which is the whole reason I started thinking about getting them one in the first place. About a ear and a half later I started thinking about getting them a new one and possibly going with the more expensive Drinkwell this time. I saw the new Drinkwell Platinum and decided to go with it right away. The Platinum is more expensive than both the previous models I was looking at but it is definteley worth the extra cost. It's like Drinkwell took all the criticism and praise for both thier design and their competitors and created an exceptional pet drinking fontain. I have had my Platinum for about 5 months now and have been very pleased with it. The Drinkwell team designed the water outlet so that it would minimize the water from braiding which cuts down on the water noise. In fact at the setting I have mine, about mid way between low and mid level, I can't hear it at all! They also put a little debris trap before the water even gets to the pump which should greatly increase the pumps life. The water resevoir is also much bigger than that of my Petmate and the Drinkwell's optional larger resevoir on their original design. All and all I veiw this as a time where a company actually went out there and designed their product by what thier customers wanted!!! So after reading all that you maybe wondering why I only gave this product 4 stars. Well the one thing that I would really like to see is that the actual bowl area be made of stainless steel or some ceramic mix which is totally what I have been told by several vets is the BEST material for any pet to be drinking/eating out of. If they were to add that one extra feature than I would give this 5 stars out of 5 hands down!!!!!!

02/01/10 Update:

I now have four cats (as of January 2009) and they all love this fountain.

This is my cat Rachel; she is the reason I got this fountain because should would not drink standing water. Cats usually prefer moving water to drink. When you feed only hard food, it is especially important that they drink more because there is no moisture in their meal. If they don't they could develop urinary tract problems.

What I like about this fountain is that the filter lasts 3 months (about 2 months if you have a multiple cat household). It also has a large reservoir. As a result, I only have to fill the tank about 2-3 times a week for my 4 cats. I also make sure I clean the entire unit weekly. The pump should also be taken apart and cleaned periodically, which is easy to do as shown in the instructions. I usually clean the pumping mechanism out every two weeks.

What I also like about this fountain is that it has a grate in front of the pumping mechanism that prevents a lot of hair from getting into the pump. You just lift the grate up every few days to clean off the hair.

Rachel likes her water chilled and the other cats have gotten use to this as well. So you can put ice cubes into the tray and the cats will have ice water in a few minutes. This is refreshing in warm weather; but for my cats I do it all year long because Rachel requests it.

There is also an "off-use" benefit to this fountain. One time I burned my fingers and (after putting ice cubes in the water) held my fingers under this fountain for a couple of hours until the swelling subsided. This allowed me not to waste water and to keep the temperature on my hands cold.

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I'm with an animal rescue group so we have a lot of cats. Needless to say we loved the original Drinkwell because it attracts the cats over to drink more water. The new design of the Platinum Drinkwell is even better as far as attracting the cats... however, there are a couple of design flaws which are making these more work for us. The reservoir cannot stand up independently like the old one. You have to hold it or lean it against something sturdy in order to refill it as it is curved shape. Additionally, when we flip it back over no matter how careful we are water leaks out. The opening to the reservoir and shape of it also do not allow for easy cleaning. The only new feature we like a lot is the little "gate" in front of the motor area which helps us keep cat hair and fuzzies out. A plus to any Drinkwell would be if the top of the unit actually snapped into place and could not be removed by the animals. We find the cats think the top of this is a new toy and they bat it all over the house we have had to remove it entirely which unfortunately only leads to more hair / fuzzies being able to get into the unit. As a rescue we refill the Drinkwells 2 or 3 times a day and while we like the Platinum one because it holds more water the fact that we can't stand the reservoir up by itself is a deterrent. We won't be purchasing more of them and will probably go back to using the original version.

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I tried a competitors product that I got at a discount store first. The first day of use my 2 small dogs & 1 cat were not as excited as I was but they eventually started to drink from it. The competitors product was ok but it was noisy, smaller & had a small water reservoir.

Once I saw that they would drink from it, I then ordered the Drinkwell Platinum Fountain from Amazon. It was twice the price of the competitor but I think it is well worth it & they all drank from it right away.

The Drinkwell is very quiet, holds much more water & the pump is much better. The pump allows me to control the water flow which I keep at high to keep the water fresher by filtering more.

Since getting the Drinwell, Ive noticed that they all drink more often & drink more at each visit. I refill the water reservoir sometimes twice a day & its a large reservoir. Its just that they are all literally drinking so much more water. I feel bad that Ive made them drink from a bowl of stagnant, dusty, warm, spit filled water for all these years. But they love this fresh, cool, filtered water & it shows by the amount they drink.

I dont have the problems with refilling it that some seem to have although the reservoir dose drip after you turn it over. I just hold a paper towel under it while I walk from the sink to the bowl.

It was very easy to take apart & clean & it just snaps back together. One thing I didnt fully understand until I took it apart to clean was that its better to not just refill the reservoir when it gets low but to actually empty it, rinse it & then refill it. The water in the reservoir becomes part of the entire water system once place in its holder. So it seems to make sense to empty the contaminated water & then refill completely with fresh water.

I dont know if this is the best pet fountain on the planet but it is certainly a great one & I have no doubt that my pets are far better off since they started using it.

EDIT UPDATE:

Im still using this same fountain I purchased a year ago & I am still very satisfied with it.

This is a great product!

EDIT UPDATE:

Its now December 2009 & I am still using the same pet fountain that I wrote about in 2007 plus I purchased another that Ive had for more than a year. I have them running next to each other.

I have 4 dogs & 2 cats that share them.

My routine is to take them apart & clean them with warm soap & water every other Saturday. Ive got 8 filters & I change out 2 every week, wash & rinse them very well then let them air dry then put them in order so they arent used again for another month.

Kind of anal I know but it works...

I just cant say enough good things about these pet fountains!

EDIT UPDATE:

It is now April 2011 & yes Im still using the same water fountains. Incredible. However, I did have to purchase a new pump last year but still this fountain has been a great value.

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We recently got a new kitten (4 months old) who is always trying to drink water from anywhere BUT his water dish. He's always jumping up to drink out of the bathroom sink, or out of the bath tub, or if some water spills on the floor then he will lick that up too. Anyway, I wished that he was drinking more, but couldn't leave the faucet running all day.

He seemed to be a good cat candidate for the drinkwell fountain system since he was into the running water. I bought the drinkwell and the instant that I plugged it in my cat was overjoyed. He was pawing at the stream of water and playing with it. He was drinking straight from the stream, he was drinking from the bowl. Now we have had the drinkwell for five days and he has drank more water than ever before. I had to refill the reservoir this morning because it was getting low! Its amazing, and my cat is no longer jumping into sinks and bath tubs because of it. Sometimes he just sits in front of the drinkwell and watches it like he's wishing he was more thirsty. I swear.

I agree with all of the other positive reviews for this product. The sound of the water falling from the fountain is audible but not intrusive or annoying.

A tip that I have found about the sound of the motor: It seems that as there is less water in the reservoir the motor becomes louder. Something about the pressure or the weight of the full reservoir keeps it a quieter machine. Oh, and when the reservoir is full the motor is pretty much silent. I couldn't be more pleased.

Another tip: It says right in the drinkwell manual that the filters for this product are OPTIONAL. So if you are giving your cat water from an already filtered system, then don't waste your money on buying more filters.

My cat would give this product 6 stars if he could.

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