The Drinkwell Pet Fountain Review

The Verdict:  My cats love this water fountain. They drink more water now that we have it and seem to enjoy drinking from the stream. I like the sound of the trickling water.

Just the Facts:  We go to a cats only vet and during an open house at their office last summer I won a Drinkwell Pet Fountain in a raffle they had.  I entered the raffle hoping to win this prize (there were other prizes but I wanted the fountain) and was very pleased when they called to tell me I had won.

The Drinkwell is sort of like a combination well and waterfall for small pets.  I have the small version of this fountain which holds about 32 ounces of water.  I fill up the well/bowl portion of the unit, plug it in, and the water is sucked up thru a hole in the side of the well, thru the filter and then falls over the spout which is elevated about 5 inches.  The result is that the water is constantly filtered, is not standing, and has kind of a natural flow to it.  My cats seem to love catching the water on their tongues rather than sitting in front of a bowl and lapping it.  They can still lap it from the well if they want, but they seem to really dig the running water.  Sometimes I find my one cat just sitting and staring at the water. 

My cats really like water so I generally fill the well at least once a day to make sure that the motor doesn't dry up and burn out.  If the water level falls below a certain point the fountain will still work but it's kind of noisy and the water spits out a little so I like to keep it very full.

One nice feature about the Drinkwell Fountain is that the water flow can be controlled so that it ranges from a slow trickle to a faster and stronger flow.  I like the sound of the running water so for me it serves two purposes; providing fresh, filtered water to my cats, and a relaxation fountain for me.

When I first started using this fountain I had one concern.  About 10 years ago one of my cats had a lot of problems with swelling of her lips and gums.  It would come and go and the vet would always give her antibiotics (oh the joy of giving a cat a liquid medicine) and she would clear up.  Several years later we moved out of state and started seeing a new vet who instantly recognized the problem as an allergic reaction to plastic water dishes.  We immediately switched to clear glass or stainless steel and the problem never occurred again.  As the Drinkwell is made from plastic I was concerned that Molly would develop the fat lip problem again but she has not.

While I really like this unit, there are a few downsides:

1. It's kind of expensive.  The small unit that I won retails for over $50 and filters can be a bit pricey as well.

2. Cleaning the unit is a bit cumbersome.  The whole thing has to be taken apart and cleaned out which involves removing and reassembling some small parts.

3. The unit is made of hard plastic and mine cracked.  After a few months of use I noticed that it was leaking ever so slightly and found a hairline crack in the well.  I was able to fix it by applying caulk to the bottom, but it still kind of disappointed me.

Closing Argument:  I do really like the Drinkwell Pet Fountain as it filters my cats' water, they really seem to enjoy drinking from it, they are drinking more water, and I like the sound of the running water.  Four stars.  Deducted one star for the cost of the unit and its filters.