Cat fountains and litter boxes: What not to buy

[GirlinContempt]

I recently spent around $60 on one of these:

http://habitrail.com/canada/english/cats/addinfo/catit_fountain.html

Best $60 I ever spent on my cats. We have 4, so I wanted a large fountain. The whole dome is running water, and the large dish is perfect for multiple cats. They've probably at least tripled their water intake, they love it so much. They get mad when I go to refill it and the water stops running for a couple of minutes.

But, I also bought new litter boxes. Three of these:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755055

The claim is you never have to scoop again! Well let me tell you, my experiences sucked.
You lift the sifting tray up through the litter, where it's supposed to catch everything and then be easily emptied into a bag. Well, urine just gets stuck in the holes, meaning you have to clean it every day for it to be effective. Stuff gets stuck under the tray, so scooping is needed. Them you put the sifting tray in the extra empty litter box, and pour the litter from the first box over top.
At least as much work as scooping.
I wouldn't recommend it.

Aaaaaand that's all.

[MissB]

1. If you don't give them so much water, you won't have to clean the litter box as much.

:rofl:

Kidding, kidding.

I don't have a litter box, though. I can't stand those things. The kitties go outside when they need to go.

[GirlinContempt]

3. I can't let my kitties outside.

It's not allowed, and there are lots of raccoons and cars and scary things. And they're all declawed. The family cats my parents declawed when we were kids, and the others were adopted that way. Though my Ion cat still manages to catch birds and rabbits without claws when he's naughty and escapes.

Maybe I should toilet train them? :P

[MissB]

7. I bet I still have a copy of "how to toilet train your cat" around here.

Cats, not surprisingly, aren't that trainable. :rofl:

I understand about the not-letting-them out. Mine are indoor/outdoor but only because we're semi-rural and have some property.

[bicentennial_baby]

2. Clean that fountain very often!!

I went to clean ours and the entire inside was coated with slime. It was disgusting. No more fountain for kitteh. I'm going to get a different kind, I think.

:hi:

[GirlinContempt]

4. Once a week

And when I do clean it, it isn't dirty. (well, not visibly dirty I mean)
Have you tried this one? It's really really fab! They have a smaller one too for less cats.

But, as with anything they eat or drink out of or go to the bathroom in, it gets cleaned min once a week :)

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Ours was very similar to that one...

If I can find a way to fully clean it out, I'll use it again. I do have a whole pack of filters to use up anyway. :)

[GirlinContempt]

6. I dunno what yours is like inside

but I know with ours, you just take off the dome, and wipe the whole thing down with hot water and mild soap, same with the dome, and run warm soapy water through the inside of the dome. Then rinse the dome interior really really well.

I do notice that when one of the cats who's a really sloppy eater uses it, it gets kind of mucky as he leaves junk behind in the water while he's drinking. I don't know how he does it, he's the only one, but maybe thats part of the problem?

[IntravenousDemilo]

8. Mucky water is from when they don't close their mouths when they chew their food.

I have a brother who does that. Not close his mouth when he chews, I mean.

[GirlinContempt]

9. Damn rude cat

:D

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Nah, that's what bleach is for. That keeps the slime down.

[ronnykmarshall]

11. I bought a cat fountain .... I don't think they like it.

I'll try out the one you have.

[GirlinContempt]

13. You need to give them time to get used to it.

[ronnykmarshall]

16. They like to play with it!

But I'm still going to get one like you have.

Our new house has more space and I'd like to keep another on in the dinning room or the office.

[wicket]

12. I've been thinking about getting one of those fountains for my babies

Thanks for the rec! :hi:

[GirlinContempt]

14. It takes some getting used to

but when they do, they all seem to love it. All my friends with them say their cats love them too

[davsand]

15. I had bad luck with pet fountains until I made my own.

I live in an area with hard water--VERY hard water. I went thru two fountains that would not allow for replacement of the pump before I finally just made my own with parts I can replace as needed. The cat loves it, and I honestly think that the landscape pump that I put in it is much heartier than the ones in the pet fountains. I have used it for over two years (as opposed to the pet fountains that lasted at best six months.) If you think about it, those landscape pumps are MADE with the idea of coping with leaves and stuff getting in there--they are tough.

Buy a landscape pump like they use in water gardens along with a big plastic tub (like Rubbermaid sells for storage.) The tub should be about cat high but fairly wide. The pump's specs call for a specific diameter of hose, which you can buy by the foot. Set the pump in the bottom and adjust the water flow so it doesn't spray all over the house. (Don't laugh, I had an AWFUL mess setting that flow rate. I thought the cat was gonna need water wings...)

You can take that thing apart and clean the daylights our of it and you can pull whatever part that is a problem out of it and put a new one in. I do break mine down occasionally and run some white vinegar in it for a few hours to clear any mineral buildup that can occur. Similarly, you can scrub out (or replace!) the hose if it starts to get icky If you really want a filter on it you can put an aquarium filter with charcoal in it and it will help with some of the "cat spit" issues that are inevitable.

YMMV.




Laura

[bbernardini]

17. We just got a ScoopFree litter box:

http://www.scoopfree.com/

It's a variation on the automatic-cleaning litter boxes that use a rake to separate waste from the litter. However, this one uses crystals, which supposedly absorb the urine and dry out the solid waste. The idea is that you use replacement cartridges which, when used by only one cat, only need to be changed once a month. However, we have more than that, so I bought extra crystals and remove the solid waste once or twice a week. (Otherwise, the replacement cartridges would be cost-prohibitive.) So far, it's a lot cleaner and less prone to clogging than the other automatic litter boxes we have (which use regular litter). Much quieter, too.

[ronnykmarshall]

18. That looks like fun!

Hell, I'll poop in it!

[applegrove]

19. Thanks for the warning. I might have bought that cat box. Also I once

had a small fountain that dispersed running water. My cat was afraid of it.

[GirlinContempt]

20. Mine were scared at first

after about a week they got over it

[yellowdogintexas]

21. I bought sifter boxes for my kitties. When I had super clumping

litter it worked great, then I tried a new dust free litter made of recycled paper and had mondo problems with the urine not getting absorbed. replaced with superclumping Arm and Hammer and much improvement occurred. I like them but they can get heavy.

There is no perfect kitty box, unfortunately