Does My Cat Need a Drinking Fountain?
Cats are known for not drinking a lot. In the following we will explain why this can be a problem for the health of your four-legged friend and whether it is worth buying a drinking fountain for your cat.
Why Cats Don't Drink a Lot
The ancestor of today's domestic cats is the African wildcat (Felis lybica), whose natural habitat is usually quite dry. This also manifests itself in the animals' drinking behaviour. Since they only have access to fresh water occasionally, their need for fluids is very low. In principle, this also applies to domestic cats, which for this reason usually drink only little amounts of water.
Possible Consequences of Insufficient Fluid Intake
Even though cats need relatively little water, the four-legged friends still have to drink a certain amount of liquid on a regular basis to stay healthy. If they don't, it can have consequences for their health. Especially the kidneys of the four-legged friends are put under considerable strain in the long run if there is no adequate fluid intake.
Over time, this can even lead to chronic kidney failure in cats, which then requires lifelong treatment and a special kidney diet. To prevent this from happening, make sure that your cat is drinking enough water. Especially if the four-legged friend is not fed exclusively with wet food, drinking fresh water regularly is crucial.
A Drinking Fountain for Cats as an Alternative to a Water Bowl
Many cats just don't get excited about a simple drinking bowl. Often this is due to the fact that its shape or size is not ideal or that the cat's drinking bowl is made of plastic. In addition, water left open in the bowl for several hours quickly smells unpleasant for cats.
That being said, most cats prefer to drink running water anyway. This has to do with the fact that the four-legged friends normally avoid standing water in the great outdoors, as this is often contaminated with pathogens.
It is therefore not uncommon to see your cat drink from the running tap in the bathroom- or kitchen sink. Of course, it makes no sense in terms of the costs and the burden on the environment to leave the tap on at home all day just to get your cat to drink sufficiently. However, you can take advantage of this preference of your four-legged friend by purchasing a drinking fountain for cats.
Drinking fountains imitate flowing water as the water in them constantly circulates thanks to a pump. This ensures that the water is rich in oxygen and can be enjoyed for longer. In addition, many drinking fountains for cats are equipped with an activated carbon filter. This keeps the water of your four-legged friend clean and germ-free. Furthermore, drinking fountains designed for cats have wide, flat bowls, from which the four-legged friends can drink particularly easily.
What to Look Out for when Buying a Drinking Fountain for Your Cat
There is a large selection of drinking fountains for cats. When buying, you can choose from numerous shapes and materials in very different price ranges. Particularly inexpensive models are made of plastic. Despite their low acquisition costs, they can only be recommended to a limited extent, as bacteria and germs can grow quite easily on the plastic.
In addition, the plastic scratches quickly when it is cleaned. This not only looks unattractive, but also promotes the colonisation of germs. Apart from that, the inherent odour of plastic is repulsive to many cats. This often leads to cats not touching a plastic drinking fountain any more than their normal drinking bowl.
Instead of a plastic model, we therefore recommend that you use a stainless steel or ceramic drinking fountain. Both are much more robust, do not scratch easily and can usually even be cleaned in the dishwasher. Such a drinking fountain may be a bit more expensive. On the other hand, the chances that your cat will actually drink from it are much higher and you can very likely count on a longer lifespan.
In addition to different materials, when buying the cat fountain, you can also choose between models that are shaped like a real fountain and models in which the water flows down several levels. Which variant is the right one cannot be said in general, since every four-legged friend will prefer something different.
Regardless of the material and the model, you should opt for the quietest possible one; otherwise the sound of the pump's motor in the cat fountain can sooner or later become annoying.
Where Should the Drinking Fountain be Placed?
In addition to choosing the right model, choosing the right spot for the cat's drinking fountain is almost as important. You should not place the cat fountain in the immediate vicinity of the food bowl, as otherwise your four-legged friend is more likely to go to its food than to the drinking water.
Of course, there is also no suitable place for the cat's drinking fountain right next to the litter box. Why this is so, should be self-evident. If possible, choose a location for the cat fountain that is not in direct sunlight and where your cat can rest while drinking.
Drinking Fountains for Cats – Our Conclusion
As you can see, having a drinking fountain can be vital in helping your cat take in enough fluids. Buying a cat fountain is definitely something that you should consider, especially in view of the possible overburdening of the kidneys through permanently insufficient fluid intake. This is especially true if your four-legged friend mainly eats dry cat food and only touches water from a normal drinking bowl in exceptional cases.