The Most Healthy Water Fountain
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Cats Really Prefer Water that is Moving for Drinking
Our cute little house cats are very closely related to their much larger relatives in the wild. Lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs etc. are just like Fluffy, Tiffany, and Shadow in most ways. In the wild the big cats instincts tell them flowing moving water is healthier and safer. This helps with potential fungus, bacteria, snakes, crocodiles and other potential hazards that call water areas home. Another helpful fact is that these big cats in the wild do NOT like to drink near where they ate. House cats also have this preference although maybe night quite as strong. If you can set up food and water in separate spots that is best. We have a couple where food and water are near each other and additional set ups where they are more separated.
Our cats at home feel the same way. They possess the same instincts. Most cats are drawn to and more likely to get regular drinks from a flowing fountain than just a bowl of water. A bowl of fresh clean water isn’t bad it’s just that a fountain is better.
Male cats in particular can suffer from some serious health issues if they don’t drink enough water. They can develop crystals in their urinary tract that are very painful and can be fatal. There many are other health issues that cats can suffer if not properly hydrated. Just like their humans, cats need plenty of water to be healthy.
All Water Fountains are NOT Alike
We did a lot of research on water fountains for our cats. Plastic for a fountain is a definite no no. Plastic is porous which makes the surface impossible to clean. You can rinse and scrub with whatever you want and as soon as it dries it’s still dirty. It’s unclean even though it looks clean. Plastic is cheaper, but it also has the potential to leech toxic chemicals into your beloved cat’s water. Whatever you can do to encourage your cats to drink water is helpful.
Ceramic is better. Glass is even better than ceramic, but we didn’t see many glass options for fountains. We do use glass for all of our food and drinking bowls since it’s not porous and is easy to get very clean.
The ultimate winner for our water fountain was stainless steel. Now be careful here because not all stainless steel is equal either. The reason we don’t use steel for our other bowls is because there are some toxins in stainless steel that can leech into your pet’s food and water. Aluminum is one of them that has can cause several health problems.
Our research indicated that medical grade stainless steel is perfectly safe. It’s the same material used for medical equipment for humans. It’s fairly lightweight, very easy to clean, and the surface is completely free of any potential toxins or hazards.
After much searching we finally found a medical grade, stainless steel cat water fountain by ORSDA.
This water fountain is very easy to clean and work with. We have had it for awhile now with no issues. The quality is superior and most importantly the cats really like and use it often.
Even Squish likes it and she is pretty picky about water fountains, faucets, etc.
This fountain was easy to set up and we use Reverse Osmosis water for it to make it as healthy as possible. One thing we have learned over the years is that spending extra money early on for our pets with better quality food, water, supplements, and checkups, not only makes them healthier and happier, but it saves a lot of money in the long run. Most of our pets don’t seem to get sick much until they are older. We have had multiple cats live past 20 years. This cuts way down on chronic health issues, expensive treatments and medications, and the overall number of vet visits per pet.
I really recommend that all cat owners look into water fountains. Your cats will thank you and so will your bank account in the future.
