I bought a ThirstyCat fountain after my wonderful rescue kitty nearly died from bladder stones. He liked and used the fountain enough that I soon bought a second fountain. After more than a year of daily use, the fountains are still working well and more importantly so is my cat. He has not had a recurrence of bladder stones and in fact his overall health is much improved. He no longer has litter box issues and his chin acne is completely gone. Both his veterinarian and I attribute these changes to his much improved hydration from these fountains.
I spent less than $300 including shipping on two beautiful fountains from ThirstyCat — compare that with about $1000 in vet bills for diagnostics, sedation, catheterization and intensive care for one seriously ill cat. Not to mention his pain, suffering and extreme stress. After his urethral blockage I did try the $60/bag prescription urinary cat food but he wouldn’t eat it, hardheaded little beast that he is, so that was $60 wasted. The vet had mentioned that some cats don’t find it palatable. My cat now has the best of both worlds in that he can eat the food he enjoys while remaining free from bladder issues.
The cleaning/maintenance on the fountains is really easy and takes me less than five minutes about once a week for both fountains. I imagine if you have more than one cat or only one fountain you will probably need to clean it somewhat more frequently, but this works well for us.
The upfront cost of the ThirstyCat fountains definitely put me off for a while. I’m a stickler for living within my means — I budget absolutely everything, and if I can’t afford it I don’t buy it. After reading a couple pages of “top ten” or “best” pet fountains online, the cheap plastic fountains seemed like the way to go. Except, after I spent about $50 including shipping, the fountain I bought developed “slime” (bacterial biofilm) and the pet-safe products I used to remove the biofilm must have imparted an odor to the plastic, so my cat refused to use it. So that was $50 I might as well have lit on fire! My budgeting brain was deeply unhappy; you’re not saving any money if you buy something cheap that doesn’t work. I read more information and actual owner reviews online and decided a ceramic fountain would work best, but the $140-170 cost of the ThirstyCat fountain seemed like a lot of money for essentially a bowl with an aquarium motor. I continued to read reviews including ones for cheaper ceramic fountains (both factory and handmade) and realized that every single one of those cheaper fountains has significant drawbacks. Either they have a lot of hidden/recurring maintenance costs, they’re difficult or impossible to fully clean, or they consistently have problems with leaking/splashing because they’re badly designed and/or poorly made. Even if they cost maybe $50 less, with all those issues none of the cheaper fountains seemed like a wise purchase. Whereas there were just no real negative reviews of these fountains — a couple people were dumbfounded by physics (what? a ceramic bowl chips or breaks when dropped from height onto a hard surface? shocking) (incidentally, while packing for a move I managed to drop one of my fountains onto carpet — no chips or cracks, still in perfect condition). A few people were very unhappy that international shipping on a big heavy breakable object wasn’t magically free. Some reviewers seemed to have had particularly anxious cats, writing that their cats were scared of the waterfall on the model of fountain they purchased. I couldn’t find any other negative reviews from people who actually owned these fountains, which genuinely surprised me given how easy it is to hate on things online.
When I divided the initial cost of one of the bubble-up fountains over the course of a year, the ThirstyCat fountain cost about $12 a month. Totally reasonable, not a problem to fit in the budget, and as a bonus it’s supporting a locally owned small business that takes care of its workers and contributes to the community.
I’ve recommended these fountains to friends and other cat owners because I think they’re easily the best purchase you can make for your cat. For male cats especially, given their high susceptibility to bladder/urethral stones, these fountains practically pay for themselves. There’s definitely a significant initial cost but they’re well-made, easy to clean, last for many years with almost no maintenance, and honestly are so much less expensive than kitty ICU!
I wasn’t paid or compensated to write this review, I’m just truly grateful for these fountains and the huge difference they’ve made in my cat’s life. Thanks so much.
We just love our ThirstyCat Fountain! It looks beautiful in our apartment and it makes us so happy to watch the kitties drinking from it. They were timid about it at first but they absolutely love it now, and I do think they are drinking more because of it. Thank you for your incredible work and talent!
Excuse my poorly framed picture but the fountain is absolutely gorgeous, it looks more like a centerpiece than a cat fountain. But more importantly my cat loves it, he starting drinking from it right away (and this is a cat who normally refuses to drink from water bowls). Additionally the customer service was phenomenal, I asked for a custom design on my fountain and Jackie emailed me right away to confirm what I wanted and accommodated my request better than I imagined! Overall I would highly recommend this fountain, if you’re on the fence about a purchase just know you wont regret it.
I absolutely love my fountain! My cat has had some issues with dehydration and some bladder infections because he just wouldn’t drink enough. I switched him to moist cat food and the vet recommended a fountain to encourage him to drink more.
I tried about 7 other fountains. They were either too loud or very difficult to get totally clean and would get smelly. They also tended to be an eyesore. Worst of all, they didn’t do a lot to attract my kitty to drink more.
I came across ThirstyCat Fountains and I wish I had found them sooner. They are seriously so simple and easy to clean! The first couple of times were slower but after that, it only takes me about 2-3 minutes to have it washed, rinsed, and full of fresh water. It is very well made and seems like with proper care it will last forever.
It’s very quiet, I can only hear it if the pump is on high and I’m sitting near it. Even then it’s mostly just a neutral sound of flowing water. I had to move it to my bedroom for a few weeks while some repairs were taking place in the kitchen. I’m a light sleeper and it never disturbed me once. It’s also nice to look at. It sits in a rather central part of my house now and I don’t mind having it out in the open because its a beautiful piece. My kitty took to it very quickly and he drinks so much water now! I often have to add more water to it in between the weekly cleanings. He hasn’t had any problems with dehydration or his bladder since I set it up. I’m extremely satisfied with this fountain! If you’re on the fence about purchasing, go ahead and do it! Your kitty will thank you for it!
I can’t tell you how much I love your thirsty fountain. I’ve had it now for almost a year, I can say what a well functional and ascetically beautiful fountain it is. Before I found you, I had bought the highest rated plastic fountain there was online, what a piece of $%# it was, they’re hard to clean, slimy, so many parts and angles, I would spend about 1/2 hour cleaning the unit, you have to constantly buy charcoal filters too. Your fountain is quick and easy to clean, they may be pricey but when you think of the time, headache and money your save in filters, these fountains are worth it. I have two cats who drink more water out of your fountain then they use to with the other, they love it. Thank you for saving my sanity and having my kids live a healthier life.
Norma I C
Quite beautiful, very functional and easy to cleanHappy to say beautiful things can also be highly functional! This is an extremely well thought out, very well made water fountain that has a ton of style to it with ZERO plastic parts. Its almost too pretty to be this functional! I have been through 2 “pet store” fountains, both been an absolute nightmare to clean and neither lasted. When the last one went, I gave up and just put a stainless water bowl out. Even with clean water every day, my tiny 6lb tuxedo proceeded to contract 2 UTI’s in less than 6 months. I purchased the Leaf streaming bowl. Both my long hair and the tuxedo love it. Best part is that its so easy to clean, I am not cutting my hands trying to clean and reassemble junky plastic parts anymore, whoohoo! This fountain was well worth the money. – B. Mahoney
I researched online for a cat fountain that would be easy to keep clean and found ThirstyCat Fountains. Not only does it live up to its claim of easy to maintain, but it’s absolutely beautiful and extremely quiet (in fact, mine doesn’t make a sound). My kitty loves it and drinks from it all the time. So glad I found you, ThirstyCat!
I have 2 lovely cats who just love to drink in the fountain and they do it often. Today I have taken a picture of one of the 2. I have the fountain since September 2018. Easy to clean. The water is always clear. The sound is beautiful and keeps the water alive! For me it is a piece of Art and that is the bonus
Ordered the Stream Cat Fountain with serenty flow after reading the recommendations on this website (one of our cats has long hair so we went with the stream). The quality is exceptional, the fountain is beautiful, and the sound is soothing. It arrived one week ago. Gave it a quick wash before using it and have washed it one time since, very easy to clean. We took the website’s advice and placed it on a table away from their food. One cat drank from it immediately and our timid cat took 4 days before he’d use it. Now both cats drink from it readily and it seems like they drink more now than they did from any of our other fountains. Sometimes they lay next to it like they’re in a spa! We’re very happy we found this fountain!I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful sable piazza fountain I ordered a couple of weeks ago. It is a gorgeous fountain and quite a hit with all five of our cats! They love it! Every cat should have one. Thanks again for your great customer service and we look forward to ordering from you again! All the best, Patti LammersI bought a ThirstyCat fountain after my wonderful rescue kitty nearly died from bladder stones. He liked and used the fountain enough that I soon bought a second fountain. After more than a year of daily use, the fountains are still working well and more importantly so is my cat. He has not had a recurrence of bladder stones and in fact his overall health is much improved. He no longer has litter box issues and his chin acne is completely gone. Both his veterinarian and I attribute these changes to his much improved hydration from these fountains. I spent less than $300 including shipping on two beautiful fountains from ThirstyCat — compare that with about $1000 in vet bills for diagnostics, sedation, catheterization and intensive care for one seriously ill cat. Not to mention his pain, suffering and extreme stress. After his urethral blockage I did try the $60/bag prescription urinary cat food but he wouldn’t eat it, hardheaded little beast that he is, so that was $60 wasted. The vet had mentioned that some cats don’t find it palatable. My cat now has the best of both worlds in that he can eat the food he enjoys while remaining free from bladder issues. The cleaning/maintenance on the fountains is really easy and takes me less than five minutes about once a week for both fountains. I imagine if you have more than one cat or only one fountain you will probably need to clean it somewhat more frequently, but this works well for us. The upfront cost of the ThirstyCat fountains definitely put me off for a while. I’m a stickler for living within my means — I budget absolutely everything, and if I can’t afford it I don’t buy it. After reading a couple pages of “top ten” or “best” pet fountains online, the cheap plastic fountains seemed like the way to go. Except, after I spent about $50 including shipping, the fountain I bought developed “slime” (bacterial biofilm) and the pet-safe products I used to remove the biofilm must have imparted an odor to the plastic, so my cat refused to use it. So that was $50 I might as well have lit on fire! My budgeting brain was deeply unhappy; you’re not saving any money if you buy something cheap that doesn’t work. I read more information and actual owner reviews online and decided a ceramic fountain would work best, but the $140-170 cost of the ThirstyCat fountain seemed like a lot of money for essentially a bowl with an aquarium motor. I continued to read reviews including ones for cheaper ceramic fountains (both factory and handmade) and realized that every single one of those cheaper fountains has significant drawbacks. Either they have a lot of hidden/recurring maintenance costs, they’re difficult or impossible to fully clean, or they consistently have problems with leaking/splashing because they’re badly designed and/or poorly made. Even if they cost maybe $50 less, with all those issues none of the cheaper fountains seemed like a wise purchase. Whereas there were just no real negative reviews of these fountains — a couple people were dumbfounded by physics (what? a ceramic bowl chips or breaks when dropped from height onto a hard surface? shocking) (incidentally, while packing for a move I managed to drop one of my fountains onto carpet — no chips or cracks, still in perfect condition). A few people were very unhappy that international shipping on a big heavy breakable object wasn’t magically free. Some reviewers seemed to have had particularly anxious cats, writing that their cats were scared of the waterfall on the model of fountain they purchased. I couldn’t find any other negative reviews from people who actually owned these fountains, which genuinely surprised me given how easy it is to hate on things online. When I divided the initial cost of one of the bubble-up fountains over the course of a year, the ThirstyCat fountain cost about $12 a month. Totally reasonable, not a problem to fit in the budget, and as a bonus it’s supporting a locally owned small business that takes care of its workers and contributes to the community. I’ve recommended these fountains to friends and other cat owners because I think they’re easily the best purchase you can make for your cat. For male cats especially, given their high susceptibility to bladder/urethral stones, these fountains practically pay for themselves. There’s definitely a significant initial cost but they’re well-made, easy to clean, last for many years with almost no maintenance, and honestly are so much less expensive than kitty ICU! I wasn’t paid or compensated to write this review, I’m just truly grateful for these fountains and the huge difference they’ve made in my cat’s life. Thanks so much.
We just love our ThirstyCat Fountain! It looks beautiful in our apartment and it makes us so happy to watch the kitties drinking from it. They were timid about it at first but they absolutely love it now, and I do think they are drinking more because of it. Thank you for your incredible work and talent!
Excuse my poorly framed picture but the fountain is absolutely gorgeous, it looks more like a centerpiece than a cat fountain. But more importantly my cat loves it, he starting drinking from it right away (and this is a cat who normally refuses to drink from water bowls). Additionally the customer service was phenomenal, I asked for a custom design on my fountain and Jackie emailed me right away to confirm what I wanted and accommodated my request better than I imagined! Overall I would highly recommend this fountain, if you’re on the fence about a purchase just know you wont regret it.I absolutely love my fountain! My cat has had some issues with dehydration and some bladder infections because he just wouldn’t drink enough. I switched him to moist cat food and the vet recommended a fountain to encourage him to drink more. I tried about 7 other fountains. They were either too loud or very difficult to get totally clean and would get smelly. They also tended to be an eyesore. Worst of all, they didn’t do a lot to attract my kitty to drink more. I came across ThirstyCat Fountains and I wish I had found them sooner. They are seriously so simple and easy to clean! The first couple of times were slower but after that, it only takes me about 2-3 minutes to have it washed, rinsed, and full of fresh water. It is very well made and seems like with proper care it will last forever. It’s very quiet, I can only hear it if the pump is on high and I’m sitting near it. Even then it’s mostly just a neutral sound of flowing water. I had to move it to my bedroom for a few weeks while some repairs were taking place in the kitchen. I’m a light sleeper and it never disturbed me once. It’s also nice to look at. It sits in a rather central part of my house now and I don’t mind having it out in the open because its a beautiful piece. My kitty took to it very quickly and he drinks so much water now! I often have to add more water to it in between the weekly cleanings. He hasn’t had any problems with dehydration or his bladder since I set it up. I’m extremely satisfied with this fountain! If you’re on the fence about purchasing, go ahead and do it! Your kitty will thank you for it!
I can’t tell you how much I love your thirsty fountain. I’ve had it now for almost a year, I can say what a well functional and ascetically beautiful fountain it is. Before I found you, I had bought the highest rated plastic fountain there was online, what a piece of $%# it was, they’re hard to clean, slimy, so many parts and angles, I would spend about 1/2 hour cleaning the unit, you have to constantly buy charcoal filters too. Your fountain is quick and easy to clean, they may be pricey but when you think of the time, headache and money your save in filters, these fountains are worth it. I have two cats who drink more water out of your fountain then they use to with the other, they love it. Thank you for saving my sanity and having my kids live a healthier life. Norma I C
Happy to say beautiful things can also be highly functional! This is an extremely well thought out, very well made water fountain that has a ton of style to it with ZERO plastic parts. Its almost too pretty to be this functional! I have been through 2 “pet store” fountains, both been an absolute nightmare to clean and neither lasted. When the last one went, I gave up and just put a stainless water bowl out. Even with clean water every day, my tiny 6lb tuxedo proceeded to contract 2 UTI’s in less than 6 months. I purchased the Leaf streaming bowl. Both my long hair and the tuxedo love it. Best part is that its so easy to clean, I am not cutting my hands trying to clean and reassemble junky plastic parts anymore, whoohoo! This fountain was well worth the money. – B. Mahoney