The Catit is a funny thing. My cats love drinking from it, licking water from the dome, licking water straight from the central spout (I have since removed the flowered thingee stopper thing) and if you have one that has a reservoir, then licking water with ice-cubes in it. Bujang likes it when I put the ice cubes and he would rush to drink really cold water, while looking at the cubes swimming in it. Tanaka on the other hand, would just rush to put his paw in the drinking water and push the cubes around. Megat merely waits to take a turn at licking the water stright from the central spout.
The most frustrating thing for me personally is that sometimes water does not flow out equally well over the whole dome. I would sometimes just get water flowing out at sporadic places which makes for a truly sad-looking Catit, so different from the promise of flowing well-oxygenated water for the amigos.
I have since discarded 2 Catits - one with only a dome and the other with the reservoir! Since I did not want to go back to water bowls and having to change water in them 3 times a day, its back to the Catit.
So it leaves me to figure out how to make the water flow evenly over the whole dome for the satisfaction of 5 cats.
1. Make sure that the motor is clean, not cluttered nor covered with gunk or whatnots from the dust and grime that is not caught by the filter.
2. Wash the whole motor thoroughly each time you change water or refill water for the cats.
(No 1 and 2 is truly the thing to watch out for in my house)
3. Make sure that once the Catit is in operation, you tilt the water from the central spout (by hand - reminds me of Great Expectations and ironically you do have great expectations) so that the water flows out evenly. This operation can take 5 minutes to 30 minutes for me.
4. If the water is still flowing out desperately and unevenly, check that the wires, especially the part covered by plastic is not twisted in any way. I usually have to ensure that the plastic covered wire is hung from a higher level and not leave it at the same level as the Catit.
5. Celebrate if the water flows out evenly all over the dome. If it still fails, begin from No 1.
6. Say a prayer :)
7. If someone else has another way to persuade the water to flow evenly over the Catit dome, pls send word to the amigos. I am trying to train them to take care of their own drinking water :)
PS: Additional tips from friends of the amigos
from katie -
8. Not sure if you know there is a cover at one side of the moter which can be removed. A lot of debris will be trapped. Use your hand to rub the dome with the flowing water. It spread evenly with this method for me.
San - HUH!! I never knew there was any such thing as a removable cover. I think by now there would be so much gunk and stuff in it I shouldn't wonder why its so slow. Of course I didn't think I should be rubbing the dome with my hands before but as two people (+cat_aunty) have recommended this, then I think I should try it the next time I refill the Catit.
Only 2 cats are using the cat fountain and they are 14 & 15 yrs old - so no damage from cats.
ReplyDeleteYes, i've spent a lot of time trying to get cat fountain (even new one) to flow evenly.
I will definitely try to hang the covered part of the wire from a higher level to see if it would work.
Yes, clap hands when dome flows evenly. Next morning, half dome again ; (
Will do item 6 - say a prayer.
Got 2 used cat fountains in storage - hoping they would be of use as spare parts in future.
Many thanks for great tips.
erm....i hope i dun sound too stupig. but if it gives sporadic results, how about decorative water stone fountains? If you want filtering to be done, i think there should be a way to place aquarium grade filter sponge over a water sprout for it.
ReplyDeletehmmm.....it now sounds like a project, but i think for the sake of the kitties, it should worth it. and i think the stone fountains are more hardy....=)))
Not sure if you know there is a cover at one side of the moter which can be removed. A lot of debris will be trapped.
ReplyDeleteUse your hand to rub the dome with the flowing water. It spread evenly with this method for me.
So far, the water of my Catit flowed beautifully.
katie
And while you are trying to get it to work, you might enjoy listening to my new iMix playlist, "Quasi's Cool Cat iMix"! You can find the song list on my blog at theworldisyourlitterbox.blogspot.com if you don't have iTunes.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, sorry to hear about this....I also didn't know there is ANOTHER removable cover!!! I will check it out later. I have also removed the top flower spout, because it didn't do anything!
ReplyDeleteSpencer drinks directly from the spout, as a Queen should. Kiki sometimes drinks from the dome, but mostly he drinks from the reservoir bowl like the others do. Only Mera still hasn't get the hang of it......
I seldom touch the fountain but the Wife who is the "expert" in this says that you just need to shift the whole dome (with the flower) a bit to make water flow down all sides. She is quite good at it and takes only a few seconds to get it working smoothly.
ReplyDeleteIf you need a "live" demo, you'll need to come over. :)
Btw, the gang still drinks from their original bowls most of the time. Waste of money buying the fountain I tell you. Haha.
I've 2 Dog-It drinking fountains (the model with attached reservoir). The cover of both sides of the motor can be removed. I'd remove the covers and use a toothbrush to give the motor a good cleaning (gently) once a week.
ReplyDeletePutting some water into the side with the motor (enough water to cover) AND the reservoir side (about 1cm) BEFORE fitting on the dome have worked for me. And if the water flow is still uneven, I'd do the following: 1) re-fit the filter; 2) re-attach the motor; and 3) re-align the wire (the part under the red cap). I find that these 3 parts need to fit snugly under the dome for an even water flow.
You might also want to try setting up the fountain at different spots in your house to check if uneven flooring might be the cause.