Customer Reviews

Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read many reviews on this product before finally deciding to purchase the Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain. We've always used the Petmate water fountain with mixed results. The Petmate had a sluggish slide of water and the adjustment of flow was not very noticable. Even at the highest setting, the water seemed stagnant and barely rippled. The Petmate is a thing of the past now that we have found the Drinkwell Platinum! The water freefalls just like a tap. Our sink-loving cats are often found lurking about the water fountain. No more fighting over the bathroom sink when it comes time to wash our hands or brush our teeth! The water circulates and churns nicely. The reservoir holds a massive amount of water, which also has a large enough opening to put icecubes in during hot weather. True, the Drinkwell does run a little noisier than the Petmate, but not enough to annoy me. One really nice feature is the filter that sits over the opening to the motor and the water lever. It slides up and out of place so you can clean and rinse away any pethair or kibble that has accumulated in the filter. I just ran mine under the kitchen tap. They also recommend cleaning the pet fountain once a week to keep it operating smoothly. I cleaned mine for the first time tonight and it was much easier than I expected. I wish the directions were a little easier to follow (there are not enough pictures to follow the steps) but it was not difficult to do. All in all, this is a great product and you (and your pets!) will not be disappointed!

This is the second system I have been through in the last 3 years. The motor has died again. The cat and dog love it when it works, don't know if it's something I want to have to keep buying every year or two. Also, I wish the filters last longer. I give the system a total clean out every week, and always add fresh water every day (I don't use the jug in the back) and it still gets slimey in a week's time.

I'm going to see if I can contact the company about the motor issue.

I've had this for around 2 weeks now and am very pleased with it. It took the cats a couple hours or so to get used to it but, once they did, they loved it. I've read some reviews that comment on the product being loud but I don't know what they're talking about. Sure the falling water makes a sound as does the motor, but it's not any louder than say a fish tank. It's really not that bad, people. I actually find it relaxing to listen to.

I cleaned it for the first time today which was fairly quick and easy using the cleaning kit that's sold separately.

My only complaint isn't with the product itself but rather its price. The whole thing is plastic and I can't see the motor costing that much to manufacture yet purchasing it and the cleaning kit cost me around $90.00 after tax. The cleaning kit should really be packed in with it and the whole thing perhaps $10-$15 cheaper.

Okay, maybe I do have a minor complaint with the product. It's surprisingly large, bulky, and sticks out from the wall a fair bit. I had some trouble finding a good place to put it. Perhaps in the future they'll come out with a sleeker, more compact design. In the interim however, I am pleased with the product and do recommend it.

Our cat loves it and so do we. You can hear the water trickling all the time, but you get used to it. However, it is very hard to clean and a little annoying, so get extra filters and the cleaning kit. You'll end up getting it eventually anyways!

Cats love moving water and this encourages them to hydrate. The fountain comes with good instructions on how to clean it. I've got four cats and about every two weeks is the right interval for cleaning. The first time takes a little longer due to the learning curve, but after that it's easy. The water is continually filtered, the parts are easily disassembled for cleaning and it holds a lot of water. Be sure to order extra filters and the cleaning brush kit. I would recommend this to any pet guardian.

The cats loved it and used it. I bought it in January and the pump has died. Only lasted a few months as it was making noise about 4 months ago. I cleaned the unit on a regular basis so that wouldn't be a factor.

This is an excellent product. We have very hard water and this unit continues to work. It requires being cleaned once a week and if your water is hard as ours is you may eventually have to replace the pump. This product is not carried by Amazon in Canada but one of its partners. This product is quite affordable if you live in United States but Canadians can expect to spend way more for the same thing. Amazon says it can not control 3rd party sellers prices. If you go to Amazon's US website you will see that Amazon US sells it directly to US customers and won't ship to Canada. You will also note the price disparity. This would be a five star review were in not for the cost.

My fur babies are insist on having a free-flowing stream of water. The little one will only drink from the cascading part of this fountain and pouts when I take it away for the mere 30 minutes it takes to soak and clean it.

I read a lot of reviews prior to trying this out. The biggest concern I had was about water overflow (I've had leaking/overflow problems before), and sure enough I encountered that exact problem - but this time it was my problem. A small collection of cat hair gathers at the grate where the water flows from front the back. When this grate is clogged the water level rises and spills over. It's a gradual effect and is easily fixed by washing the entire unit about once a month. I call it my problem, because I think it's only logical to clean your pet's water fountain, but I'm a bit forgetful; so now I watch the water line in the front pool and when it starts to creep up I know it's time to clean and change the filter.

I love that the actual water pump comes apart for proper cleaning. All of my previous cat fountains would eventually crap out because there was no way to clean the water intake. Then there were the ill fitting parts, load motors and mystery leaks the others suffered from as well. The Drinkwell Platinum is well built and functions quietly. The only noise it that of my cats splashing around.

A hint for anyone else in an area with very hard water - soaking the parts in a vinegar water solution will take off any hard water build-up.

My cats are happy, and I love that I don't have to fill their water every morning or worry about cleaning up puddles in my kitchen when I get home.

The fountain is a great product. The only downside is when you fill in the reservoir the water will leak when you turn it upside down. It would be nice if it worked with a spring and pressure. Other than that I love it and so do my pets.

works well. Someone else reported it is very loud: not the case here. The water can make a trickling sound, but on the lowest setting it's unnoticeable. Sometimes the filter lid can be slightly loose so there's a little plastic vibration noise - but push it tight and it stops and stays silent. It is possible the person reporting noise had not properly suctioned the pump to the base upon installation. If this were the case the pump would knock about uncontrolled and surely make a serious racket.

Also no problem with the bowl rapidly becoming dirty - as another reviewer reported. The FIRST time we used it this was the case. A yucky film developed around the bowl. I suspect the filter, even when rinsed before use as directed, has some extra junk to rid itself of. Cleaned it once after a week and it's stayed clean for a while now. NOTE that even with the fountain's own filter we use only filtered water. Perhaps that makes a difference too - perhaps the other reviewer had hard water, I don't know.

The reservoir lasts a LONG time even though we have 3 cats. They were nuts to drink from the taps and it was annoying catering to them constantly. Now they use the Drinkwell Fountain with relish. It appeals to their natural attraction to flowing, fresh water. The young ones like to 'chomp' the stream. The old one was suspicious at first, but now he's fine.

No major complaints. Follow the instructions and it works great - does what it advertises. It's not too huge or complicated. A great product, in fact. Well worth the money. Our only concern is that we've spoiled them!

3 suggested improvements for the good folk at Drinkwell:

The reservoir must be carefully put in place after refilling, or it can spill. This could have been avoided by the addition of a simple spring to hold closed the pin that releases the water when the reservoir is in place. For the money spent on this thing a few more cents would have been worth it.

The way the lid can vibrate - though easily addressed - seems unnecessary.

Indeed, as it says, there is space to put the cord underneath it. This was important to us because one of ours loves to munch electrical cords [see "Critter Cord" in Amazon.com (USA)]. There is even an abundance of space and you can wrap it up inside. It would have been nice, however, if they thought through the cord length and added notches in the plastic so you could really stick it in there good at a precise length. But the fact that this is WATER we're talking about makes one uneasy about just loosely jamming extra cord in there.