Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel Fountain Raindrop Design

I purchased this modern stainless steel fountain for my 10 year old DMH Calico cat nine days ago (1/6/2015). Initially, my cat walked around this fountain wondering if a CAT UFO had landed in her feeding area. She observed the top of the fountain with the water bubbling and streaming down like a river into the stainless steel pond like bowl . After a week using my Sherlock Holmes tactics, I finally caught her drinking the water from the bowl. I was so happy and relieved.Fountain Versions: The Pioneer Pet Stainless Steel Raindrop Design fountain is available in both black ceramic and stainless steel. I purchased the stainless steel version due to less bacterial infection on stainless steel. The ceramic version can break or chip causing it to be more susceptible to bacteria build up. It is difficult to identify/clean the dirt, grimes and/or potential charcoal dust on black ceramic. I rinse the charcoal filters thoroughly before placing them in the fountain; however, I am not perfect. If I miss a small residue from the charcoal filter, I can see it on stainless steel and rinse the filter again so my cat stays healthy.Pros:A. Construction - The package includes the fountain, one charcoal filter and the fountain cord. It has four parts... the stainless steel bowl, the stainless steel top lid, the cords and the plastic motor house. The motor house is made of white plastic which can be tightly closed. This is where your pump and filter is placed.Safe Practice - Wear gloves when handling the charcoal filter to ensure charcoal dust does not get on your hand and other household items. Charcoal dust is toxic to both cats and humans.B. Design Advantages* Three ways to drink water - from the area where water is bubbling, the river like ramp and the bowl. I was concerned that my cat would not use this fountain so I thought at least I could use the stainless steel bowl if she does not use the water fountain.* Insects will not lay their eggs - What I love about this design is that the flow of water makes little water movement in the bowl discouraging insects and flies laying their eggs in the water. In addition, if your pet drops food in the water in the bowl and you are not around to clean it, she can still drink fresh water from the other two water sources.* Weight - The stainless steel is not too light or too heavy. This is helpful for seniors challenged with joint pain, arthritis or heavy lifting. This fountain prevents cat acne unlike 100% plastic water fountains. The small motor house is made of plastic but the rest of the fountain is stainless steel.* Fast and easy to clean and set up - It is as easy as 1,2,3. It does not take much time to clean stainless steel or set it up. This pet fountain does not have too many nooks and crannies to clean to the point where you regret adopting a pet! This would be a fantastic choice for multi-pet homes or shelters challenged with lack of enough volunteers.* Adjustable Pump - The pump has three speed levels so you can determine the speed of the water flow. If I am in a Zen mood and my cat approves, I will set it on level 3 to get the sound of a water fountain. If I want it to run silently, I will set in on level 2.C. Fountain set up, and Instructions- The instructions have pictures and are easy to follow. Take the motor house, insert the pump (adjust to second level speed) and the charcoal filter after you have rinsed the filter thoroughly and close the motor house lid. The motor house has three suction cups on the bottom which is attached to the bowl preventing it from moving around. Run the cord through the opening of the motor house and fountain (be sure your hands are not wet), put the stainless steel lid on the bowl.Safe Practice - Before plugging it in, place the empty fountain in the feeding area, then fill the fountain with water up to ½ inch from the top of the bowl. Dry your hands before plugging in and turning it on.D. Pump, Water Splash, Pump Noise and Movement - Make sure the pump is placed in the motor house properly otherwise the motor will not run. The pump's black tube should line up with the white hole in the fountain lid. The motor house has a tiny area where the cord could be secured thus preventing it from moving, water splash or pump noise. If the cord is not secured, overtime you will see wear and tear in your cord which is not good. The pump has three settings. I set the pump on level two setting and it runs with no noise or rattle. The higher you set the flow of water, the higher water fountain effect you would achieve. You will not have any pump noise if ...* The water is poured up to ½ inch from the top of the bowl* The pump is cleaned weekly and free of residues and grimes* The pump is set on level two* The pump cord is secured where it needs to be inside the motor house* The pump's black tube lines up with the lid's hole, and* The motor house suction cups are attached to the bowl firmlyTips* Wash/rinse the fountain and charcoal filter thoroughly prior to use to get rid of the plastic odor from the plastic parts and the charcoal dust, etc.* The first time you set up the fountain, fill the fountain with water, let it run for 10 minutes, dump the water, rinse, fill up with water again and let it run for another 3-5 hours prior to filling up with clean water again.* I use three bottled water (16.9 OZ X 3= 51 OZ) to prolong the life of the filter and set the pump on level 2. Tap water leaves a lot of residue.* I wash the fountain by hand to prevent dishwasher residues on the fountain. In addition, the smell of dishwasher soap discourages my cat from using the fountain. In addition, the motor house is plastic. Pioneer Pet states that their fountain is dishwasher safe. I would hesitate washing the plastic motor house in the dishwasher. Overtime, the heat may affect its form.* Clean the fountain at least weekly or sooner, if needed.* Initially, place the water fountain near your cat's water bowl filled with water to ensure she stays hydrated. Once she gets used to it, remove the water bowl.* Put the fountain on your cat's floor mat used for her other bowls. The smell of the floor mat signals that the water fountain is hers to keep!!* Put other water bowls around the house to encourage your pet to drink water. Your cat will find out quickly which bowl contains the freshest water. This promotes exercise for your pet as she would keep running back to the water fountain for drinking fresh water.* Some of the pet retail chain stores do not carry this fountain. After much research, I found Amazon's price to be the lowest (as of 1/2015).* Buy the awesome Pioneer Pet Fountain Cleaning Kit Blue (read my review) and one pack of filter containing three filters. If your pet adapts to this fountain, you can order more filters.Cons:NoneI would highly recommend the stainless steel version of this water fountain.

Background:I've had my eye on this fountain for a couple months and only recently pulled the trigger on it. I have a 1 yr old black short-hair cat that's been drinking out of a small ceramic bowl since I got him in April. It was one of those sets that came with two bowls and an elevated stand that had rings the bowls sat in/on. Having these bowls that close to each other led to a lot of transfer of tiny food bits that would foul up the water quicker than I could change it. Also, I have to admit, it does get tedious making sure the water is always fresh and plentiful. My cat seems to stop drinking once the bowl gets half full so this only led me to the conclusion that I need something bigger and probably automatic with a filter. Now that the back story is done, on to the review.What drew me to this over the more popular drink well varieties was the look, sleek and modern with a stainless steel finish that would do a good job at keeping germs at bay too. Additionally, this was a tad cheaper as well as the replacement filters and with a great return policy through Amazon I figured the risk was worth a try. I ordered the product last Thursday and with free shipping (5-8 days) I received it much earlier, just this past Monday so I was already off to a good start. The parts inside the box were nicely wrapped in a paper covering, much like the material you stuff gift bags with and that was fine to protect the stainless steel finish; no scratches to report. After unboxing and reading through the directions (2 pages only!) it seemed that this was going to be a quick, easy setup (spoiler - it was).Set Up:The only real technical part of the setup was securing the motor inside the cavity of the motor/filter case(all really obvious when you get it). The motor has two suction cups on the bottom that when pressed firmly inside the plastic guide in the cavity secures it very well. Then you take the included filter (after you let it stay under a cold stream of water from your faucet (as per the directions)) and place it on the curved part of the motor/filter case (another very obvious location). The wire that comes from the now-secured motor is snaked through the back of the motor/filter case and there is a small slit that the wire can slide into to allow the motor/filter case to snap shut. Mind you, it was important to properly secure the motor in the correct rotation because the top of the motor/filter case has a plastic spout that needs to be placed on top of the similar spout that is on the top of the motor (for blowing the air to create the fountain effect). Once again, this is all very simple and obvious to fix as I needed to take a second and line up the two spouts correctly.Now with the assembly of the motor/filter case complete, the next step is placing the case into the bottom of the fountain which has a faint stamped outline to give an estimate of the placement area. Once you press firmly on the case (it has suction cups on the bottom of the case) it is secure. Note that you may need to slightly adjust the placement even within the stamped outline because the next step is placing the top part of the fountain on top of the bottom which sits nicely on a raised edge. Once again, you need to align the spout opening of the top part of the fountain with the spout of the case; hence needing to make a very slight adjustment in the positioning of the motor/filter case. There is another small hole on the back of the top part of the fountain that you snake the rest of the power wire through which ultimately you insert into the block-style plug.After filling the fountain with water up within a half-inch of the top, its time to plug into the outlet and let it do its thing. The pump started right away though the directions say it might take a minute or two to start running. I never changed the speed of the pump from its factory default setting and the noise of the motor was pretty non-existent. When you have a TV on normal volume or just having a conversation in the vicinity of the fountain, its barely audible and even at that sound level, it just becomes faint background noise.My Impressions:After it was up and running, I took his old water bowl and washed/dried it and filled it up with food as a secondary food bowl. My cat does not overeat so leaving that much food allows doesn't concern me with him overeating and if he does I'll just adjust the food level I leave in the morning. He warmed up to the fountain right away, naturally curious of course. What surprised me was that he went right to the fountain (top part where the pump is, well pumping the water) and the slide part and after a few initial paws at the water stream, started drinking and drinking and drinking. I haven't seen him drink from the basin part which is most similar to his old set up of just a water bowl so it makes me think that the running water parts is more natural to him, even after all these months of a plain, dumb water bowl.Another thing that intrigued me, and I may have missed it in the product details, is that it makes the water cold and keeps it cold. It isn't freezing by any means but definitely a good amount below room temperature. I assume this might promote more drinking since it probably makes the water less stale in taste (in addition to the filter). When I woke up this morning and came downstairs, there he was drinking from the top of the fountain again.At the end of the day, I can't guarantee that this will make your cat drink more water but it at least gives the impression that he is more interested in it to say the least. The coolness of water's temperature probably makes it more attractive to drink while the 3 drinking options can't hurt to foster more drinking (top of fountain/slide/basin). What matters to me is that I feel better about the quality of the water (having a filter) I am giving him and the fact that he took to it so quickly and still seems to be OK with the change. The instructions are clear, also telling you how to properly replace the filter, change pump settings and how to clean the motor itself if it becomes sluggish.It's an attractive piece of machinery and is actually smaller (in a good way) than I thought it would be. I can definitely envision this being OK to use with a two-cat household while 3 may be stretching it. I bought this with an extra 3-pack of filters so that should last me at least 4 months with a monthly change.In conclusion, for the price I paid (less than 40$), this is one of the cheaper cat-fountain models but it definitely does not cut any corners in the quality of the product and the results, at least in my case. As previously mentioned but worth repeating, the peace of mind it brings knowing that he has a constant source of clean, cold fresh water is worth the price alone.If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask as I highly recommend this particular fountain-bowl.

It worked as expected ... with one major caveat.Yes, it is easy to assemble ... yes, it is easy to clean ... yes it hold 60 oz of water ... and why I purchased it ... figuring 60 oz of water would hold my 3 cats for 3 days while I was gone. The the design allowed the cats access to the water even if the power went out. Great!!!BUT, as the water level went don't, at some point there is not enough water in the reservoir to operate the pump, at which point I no longer have a fountain, and the pump starts making a very loud annoying sound. So I get home after 3 days and there is still water in the reservoir ... great ... but the sound the pump is making, I could not unplug the pump fast enough, and feeling very guilty for making my cats put up with the sound for I don't know how long.Me personally, I am sorry I purchased this product. Technically it meets the description on Amazon's website, but in application, it whines when the water gets low.