Drinkwell Platinum Dog and Cat Water Fountain, Automatic Drinking Fountain for Pets, 168 Ounce,Grey

I originally purchased this in September of 2012. I was extremely excited to get the unit as I had read all the reviews and I wanted to see how my 3 amigos would react. The unit was simple to set up and I had the unit running in no time. Oh, I highly recommend the Drinkwell Platinum fountain mat Drinkwell Platinum Fountain Mat, MAT-D2 for this unit. I did purchase the mat the day I purchased the unit and I can tell you it is a lifesaver. My kittehs took to playing in the water and some did spill out. The mat caught all the water and kept my laminate flooring from being damaged in any way at all. The mat also fits the unit perfectly and looks like it belongs with the unit. Ok, back to the 3 amigos. They simply love this fountain. At first they were typical kittehs. They walked around for a bit and would stare, and then act as if it were not there. Finally they would get close, and then jump back when one of my kids made a loud noise. Once they got over the newness they tried it. They have not looked back since. They all love it. I have one kitteh who thinks he is a raccoon and brings his food over to the fountain to be cleaned. Ok, ok, it is to play with the food in the water, but cleaning it sounds better. I have another little dude who uses his paws to draw the water from the waterfall to his mouth, and this is how he drinks. My other kitteh just likes to lap the water out of the bowl area. So I do have a little bit of experience with 3 different types of drinkers. Here is a rundown of things that may be of concern for those who are considering purchasing this fountain. Will the cats use it? I was concerned about 1 of my kittehs. He is kind of looney and I was worried this may be something he would have nothing to do with. My concerns were without merit as he was the first to try it out. All my kittehs love this fountain. Now, when I clean it, they follow me around and meow until I put it back on the floor for them to use. They have claimed their fountain and do not like me taking it away. They won't bother with a simple bowl anymore. How long do the filters last? I have 3 kittehs with the habits I listed above. My filter changes run around 4-6 weeks. I tried cleaning the filter, but it did not work. I watch amazon's prices and purchase filters when they are on sale at a decent price. You can either purchase them in packets of 3 Drinkwell Fountain Premium Replacement Filter 3 pack or in bulk where you get 4 packets of 3 Drinkwell Platinum Premium Filters, 12-Pack . Prices vary so you have to watch. One day it is cheaper to purchase just one pack of 3 and on others it is cheaper to purchase 4 packs of 3. Keep your eyes open. As far as the filters go, if you don't change them then the water simply runs over the top of the filter and into the basin. You can still use the unit; it just won't filter the water. What are the filters made of? The filters are a formed trapezoid of fibrous material which is likely what is used for fish tank filtration. The filters will only take out foreign material such as hair or dirt so it will not circulate into the water fountain continuously. The filters will not take out any heavy metals or minerals. It is a basic sediment filter only with a light carbon backing and some carbon granules between both the front and back to remove odor. How much odor is removed, I cannot attest to, as I have a filter on my sink and do not use straight tap water for the fountain. However, from my experience in fish tank filtration I would say it is adequate. Ease of use? I have had absolutely no problems with the unit. It is very easy to put together. Once you understand how to change the reservoir it is a snap. Just remember that the reservoir cap has the plunger on it so you do not spill any water when you put the full reservoir back on the unit. You must hold the plunger out as you are tipping the reservoir over so it does not spill. Once you have it over and you are lowering the reservoir onto the fountain the plunger will be pushed up as it is lowered and then the water will be able to flow from the reservoir into the fountain basin. Cleaning? I have not had any of the problems cleaning that others have mentioned. I went to Wal-mart and purchased a dish cleaning brush that was to be dedicated to cleaning this unit. I have not had any problems reaching every area except one. The one area I need a long small cylindrical brush for is the tube from the pump to the top of the filtration basin. However, you can clean that area with a paper towel and a thin Phillips screwdriver if you had to. So cleaning really was a breeze. I would recommend that you are careful when cleaning the reservoir. Do not drop it or it may crack. By drop, I mean do not drop it from a standing position onto a hard floor. Dropping it in the sink won't crack it. The plastic is thick and seems to very durable. Water Noise? Noise has never been an issue. We keep the unit in our kitchen, which is near our living room. We have never had any annoying noise from the unit that disturbs us in any way. If you are a person who has to have utter silence at all times, then you would not like this anymore than another item that has running water. You can turn the unit up to the highest setting and you may think the unit sounds like a small running brook. If that is annoying to you then do not purchase this unit as it is a fountain with running water. Not sure what you would expect from such a unit? Motor Noise? I have never heard the motor at all, except on one occasion. The reviews mentioning the motor noise are either running the unit dry or have a bad motor. You should not hear a motor like this running. If you do then you have something wrong. Also, check your plastic pre-filter. I did hear an odd noise from my motor one time 6 days after I had put the unit down. The problem was that my longhaired kitteh, who loves to put his paws in the water, had clogged the pre-filter with his hair. It was causing the motor to have to strain, thus the noise. I simply cleaned the pre-filter and all was well. Leaking? This unit is molded as a single reservoir that sits upon a molded basin. Unless you have a crack in your unit, it should not leak. The first time I Put the reservoir down I was not careful and I allowed water to run into the unit before I put the reservoir all the way down. As I already had the basin full, this caused the basin to overflow and to stay high until the reservoir emptied. My mistake and I never made it again. Thus, I never had water over the sides again, unless my kittehs are playing in the water, which is kind of the point of having this. That brings up another point. How many of the people complaining about leaking have simply not realized their kittehs are now playing in the water which in turn has the water coming over the sides looking as if the basin is leaking? The whole point in purchasing this type of fountain is to encourage your kittehs to drink more water. I also purchased this unit as a way to allow the kittehs to play in the water more. Many cats in the wild prefer to drink from running water. There are different theories as to why, but the fact remains that they do. It is part of our kittehs past to seek out running water. Only when we domesticated them did they have to settle for sedentary water dishes. By giving our little friends these fountains we give them one more natural way for them to act. Once they get used to it, they will enjoy it more and more, and likely make more of a mess. If your unit does leak, and you know for sure your kittehs are not enjoying the fountain in a playful way, you likely have a crack. I highly recommend this pet fountain to anybody who has small to medium sized pets. I purchased a second unit from Amazon.com's Warehouse Deals when I saw the price of a used-like new unit drop to 33.00. Enjoy! And as my 3 amigos say, "Meow, meooooooow meow, and mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreow!"

I want to apologize to the manufacturer and to anyone who used my advice and experience to decide not to buy the Drinkwell Platinum fountain. Drinkwell/Petsafe responded quickly and kindly to my message (below) and sent a new fountain to me to replace the older one with which I was struggling to connect the upper to the lower housing. They also sent a postage paid return label so I could return the "defective" fountain at no cost. I received the new fountain in a short time, obviously expedited. I set the new fountain up easily and it is running beautifully. When I went to put the old fountain in the new box to send it back to Petsafe, the housings clicked together easily with no sign of the difficulties I had had with it. I tried several times with the same result - there was no problem with the fit. I have no idea why it seemed so difficult and then impossible to fit these pieces together, but somehow either it fixed itself, or I fixed myself. I am so very embarrassed, but I want to correct the record and part of that is copping to my wrongness. Drinkwell/Petsafe handled this situation beautifully with quick, polite, and informative responses, and rapid shipping of the new fountain. I will be blushing for weeks for what is clearly my error, even though I don't understand how it happened. I will of course purchase the new fountain and keep the old one for a spare or maybe a different room. My own handling of the situation was rude and impatient and this is especially egregious in view of the fact that the problem was user error. I have fervently apologized to the individual at Petsafe who handled the problem The Drinkwell is a high quality product with a larger capacity than other fountains in the same price and size range, which means less frequent filling. The motor is nearly inaudible. It is easy to use and clean and my cats love it. One of my cats used to sleep next to it and another, when he was a kitten, would hold his paw under the water flow and just watch it, transfixed. During the past several days when we didn't have the fountain running they looked kind of lost, staring at the fountain hoping to see water emerge as per usual. I am not proud of my rudeness in the communication below that I sent to Drinkwell. To be fair, it is not usually my approach to get so feisty so early in the process but I let my frustration get the better of me. As a wise person once told me, start out nicely because otherwise you have nowhere to go. Another life lesson relearned. My original review, which is obviously no longer relevant, was as follows: "This is a message I wrote to Drinkwell. I bought yet another Drinkwell Platinum fountain from Amazon.com on February 15 2015. This year. 8 months ago. I am used to these things lasting maybe 1.5 - 2 years, but this one has been a wreck from the start. Getting the top and bottom pieces to align has been a wrestling match that inevitably ends with water all over my kitchen floor and me badly needing a glass of wine to keep myself from breaking it into little pieces with the biggest hammer I can find. Maybe I should have tried the wine first. Now the top has warped to the point where I can't get it to go together at all, even with a hammer, PLUS the motor died. I would be willing to try once more if you do the right thing and send a new one to me. If you send a postage paid label I will be happy to send this one back to you so you can witness the problem in person. Please advise me of your decision as soon as possible so I can order a different fountain if needed."

First I'll say this is the second or third one of these that I've purchased. Thing is, they last for YEARS. I've had cats for over 20 years and this is the best fountain I've found. It's quiet, the cats love it and it has a lot of leeway as the water goes down. I wash most of it in the dishwasher (not the pump) and it works beautifully. I've become on expert on taking this thing apart, including the pump, and putting it back together so for me, it's really quick now. When this one finally gets dingy, I will repurchase it with the same model.

La fuente más increíble! No la uso diario pero la eh aprovechado bastante cuando salgo de viaje, ahora que acabo de regresar al momento de lavar el recipiente donde va el agua se me cayó y se rompió, necesito saber dónde conseguir la reposición por que el producto me gustó bastante y requiero del dispensador para seguir dándole el uso a la fuente.

The pump stopped working within hours. Not sure if it’s manufacturing defect or power outlet issue but yes, unable to use thr product here in India. No place to even get it repaired.

Stoped working within 5 minutes and there is no option by Amazon to return it

I am waiting for the above said item to be collected But still there is no one has come to pick up ! The filterarion is not very good of this machine !