Bento Cat Fountain

I've owned gravity waterers and other fountains made of plastic and the biggest issue was cleaning them. As I was unboxing this one, I knew it was a win, here is what I liked:-easy to assemble, there is a plastic guide that holds the pump in the right place in the reservoir-simple USB electric pump that can be removed with no tools, USB slips right through a hole in the reservoir that allows you to remove it and throw it and the catch pan in the dishwasher-easy to clean, no need for bottle brushes or scrubbing nooks and crannies-comes with 3 charcoal filters which are not entirely necessary but nice to have-soft fountain action with enough height to interest cats but not so much that it splashes everywhere-decently long cord on the pump so it reaches an outlet-included usb adapter, no need for proprietary transformer-aesthetically pleasing design-soft gurgling sound and no pump noise until reservoir level starts getting low-easy to top off water by pouring it right in the catch pan-price is comparable or better than plastic models that hold less water, are harder to refill, and are a nightmare to clean-Cats loved it immediately, and if you own male cats you know it's important for them to drink a lot to avoid urinary tract issues-my biggest dog (20 pounds) likes it too, it's not too shallow for him to drinkPossible cons:-have to lift the catch pan to see the water depth in the reservoir. This doesn't bother me, it's easy to tilt up and look if you need to, or just pour water in the catch pan until it's slightly overfilled. Hardly worth mentioning, but you can't glance across the kitchen to see if it's full.-the water depth in the catch pan might be a little shallow for bigger dogs, especially if you have multiple big dogs - they can probably drink it down to where the pump stops working pretty quickly on a hot day. It's ideal for cats and small dogs, even my 20 pound exuberant drinker has no issue with this.

The first one we got had a big ol' dent in the box that carried through to the bottom of the metal tub. I submitted to return it and Amazon sent the new one almost immediately, which was nice. The replacement came in perfect condition.It was easy to set up and fill. The cat was afraid of it at first, despite her being a religious sink-drinker. I took off the optional T-shaped piece to make it mimic how water pools in the bottom of the sink and she seemed less skittish. It's not especially loud, I hardly notice it, but maybe it was a lot for her as a new introduction to the house, not sure. We tried it in a couple of different locations around the house and finally found one where she liked it after about a week. Now she drinks from it all the time. Win!We clean it once a week (even though the instructions say 2, most things I've read about cat fountains recommend cleaning them more often). It's easy enough to clean, but there are some nooks and crannies to be aware of, namely around the lip of the dish and where the filter feeds from. Nothing a test tube brush or other small bottle brush can't scrub, but just something to be aware of if you don't have one of those hanging around.Overall really happy with this purchase! I did a lot of reading up on cat fountains before I bought this one, and I chose it because it was stainless steel, reasonably priced, acknowledged that you need to clean the pump, and didn't look too complicated to put together or clean. I can say it definitely hits all those marks. As for longevity, only time will tell, but about a month in it's going strong!My only negative would be that I wish it had an on/off switch so that it didn't have to be fully unplugged to refill or clean. I see that's a "feature" of a lot of cat fountains sadly, not really sure why, but it would be nice to have that in an upgraded model someday.

UPDATE: Don't purchase. Stopped working suddenly. We clean this every single week, and took good care of it.I have been searching high and low for a water fountain that wasn't hard to put together, wasn't hard to clean, the filters were not super expensive, it wasn't poorly made and the cost wasn't through the roof. It was a tall bill, so it took me some time and research. After dealing with the tediousness of another water fountain that is currently in the garage collecting dust, I decided to try again. I wanted my little cat to get enough water in her diet, and noticed she loves playing with the water faucets in our home. Studies show that cats drink more from fresh sources of water, free flowing basically, so, I wanted to give it another go versus refilling her little water bowl every day with Spring water, that she barely touched.I took this baby out of the box, and had it up and running in less than 7 minutes. It would have taken less time actually, but you need to soak the new filter in water for 5 minutes, so there's that. I found this very easy to assemble, and clean up doesn't look too bad at all! Best of all, my cat took right to it and is enjoying it. It is super quiet, too. I love that it is stainless steel as well. My only con, well, I have two actually, and the first one a small one, is that the cord has to be threaded through versus on the outside of the unit. That's a little annoying, but other than that, I am thus far, happy with this purchase. The other con is that you can't see the water level, so, you have to lift the lid and look. If they gave this a window for a view, I would upgrade in a heartbeat. I only have the one cat right now, and she is furless due to her breed, so cleaning this fountain every 2 weeks, as suggested, would be fine, but I am sure because of this, I could push it to every 3 weeks with no issue. Each household is different, so you'll need to make your own call on that. All in all, great fountain. Kitty approved.