Pet Water Fountain 3.2L, Cordless Stainless Steel

Cats and small dogs drink more readily from water that is moving and cool, which is why a fountain often works where a filled bowl is ignored. This one holds 3.2 litres in a single steel tank, so it does not need refilling every day, and the pump sends a steady flow into a shallow channel pressed into the lid where a pet can lap at bowl height instead of reaching into a deep dish.

The tank and the lid are 304 stainless steel, the grade used for kitchenware. Steel does not craze or scratch the way plastic does, so there are fewer places for grime to sit, it rinses clean under a hot tap without holding smells, and it stays cooler through a warm afternoon. Only the pump housing on top is ABS, and it lifts off the lid in one piece. A clear window down the side of the bowl, with a red float behind it, shows the level and the condition of the water without lifting anything.

Power comes from a rechargeable battery inside the pump module rather than from the mains, so there is no cable to run along a skirting board and no socket to find beside the bowl. The fountain can stand in a hallway, a bedroom, a utility room or a corner of the kitchen. Two modes are set from the touch panel: a sensor mode that starts the flow when a pet comes close, and a timer mode that runs the water briefly at regular intervals through the day. A red indicator warns when the tank has run low, so the pump is not left running dry, and a second indicator tells you when the battery wants charging.

Cleaning is a short job. The lid, the filter tray and the pump module all come apart by hand, the blue filter sponge and the white filter element lift out of the tray, and a slim brush is supplied for the narrow water channel inside the pump. The maker suggests changing the filter about once a month in ordinary use.

It suits a home with one or two cats, a kitten learning to drink from something other than a saucer, an older cat that needs encouraging to take more water, or a small dog. Anyone who has given up on a plastic fountain because of the smell or the constant scrubbing will notice the difference a steel bowl makes.