What Happened When the PETKIT Fountain Replaced the Water Bowl

The first week of March I started a part time job at the public library, three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday. For twenty six years I had been the person fixing the school district's Wi-Fi. Suddenly I was the person leaving the house. Neil is out the door at six for the harbor. The place sits empty until three. I bought five pieces of pet gear that same week with my own money, and the one I expected least from was the PETKIT Eversweet Solo SE fountain that went into the corner of the kitchen floor.

Before that there was a plain ceramic bowl. Nothing wrong with it, exactly. It held water. But Juniper is nine and particular, and still water that has been sitting since breakfast does not interest her. She would look into it, sit down, think it over, and walk away. Biscuit, who is a beagle mix and therefore led entirely by his nose, would empty the thing in one go and leave a wet streak across the tiles. I was changing that bowl twice a day and still finding hair in it.

The Eversweet Solo SE is a 1.85 liter fountain, about 65 ounces, and the pump is not wired to the tray. That is the whole idea and it took me a minute to appreciate it. The cord runs to the wall, the pump sits down in the base, and when you lift the top off to clean it, nothing is tethered. Water goes up through the filter and runs back down. PETKIT rates the noise at 25 decibels, which I did not believe until I plugged it in.

Setup took about four minutes, mostly because I actually read the sheet. PETKIT ships a USB cable in the box and you supply your own wall adapter, which is worth knowing before you get it home and stand there holding a bare cord. The pieces come apart without tools. I ran it once with plain water before I let either animal near it. That is not in the instructions, it is a habit from years of dealing with equipment that arrives with factory dust in it.

Juniper was drinking from it by day three. Not day one. On day one she sat four feet away and glared at the sound of moving water, which is a reasonable thing for a cat to do. On day two she got within a foot of it. On day three she drank, and then she went back twice more before noon. Biscuit took to it immediately and now checks it every time he comes in from the yard.

Juniper was drinking from it by day three. Not day one. On day three she drank, and then she went back twice more before noon.

I wash it weekly, which sounds like more work than a bowl and is not, because the parts come apart and go straight into the sink. The filter gets changed about monthly. There is an indicator light on the unit that shows the working status of the fountain, and it will let you know when the water is out. The first time it came on I assumed something had failed. It had not. I had let the level drop below where the pump could pick it up, which in a house with a beagle takes less time than you would think.

At 25 decibels this thing is quieter than the refrigerator. From the living room I cannot hear it at all. From the kitchen table I can, just barely, and only when the house is otherwise silent. That matters more than it sounds like it should, because the fountain sits about six feet from where Neil reads the paper, and a hum would have been the end of it. He has not mentioned it once in eight months. From Neil, that is a rave review.

Both animals use it, which I did not plan for. I bought it for the cat and the dog claimed it. One fountain, one corner, two animals, no squabbling. Biscuit drinks from the falling water and leaves a wet chin on the tray. Juniper waits until he is finished. That is the entire diplomatic arrangement and it has held since March.

Two honest limits. It holds 1.85 liters, and in this house that is roughly a day and a half before I top it off, so it is not the fill it and forget it device the internet would have you believe. And it needs a wall outlet within reach. The pump is wireless. The fountain is not. That means a cord along the baseboard, and if you cannot live with a cord on your kitchen floor, this is not your fountain. The body is ABS plastic, which has held up fine, though it shows water spots if you skip a week.

One more thing worth saying plainly. The pump needs the intake checked weekly. Hair collects there, and hair is what shortens the life of any pump. It takes a minute with a dish brush. I also keep a spare PETKIT filter in the cupboard, so I am not the person running it without one for four days because I forgot to order.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you a fountain is not medicine. It will not fix a cat who has stopped drinking for a medical reason, and if Juniper had quit drinking entirely I would have been on the phone with Dr. Anand, not shopping online. What this fixed was narrower and more ordinary. It made water interesting enough that a picky nine year old cat drinks more often than she did from a bowl. That is the whole claim, and around here it was enough. I would tell you to put it where the animals already walk, not in the laundry room where it looks tidier. I would tell you the first week looks like nothing is happening and then it does. And I would tell you that after eight months it is the piece of gear in this house I think about least, which for a machine I bought to solve a small daily annoyance is the highest compliment I have.