We tried a large vtg mixing bowl and added ice to the water several times a day. At first she would drink a little but then she started turning her little princess nose up at the bowl.
And then I started looking for a continuously flowing pet water dish. Do you KNOW how much those things are??? A small fortune. We looked at them at the pet shop. $49.00 to $90.00. For some ceramic pieces with a submersible pump. No thank you.
I tried thrifting for a aquarium pump. No luck. Had to buy the whole lot of aquarium stuff...aquarium, plastic tubing, crappy plastic plants and what ever. No thank you. Not for my baby. Only the best, or cheapest or whatever I can find.
Then I got the bright idea that I could make one.
Now you have to realize that I have a whole garage upstairs full of projects, or should I say abandoned projects. Well, just lots of stuff. Future ebay inventory?
And I don't need another project. Really.
I checked out youtube for ideas for homemade flowing pet water thingies. Lots of ideas and lots of different designs. The easier the better. So after extensive research I decided on a simple solution.
This model aquarium filter:
And some things I had around the house.
The whole thing depended on finding a container that had relatively straight sides. I had a huge glass mixing bowl....to sloped to work. I looked around the kitchen keeping in mind that it had to be either glazed ceramic, glass or stainless. Mixing bowls don't work although some vintage bowls are straight sided. I finally decided on the ceramic bowl from a crock pot, a glass floral container, some glass globs from a past project and a pyrex pie plate as protection for the floor. The results look like this.
Not pretty to look at but it works. While I was sitting on the floor coaxing the cat to check out the water bowl and waiting for my camera to come up she was actually drinking from the clear bowl where the water is swirling around. Really
The hardest thing was washing and drying everything. The pump has a suction cup on the back side, press it to the bowl. Put the flat glass marbles around the base, don't block the intake section, set the clear glass bowl in place. I tilted the glass bowl a little to get the water to pour out the side rather than all around. Fill with water and prime the pump. Plug it in and watch it flow. Presto... instant cat watering device with constantly running water.
When we went to the pet store today to get the filter, SweetiePie wanted to purchase a ceramic one. I looked at the price tag and for a mere $90.00 we could have a bland beige ceramic device that looks like a sombrero with a hole in the top with water flowing out of it. The submersible pump does not have a filter and cat hair probably would clog it up rather quickly. The one
Time will tell. But it will be nice to have a hydrated cat and she may finally stop sitting on my glasses on the countertop in the bathroom when she wants a sink drink.
Fingers crossed.
we paid 40 for a running water one bc our 1 cat dips her paw in the kids cups :( it broke. Petsmart then told us it was a terrible brand. Upgraded to 70.00 one. Works well. cant keep it running because the cat plays in it and gets water everywhere (and add another 15.00 on for a silicone mat for food bowls to contain the mess) hopefully yours wont do that
ReplyDeleteI've caught her drinking from it several times today and she seems to like it. I need to invest in a mat too. The heavy stoneware bowl makes it too heavy to slide. She slides the little bowl all over the floor sometimes, trying to get the last little bit. I'm crossing my fingers that the attraction lasts.
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