# Cat Water Fountain Noise



## penny1956

Hi - Back with another question. lol

I bought a cat water fountain a few days ago and it has a constant humming noise - and is a bit annoying. After 2 days of my kitten not drinking from it, I figured I'd return it to Petsmart but SUDDENLY my kitten loves it - drinks from it all the time (which is great since she was only drinking from a regular drinking glass on our coffee table = bad habit). 

My question is, do all these water fountains come with noise? If so, I'll keep it since she's really enjoying it now - and just try to get used to the noise. If not, are there brands you'd recommend that are quiet? (I keep the water filled almost to the rim)

The one I currently have is the Whisker City small fountain.


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## Cats&Plants

They all make noise. I have two whisker city fountains and they both make some noise. The larger one is a bit quieter than the small one, but it depends of how the cord hangs from the wall. 

The one I liked the most was the Cat-it dome fountain, however I can't seem to find it here anymore and my old one konked out.


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## LaurulFeatherCat

The cheaper models don't have any insulation to quiet the motor. An expensive one I came across (90 bucks) is whisper quiet; no noise.


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## Vivid Dawn

I have a Whisker City fountain, and it humms all the time. Good way to sort of dampen the noise is either put a towel under it, or have it on carpet.
My cats took a few days to get used to it, now they love it. Luckily nobody plays in it, cuz mine is on carpet.

Also, if the water gets too low, it starts "gurgling" too. But you shouldn't let it do that for too long (if at all), because it's bad for the pump and/or motor to strain.


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## penny1956

Thanks everyone. I'll keep the one I have then if they all make some noise and not quite ready to spend $90 yet. 

Thanks for the tip about the towel - put a towel under and did help a bit. 

I have the fountain set up in the bathroom right now since it has one of those GFC outlets in there and I do worry about electrical cords coupled with water. Have the excess cord taped with mailing tape up the wall so kitty won't play with it.

She sure loves this fountain :grin:


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## Kitty-The-Cat

I've found that if I press against the sides of my fountain, I can make it quiet down a bit, though usually I have to do a lot of "experimental" pressing against certain parts of the fountain before I find the spot that does the trick.

There is also a little lever that adjusts the rate at which the water comes out that, if I press on it a certain way, it quiets the pump machine.

My cat only uses the fountain sometimes, but I've found that she often drinks from it even when it's not turned out. By now I only turn it on sometimes, usually during warm weather when I think she might drink more.


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## Vivid Dawn

Originally, I got the fountain for ME!
I quit doing fish aquariums (too much work), but I missed the noise of trickling water at night to lull me to sleep. Figured if I got a cat fountain with a spout of water (rather than one that flows down the ramp, like the Drinkwell), that would work. Well, I told my sister that's what I wanted for Christmas... get it unwrapped and the box says something about the sloped ramp to reduce water noise... OIY!
I found that if I fill the water all the way up to the brim, it makes water-to-water noise a LITTLE bit.
Guess I just need to get a desk fountain after all. LOL


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## Mitts & Tess

Vivid Dawn said:


> Originally, I got the fountain for ME!
> I quit doing fish aquariums (too much work), but I missed the noise of trickling water at night to lull me to sleep.


That is so funny vivid dawn. I have a CD of rain and light thunder. Sometimes I play that when Im stressed out and trying to relax so I can sleep.

My SO says the cats' drinkwell water fountain noise of trickling water make him feel like he wants to pee all the time! :wink:


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## Vivid Dawn

The fountain was Christmas 2010
So this last Christmas (2011), my sister got me a sound machine alarm clock (as I explained my perdicament to her). It has a night meadow with crickets chirping, low-tone wind chimes, waterfall, rainforest (which is just 'waterfall' with birds), rain/thunder and morning birds chirping. For getting to sleep I usually use the crickets chirping or wind chimes.
I would love to use the morning birds chirping as the morning alarm, but I can't figure out how to set it, and it keeps defaulting back to rainforest ...which is nice, I guess, but not what I _want_.

Anyhoo, as far as cat fountains. I did notice that the water started to dribble over the edge, from the stream of water that goes into the bowl. So I have propped it up with a cap from a milk bottle... besides tilting the thing so the stream doesn't go over the edge, it made it even more quiet!


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## LaurulFeatherCat

Sometimes the forming machines used to make the plastic exterior of the fountains do not form the piece correctly and you have problems with thicker or thinner areas of plastic that create what they call harmonic resonance and white noise when they are running. Like I said before, the more expensive models use thin insulation to eliminate this problem, but if you are careful and allow some open area for cooling around the motor, you can add insulation around the inside edge of the plastic to decrease noise. It works very well. I just got some cotton batting and added it around the housing around the motor.

I had a reservoir that had a tendency to overflow as well and I solved it the same way with building up the edge of the plastic at the area it was overflowing. I made the fix permanent by gluing a plastic piece around the edge of the reservoir.

I have a jar type waterfall in my birdroom for humidification; birds need humidity for their proper respiratory function due to their extra air sacs and the different lung set up they have from us. Not only does the waterfall add humidity and solve one problem in the fall, winter and spring, but it also creates a very nice white noise sound that lulls me to sleep in my recliner on those days when I am having trouble sleeping. There is nothing like the sound of running water to help one go to sleep.


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## mainecoonmama

I have an AquaCube ( I think thats what its called) from Wal Mart. Its actually not all that bad on noise. At night I notice the water trickle, but other than that its pretty quiet for a little $20 fountain. Plus my boys love love love it. When I first brought it home they took turns sitting by it, drinking as much as they could then staring at it until they could drink again


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## Beckie210789

I have : Amazon.com: Pioneer Ceramic Drinking Fountain Big Max: Pet Supplies

It's super quiet, much quieter than my old petmate. Not to mention SUPER EASY to clean.

Once a week I wash the bowl and parts, and once a month I change the filter out and disassemble the filter motor to make sure the impeller that moves the water is clear of debris. I've had it for over a year now and at 40.00 couldn't have been happier.


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## Stryker

penny1956 said:


> ..._*it has one of those GFC outlets in there and I do worry about electrical cords coupled with water*_.


*IF* what you actually plug into the wall is a small plastic cube with the two prong plug built into it - that is a power supply (AC adapter) which reduces the power coming from the wall outlet down to only a few volts....so, no need to worry about any electrical shocks from your fountain nor the small wire leading to it - no need to use a GFCI plug with these. Here's a *picture* of one...power supply cube is on left side.


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## penny1956

Yes, Stryker, that's what mine looks like. That's a relief as I may want to relocate the fountain from it's current location, bathroom, to maybe my kitchen. Thanks so much for posting that!


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