10 best cat water fountains to keep furry friends hydrated, tried and tested by a pet parent

This remarkable cat water fountain combines advanced smartphone-controlled features with a simple and effective design. We love everything from its triple-action filter to the notifications we received on our smartphone when the pixi smart’s pump was due for cleaning.

After a few attempts, we managed to get the fountain connected to our wifi and the Catit pixi smartphone app. Once this is set up, you can use your phone to tweak the settings, for instance, starting a UV-C water sterilisation cycle or activating energy-saving mode.

Another important benefit of this fountain was that it’s perhaps the quietest electric option we tested.

If you have multiple thirsty kitties to water, the big, beautiful PetSafe drinkwell sedona could be the ideal solution.

There are a fair few steps required to assemble this fountain, but you’ll manage fine if you carefully follow the well-written instructions.

The sedona is a remarkably calming presence for cats and humans alike. Our cat-journalist Martha happily drank from the fountain within a few minutes of us setting it up. It operates quietly – unless the water level is running low – and we found that the fountain has much the same tranquil effect as a garden water feature.

Don’t tell your cat, but this fountain is big enough to be used by dogs, too.

Not to be confused with the smart fountain from the same range, the Catit pixi is a traditional cat drinking fountain of the highest calibre.

We found this fountain to be especially easy to use day-to-day. The LED light at the front blinks to let you know when the water’s running low and turns solidly red when there’s none left, giving you ample warning when it’s time for a top-up. And given the pixi’s 2.5l capacity, those refills won’t have to happen all that often, but within a suitably hygienic timeframe, of course.

This fountain also has some clever “furgonomic” features to suit a cat’s biology, including an angled jet that’s easy for a cat to drink from and a wide-brimmed dish that avoids excessive whisker contact.

With a gently trickling flow of water that creates calming ripples through a wide, roughly triangular bowl, this fountain seems especially calming and approachable. This may explain why one of the cats who helped us with this article, Martha, checked out this fountain as soon as we turned it on.

The ceramic material of the bowl and fountain components feel tough, can be cleaned easily and should be suitable for acne-prone cats.

In terms of setup, the streamside proved relatively intuitive. It’s recommended that the carbon filters are replaced once every two to four weeks, so do bear in mind that you’ll need to order some spares soon after you buy the fountain itself.

This fountain was already a hit with one of our reviewer-cats before we started testing for this article – and it still compares favourably with some of the flashier products we tested.

Between its water trough and its shell-shaped spout, this fountain provides two places for the cat to drink from at their leisure.

From a human-friendliness perspective, we were particularly impressed with how easy this fountain was to clean. There are few intricate nooks or crannies to reach, and the bowl can even be cleaned in a dishwasher. While the titanium fountain we tested isn’t unavailable now, there are still a couple of other colours to choose.

Catit’s original flower fountain is among the best-selling cat fountains on the market, and we can see why.

One of our reviewer-cats has been using this type of fountain for over a year, and it has kept her well hydrated throughout.

With a generous 3l capacity, the fountain is seldom at risk of running out of water, and the transparent gauge at the front means this should never be in doubt.

There are many good things to say about this fountain, but perhaps best of all is its design. It’ll never not be cute to watch your cat drinking from a big, daisy-shaped spring.

If you’re tempted by Catit’s classic flower fountain but are looking for slightly higher-end features, you should consider purchasing this variant with a stainless steel top.

This fountain features a cute flower-shaped spout, a three-in-one filter and a generously sized reservoir, plus it’s kitted out with an LED nightlight that adds a little magic to the experience.

The stainless steel top of this fountain could be a particularly good fit for cats who are prone to cat acne because the material is thought to be less likely to promote outbreaks than others, such as plastic.

The kittyspring combo is an altogether different type of water source for your cat, with gravity-fed water release and a design that looks straight out of retro sci-fi.

Rather than releasing water in a fountain, this model releases it into a dish, which recharges from a feeder bottle whenever the water level decreases.

This waterer is remarkably easy to set up and maintain – you’ll just need to clean the components and refill the water bottle every day or two. And because there’s no electric pump or replaceable filtration system, ongoing usage costs are negligible.

Another feature we love is the wide, shallow drinking bowl, which is designed to reduce contact with the whiskers, which cats can find stressful.

That said, do bear in mind that waterers like this one don’t have all the same benefits as a fountain. In particular, the water is not continuously flowing.

We’ve yet to meet the cat who isn’t intrigued by butterflies. True to form, our reviewer-cat, Bertie, soon took to using this cute, lepidopteran drinking fountain from PetSafe.

The butterfly-topper works a charm, separating the flow from the pump into four trickling streams that provide plenty of interest for cats.

Cute design aside, this is a highly practical fountain that’s particularly well-suited for fitting into tight spaces. And if you’d like it to operate more quietly at certain times – perhaps overnight – you can reduce the noise by removing the butterfly topper.

It’s worth noting that this fountain uses two types of filter: one that uses carbon and one that’s made of foam – and both need to be replaced regularly.

We liked this fountain for its triple-tiered design, which provides a choice of levels from which the cat can drink. Not only does this give individual cats some welcome variety, but it could also help cater for two or three cats.

The other standout factor with this fountain is its remarkable value for money. At the time of our testing, you can pick up a Cat Mate fountain for roughly half the price of some of its most similar competitors. And adding to the overall economy of the Cat Mate water fountain is the reasonable pricing and longevity of its replaceable filters – you can get a year’s supply for under £30.

One downside to Cat Mate’s fountain is that it’s relatively noisy. With this in mind, it should be positioned well away from bedrooms and may be best suited for use in larger homes.