Experiments with a Catit Mini drinking fountain

Cheekypigs

Cheekypigs

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Because of traumatic and expensive experiences with bladder stones in a previous pig, I'm always trying to increase how much they drink. I found that Catit are making a kitten-sized water fountain (their usual one is far too big and tall for guinea pigs), so I thought I would give it a shot.

The pigs weren't sure what to do with it at first, but now they're really enjoying it. Fuzzable figured it out quite quickly, but Popchop was a bit slow on the uptake! Now they're both going for it and definitely drinking more than I've seen them do before.

Has anyone else ever tried something like this? I like the fact that it filters the water so it stays clear, whereas their bowls are always poo and pellet soup after half a day (our two have no truck with water bottles).
 
Just to add, the main downside at the moment is that Pig Daddy is finding the noise irritating. I think it's very quiet, but he has superhuman hearing.
 
Fuzzable models the drinking fountain. It's a nice size for them, and it's got quite a big reservoir, so it's much too heavy to tip over. It's also low voltage (5V USB) so I don't have to worry about shocks.
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This is a really interesting idea. I am interested to see if it helps as I’ve never heard of anyone trying this before.
 
One thing I'm struggling with is how to actually know if it is helping? I can't really measure how much they drink because I don't know how much water is lost to evaporation. It seems to me they're drinking more, they spend more time at the fountain when they go for a drink than they ever did with bowls. But I can't know if that's the case throughout the day or not. I suppose I could set up a camera!

And in terms of the ultimate result, maybe they won't get bladder stones, but maybe they weren't going to get them anyway.

Any ideas for how to actually get some solid answers from this experiment are welcome!
 
I think it would be very difficult to tell if it does have an effect as they don’t have bladder issues to start with. I recommend you are careful as they can end up drinking too much, especially if they get bored and the water feeder is “fun”. I do understand how it can make you paranoid if you have bad experiences in the past.
The effects would be best seen in pigs who have bladder issues that would be helped by drinking more (sludge especially) as a reduction in white deposits would potentially reduce if it works.
 
They do leave some white deposits, so I'll keep an eye on that and see if there's a change.
 
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Well, the fountain is still popular. I wouldn't say they're drinking an excessive amount, but they certainly seem to be actually enjoying drinking, which is not something I've seen before.

We've compromised with Pig Daddy that the fountain can be turned off sometimes when he wants peace and quiet - it keeps a pool of water on top so they can still get fresh water while it's off, and they happily use it, although they obviously prefer when it's running.

I cleaned it out yesterday and was quite pleased, it's pretty easy to clean and although there was some debris (hay etc) in the main reservoir, the bit behind the filter that it pumps from was totally clear.

I don't want this to just be an ad for Catit, obviously it is more hassle to clean than a water bowl or bottle (although because of the filter, it only needs emptied and cleaned twice a week), it takes up space and there is that noise (which I don't even notice but drives Pig Daddy nuts!). I wouldn't call this thing a necessity or something everyone should run out and buy, but I'm glad I bought it and will stick with it.
 
I can imagine if your piggies don't drink from bottles it's a great thing to have. Bowls must be a hassle having to clean them out several times a day if debris gets in them and there's also the problem of piggies tipping bowls over. Your piggies look really sweet posing with it too.
 
Bowls are a huge hassle. They're always putting their feet in them or tipping them over and the constant pellet backwash is pretty gross!
 
I have 3 boys and have got one of the cat fountains myself cause of bowls being such a hassle. I have to say I see the youngest drink the most, but the two older ones do drink more now than they did from bowl and their pen doesnt have anywhere to hold a bottle sadly
 
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