After a long walk with your doggy companion, they will be worn out and if your dog is anything like mine, they will grab a drink, something to eat and take a snooze on the sofa. Drinking plenty of water is essential for your dog and it’s been proven that flowing water, the sound and interaction it offers, entices your pet to drink. That’s where the PetSafe Drinkwell Fountain comes in.
This ‘Big Dog’ fountain is the largest in the Drinkwell range and they do have something to cater for both cats and dogs. They have a variety of sizes, designs and different methods of achieving a fountain effect.
Key Features
– Water Capacity – 7.5 Litre
– Encourages Hydration, which helps prevent urinary and kidney diseases in pets through increased hydration
– Filtered Water – Foam filter catches hair and dirt before they reach the pump, and the constant water circulation in the bowl helps prevent bacteria growth
– Easy-to-Clean – BPA-free plastic design comes apart for easy cleaning and is designed with less hard-to-clean corners and crevices. * Dishwasher safe (minus pump).
– Adjustable water flow allows you to customise the stream for you and your pet, or turn it off for a more quiet operation
Dishwasher safe (excluding Pump)
The fountain comes in sections and will need to be assembled before first use. Within the box, you get the unit itself, with associated pump and filter media, plus a power supply and instructions, detailing set up. It’s very straight forward to construct and the instructions are clear, so it took me just a few minutes to complete. Everything is made from plastic and it’s rather larger at 485mm x 330mm x 365mm.
The fountain comes with two levels of filtration, the first being the wire wool-like foam, which will catch any large pieces of debris, such as hairs, food etc. After that initial filter and further along the line, there is a carbon filter which is placed within the pipework, to help remove contaminants and impurities in the water. You can clean the foam filter and buy replacements for both relatively cheap online. The fountain works via a small pump located at the bottom of the tower. Water gets sucked into the pump from the bottom of the fountain and then release at high level at the top of the tower. The pump is mains powered, so the fountain needs to be within one meter of a socket (unless you use an extension lead). How much water released can be adjusted very easily by turning the nozzle underneath the cover at the top.
The fountain holds 7.5 litres of water, which is a fair amount and your pet defiantly will not go without! When filled, it can be heavy and somewhat flimsy, so recommend you do not move it unless completely necessary. For me, the water never really seemed to go down very much, even though my dog was drinking from it and I would see myself emptying the fountain and refilling every couple of days. If you had more pets and/or large ones, the water will go down a lot faster.
My dog did find the fountain interesting, which leads me to believe it did stimulate him into wanting or at least thinking about having a drink. Other than it being somewhat unsightly (dark grey, no design as such), the pump does make a fair bit of noise, which overpowers the trickle of the water and may put some people off.
The ‘Big Dog’ fountain currently retails for £62.99 and I feel it’s fit for purpose, it did entice my dog to drink but after looking at some of their other fountain products, the design, appearance and finesse is defiantly lacking when compared to others in the range.
For more info, head over to the official PetSafe Drinkwell website.
