The 10 Best Pet Water Fountains

Editor's Notes

May 12, 2021:

It wound up being a surprisingly busy round of updates and this list got shuffled up quite a lot, despite nearly all of our previous picks still being readily available and reviewing well. One exception to this was the Pioneer Pet Raindrop, which seemed to be experiencing some scattered availability issues between vendors, but we were loathed to remove such a nice, stainless steel model from our rankings, and judged that any supply issues it was facing were likely temporary, so we decided to retain it.

We also replaced the Veken VK022 with the Veken VK405 – which sports a design similar to its predecessor, but is made of sturdier materials and includes the useful addition of a water-level window and nightlight LEDs – and removed the Mospro Dispenser – which was rather feature-bare, and closely resembled several superior offerings that we’d already listed – in order to make room for a couple of new choices.

The Dogit Design Fresh & Clear H2Eau caught our eye with its 1.6-gallon capacity, which seems to be about as big as options get in this category. That, in combination with its foot-tall height, made it stand out as an option that’s particularly well suited to large-breed dogs, and we decided to include it on our list based largely on that merit.

The PetKit Eversweet 2S lives up to its name with a number of sweet features, including LED indicators that notify you when it’s time to fill its reservoir or change its filter, and an auto-off function that will kill power to the pump if you let you water level get too low, potentially saving your hardware from premature burnout. At less than 30 decibels, it’s also one of the quietest models out there, and it even offers an energy-efficient smart mode that cycles the unit on and off every three minutes, to help reduce utility costs whilst still regularly circulating your pet’s water.

For further ways to better spoil your fur friends and automate their care, check out our lists of automatic pet feeders, pet cameras and pet doors.

February 14, 2020:

I currently have two cats and have had many others over the course of my life, so as you can imagine, there was a lot at stake here. One of my past cats actually had crystalline ureter blockage once and had to have surgery, most likely due to the fact that he didn’t drink enough water. I’m very glad he survived—this is something that happens more frequently with boy cats and they can definitely die from it—but I can’t help but wonder if his lack of thirst had to do with his water source. Our current cats are good drinkers, but after doing this list, my wife and I have a cat fountain of our own on the way. I won’t say which, as that might be considered a conflict of interest.

Designs that incorporated ceramic or stainless steel like the Drinkwell Pagoda, Pioneer Pet Raindrop and the Ipettie Tritone were given some preference since the materials they’re built with are much more antimicrobial than plastic, rubber, and other porous synthetics. This is not to say that the models like the Catit Flower and PetSafe Drinkwell Platinum are unsafe, just that we hope you clean them regularly. While we’re on the subject, it should be noted that while the Wonder Creature Intelligent has a metal dish, its reservoir is still plastic, so don’t forget to crack it open and give it a good scrub to fend off mold and mildew as often as its instructions indicate. Elsewhere, don’t forget that the Drinkwell 360 Original has both a steel and BPA-free plastic option. If it isn’t obvious, these considerations equally apply to dogs and other household pets.

Finally, I would compel you to consider the ongoing availability of both the pump and filters that go with whatever model you choose. If they absolutely depend on these items, make sure you have a backup plan if you want your fountain to last a lifetime.