Cat Drinking Fountain Battles Are OVER!!

And I can't WAIT...but i have to....cuz I'm too cheap to spring for overnight shipping. [= Let me s'plain:


 I have been battling war of the mildew smell on my pet water fountains (the plastic ones) for 2 years now.  I started with the Platinum Drinkwell, which is NOT made of platinum as the name may make some believe...it is made of plastic.  Plastic that holds the smell of mildew in it.  Like a grody fish tank with no fishes.  


Yes, I cleaned it every 2 weeks.  Yes, I changed the filter.  No, it wasn't ever in the sun.  I even used bottled water.  Stink, stank, stunk.  Now the "Platinum" has a resevoir for holding additional water.  Even the inside of that stunk.  When I called up the Drinkwell company, they said they'd never had that complaint before.  "Did you try baking soda? bleach? vinegar?" Yepyepyep.  So although I'd done everything right, I had to buy a new resevoir and their special cleaning brushes just to make sure I was doing the job right.  6 months later, guess what? Same crap.  So I blamed it on the resevoir.  I bought a Drinkwell 360, which doesn't have a resevoir and is easier to clean.....but there's no filter for the pet hair that gets into it, so you end up cleaning at least once a week and guess what? [= Yep, after 3 months, mildew smell in the water again. (roll eyes here.)


Ok, could it be my really too excellent sense of smell?  Perhaps.  The cats were still lightly using the "Platinum" prior to me giving up on it.  The 360 they used for maybe 3 weeks max.  So now, what to do ....what to do.....

AHA!!!!!

Man, you just gotta love Etsy.  Here is a true alternative to the plastic cleaning nightmares that come with pet fountains! Thirsty Cat Fountains makes these by hand...Here's the info from the seller that made me plunk down a chunk of change for one last ditch effort on the drinking fountain for our furry roomates:



 Handmade of 100 % food-safe ceramics
- Promotes feline health with fresh flowing, oxygenated water 
- Cats prefer moving water and will drink more and stay healthier
- Cats can drink from the bubble-spout or from the bowl
- Ceramic bowls do not scratch and do not harbor bacteria
- 10 cup capacity
- Easy to assemble, easy to clean.
- One of a kind, handmade in America
- 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not completely happy with your fountain you may return it for a full refund of the fountain price.


Now, you know I couldn't help myself and had to purchase the attachment that goes with it, just cuz if I were a cat, I'd want it:

cat tap accessory in copper

OOOOOOOOOOH!!!  I'm more excited than a bird with a french fry!  I will review when I get it, but in case any of you have the itchin' to spend some money on your furry critters right this very minute on etsy, the seller is CatFountains.  The fountains are a bit spendy, but I'm hoping they are worth every penny......

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The Great Cat Food Dilemma: Squeebert vs. Wet Food

Pudgy Pudgy Squeebert

How many of us have thought "I'll never let my cat get fat?" and then suddenly looked at him/her one day and thought "oh-oh."  Yeah, that's a sort of special moment, isn't it?  Cuz you KNOW that getting them to exercise more is all on you (and not exactly easy!) and switching foods?  Er, yeah.  It shouldn't be called switching cat food, it should be called "Exactly how much money can I throw down the garbage disposal in any given week and not have to move to the poorhouse?" And then add a little diarrhea in when you hit a "wrong" food for your cat for a good laugh Gawd, I hate this.  

I never thought I'd have a fat cat.  I've had all sorts of critters....correction ~ HAVE all sorts of critters and not a one is overweight.  Not healthy = vet bills!  So when Squeebert had his last thyroid test and the internal medicine vet looked at him and said "Why, what a little butterball!"  ]=  Oh no.  Admittedly, his neurologist said she didn't know a thing about cat nutrition (and knows her own 2 cats are a chubby) and so she never said anything before....and I thought his extra skin and flabdomen were just...well....him!   Wrong-o!!  I should have known when we started calling him Mr. Taterman at home.... Royal Canin Adult Fit (Ha. fit. think that vowel in the middle is wrong) is Squeebert's addiction of choice.  He LOVES his dry food....so much so that he used to eat it so quickly that he'd puke it up afterwards! That problem was solved with a japanese teacup put in the center of the bowl....but ironically the solution to one problem became another problem ~ without all the throwing up, he started to gain weight.....sneakily and sloooooowly.  Damn. 

The problem is carbs.  Dry food has all these carbs that cats just don't need....cat food manufacturers don't list the carbs on the cans/bags/websites....it's such a swamp of info out there that it's ridiculous!  Squeebert's vet want him at less than 10% carbs.  His dry has 34%.  Yeah, you read that right.  Mommy mortification sets in.  So we go in to the swamp....and we try the high end wet food....we try them, we try them.  Nope. Couple of little snakey licks and Squeebert turns up his nose.  When we got to THE food according to most feline folk (Wellness Chicken) and he waddled off in a huff.... well, then it had to be a texture issue, right?  So I tried mixing dry with wet.  No go.  I tried watering it down to a soupy mess. Nope.  A fresh can every day?  Nuh-uh. (In the meantime, Beastly is LOVIN' it all!)  I cut the free fed Royal Canin to 1/2 cup for both cats per day and the wee bass turd is STILL holding out for that feeding time....while gaining weight!!! ????!!!!!  AAAAuuuuggghh!!

So now we're at Weruva.  Paw Lickin' Chicken.  Squeebert will lick the juice off (which is an improvement!)  but leaves the WHITE BREAST MEAT in the bowl.  White breast meat.  Folks don't even get that much white breast meat in a bucket of KFC!!  What the @*$&???  Sigh....  I know I'm supposed to NOT free feed...but it just seems so counterintuitive to give a cat 2 large meals when he barfs cuz he eats too much too fast...

So I come to you, loyal readers....what the heck has worked for you???  What are you feeding? How often do you change it?   Wits End is a crazy place to live, and that's where i am now!! 

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