Pioneer Pet Raindrop Fountain, Pet Drinking Fountains (60 oz., White Ceramic)

My finicky 16 year old cat loves this fountain! My cat was diagnosed with kidney dysfunction about 2 years ago and since then we have had to give her fluids intravenously once every five days. The worst part was that she suddenly became very choosey about where she drank water. She would move from water dish to water dish in her mission to find the perfect water. Sometimes/mostly, she would give up searching for just the right water after about 15 minutes and go back to bed. This was both scary and stressful as she already needed more water than she was able to consume. I used the Five Star Fountain for a few months and for awhile, it pleased her and she would drink. However, for some reason, she stopped using it and we started the daily search for the holy grail of water yet again. I tried every type, size, color of dish and location known to man. I even placed shallow dishes filled with water in strategic places outside in the yard because she appeared to like "discovering" her own source of water. Nothing worked. I knew from watching her that she couldn't see the water and although she could smell it, she hated dipping her nose into the dish and accidentally getting water on her nose. I did a lot of research and finally settled on the Pioneer Pet Raindrop Ceramic Drinking Fountain. With this fountain she has three places to drink from, the water is fresh and cool, and she can hear the water so she knows the water is there without dunking her nose in. I also think that she can see the "moving" water where it runs down in a little stream. I've seen her drink off and on throughout the day and I know she must be feeling much better with all of the hydration she is getting. I find that the fountain is easy to clean. It is much easier than the Five Star Fountain. I bought the white ceramic fountain because I wanted to be able to see any slime, bugs, or hair that might be in the water. So far, no slime and I've been using it for a week and a half. You will not be sorry you bought this fountain! However, be advised that if you fill it too full, it will splash droplets on the floor, but this is easily solved by not over-filling it. Also, be advised that mine did not come with a filter, so be sure to pick those up at the same time. Yes, the fountain sounds like a trickle of water is being released from the sink but that is certainly not an issue. Older cats do tend to gradually get hard of hearing, so the trickling water sound is what makes it so perfect. Besides, I think if you put it on a small bath mat or towel, you might not have the same volume of noise. Our family is not disturbed in the least by the sound the falling water makes.

I was so happy to find a waterfall for cats that was not made of plastic! 1. It is a cinch to clean & unlike plastic you know for sure that it is absolutely 100% clean with no left over residues stuck because the bowls surface cannot trap contaminates like plastic will. 2. It looks great in any room and goes with just about any decor. I hide the cord with cat friendly planter like wheat grass or catnip as shown in the video. 3. The motor is silent unless it is running low on water or after you just fill it up. After a fill up I just unplug it for a split second and plug it right back in. The noise instantly goes away. 4. The cats love it and it brings a little interest to their day as they love the moving water and sound of the trickling plus the moving water prevents bacteria build up. 5. I also love the sound of the trickling. It sounds like a stream is in my kitchen and it’s very soothing. 6. Easy to assemble and easy to take apart to thoroughly clean which I do about once a week. More if the cats are particularly ornery & play in it too much getting it dirty. 7. To the best of my ability I researched this product and it seems to be safe or as safe as anything can possibly be these days. Far safer than the still water that sat in the plastic dish previously that’s for sure. I highly highly recommend this product until I have a reason not to. So far so good but I will always come back and update my reviews if there is reason too. Oh & I wouldn’t use just regular tap water in this because of the motor. Spring water or distilled unless you have a high quality water filtration system for your home then that would probably be okay too. You can use tap water but I’m thinking it would cause issues in the long term.

I originally purchased this fountain in January 2017 and paid around what it's priced currently on Amazon ($47). The fountain was a complete hit with our cats, and I quickly learned that a biweekly cleaning routine was enough to keep the fountain working properly. All the parts aside from the pump get thrown in the dishwasher and come out clean. To clean the pump, I take it apart and gently scrub with warm soapy water and a toothbrush. I do this cleaning process every other week, or whenever there is food or dirt present in the water. The mfr. recommends changing the filter every 2-4 weeks, but based on my experience, I would say that with regular cleaning you can probably stretch the filter for a month and a half. SERVICE HISTORY: -The top part was dropped at some point so the tip broke off, but that has not affected the function of the fountain. -One of the suction cup feet on the bottom of the plastic pump/filter enclosure broke off. We super glued it to reattach to the enclosure and it's worked properly since. -The water pump went out after 2 1/2 years. It would intermittently stop working and make a horrific buzzing noise. I bought a new pump for $15 and have not had any issues since. -After 3 1/2 years, we began noticing a persistent leak. Thinking it was my cats playing with the water, or us overfilling it, I didn't think too much at first. However, upon further inspection, I came to find that somehow there was a leak in the cord riser (tube shaped part on the base). Tried using super glue to stop the leak but that only worked temporarily. Contacted Pioneer Pet direct and a customer rep quickly got back to me. They informed me that they can send me a new base for $15 + shipping. Hopefully this new base can give me many more solid years of use. SUMMARY: Considering my total investment into the fountain, my overall impression is mostly positive with some skepticism. This is probably not the right product for you if you aren't willing to take the pieces apart and clean them regularly. My approach is that this is more like an aquarium or water feature than a pet bowl. I don't know if I'd call it a bargain as you can fill a bowl with water and give that to your pets for $0, but if you're in the market for a fountain and willing to spend a bit of money, I would recommend this product as long as the buyer can commit to routine maintenance. PROS: My pets love it and drink more water because of it. The sound of the water running is nice. Cleaning isn't too bad. Assembly is mostly straightforward. The manufacturer offers the parts individually when they wear out. If you want to save some cash, off-brand replacement pumps and filters can be had for cheap. The pump uses very little power. CONS: The parts will more than likely wear out. Build quality is not the best. Cord riser is thin and could potentially develop leak issues. Routine cleaning/maintenance can feel like a chore. Can be finicky to seat the parts correctly. Overall cost may be more than most are willing to spend.

**UPDATE** Initially, my rambunctious cats set out to destroy this thing and warped my hardwood floor in the process, but I am so glad that I decided to get the ceramic fountain because though they used to knock over the top half of the fountain all of the time, they've learned to love their fountain and use it as it's supposed to be used. One of my cats used to only drink water from the sink which got annoying quickly - now that she has the fountain she drinks water all of the time. I've noticed that her coat looks much nicer and she has more energy during the day. VERY happy with this purchase. The only complaint that I would have between when I first got it until now is that it is a bit noisy, but I find the sound relaxing. Some may be more comfortable turning the fountain off at night. **OLD REVIEW** I was anxious to get a pet fountain because one of my cats will only drink from the sink while I'm standing there and I just don't have 20 minutes everyday to stand with her at the sink. The fountain itself is pretty good. I'm glad I got the ceramic one so that it's not easy to tip over BUT, the actual fountain part just sits on the bowl and is not attached and my cats quickly started to attempt to disassemble it. Set up was simple enough, I put it on a thick towel to avoid mess. At first the cats were a bit scared but now it's just a game. They both run up, dive both paws in, splash everywhere and run away to lick the water from their paws. They only actually drink from it when the water isn't running. Unfortunately not a great investment for those of us with rebel cats who only follow their own rules!

Like I did! A lot of people have written good reviews for this product, and I agree: If you get a box that contains a top ceramic piece that matches the bottom ceramic piece, this is not a terrible fountain. But BUYER BEWARE: It was confirmed by both the manufacturer (in a phone conversation) and the seller (in an email) that what I received was defective. With the top piece not fitting onto the bottom piece correctly, the fountain is time-consuming to assemble after cleaning. The pump housing does not fit where it should; the holes (that the water shoots through) do not line up properly and the heavy ceramic pieces wobble and sit precariously and are easily disturbed. The result is constant adjustment so that you can stop the water flowing out onto your floor. The picture on the box shows the ceramic pieces fitting together tightly, except of course for that few inches where the water flows down. If you look closely at the picture on the product page, you can see that what they are selling now does NOT fit tightly at the back. Because of this the pump housing is not able to sit flat on the bottom of the bowl, which in turns causes a disruption in the water's path up through the pump, the plastic housing, and the water's exit hole in the top ceramic piece. If this item was sold by Amazon it would be totally guaranteed--including shipping. That is not the case with this item. The seller--claiming to not believe that I had a defective fountain (when so many other people have been happy with their's)--insisted I return the item to them at my expense, which was over $20. Even with Amazon's A to Z guarantee, I will never recoup that $20. And now the seller has the defective fountain back to sell to someone else. UPDATE, Feb. 10, 2013: After I posted my review and gave seller feedback, the seller contacted me to say she will mail me a check to reimburse me for the shipping charge...after she returns from her 10-day vacation...Nice way of doing business, huh? If you decide to take a chance on this product, and happen to get a good one, you should be aware of several things: You will need to buy filters almost immediately; only one is included in the box and they don't last long. And another thing: You need to totally dismantle the fountain each time you clean it--this includes unwinding the black power cord through the bottom ceramic piece by way of where it plugs into the adapter at the wall. The entire cord has to be pulled "backwards" through bottom ceramic piece. The cord is long and if your distance to the power supply is relatively short and you fold up and tie off the cord to keep it safely out of the way, you will need to unwind it each time you clean the fountain. If you were thinking to hide the black cord behind a wire camouflaging strip, you will not be able to.

I have an 18-year old "granny" cat who has a bit of ADHD and is very persnickety. So, getting her to drink healthy amounts of water is a challenge. When she was younger and more spry, she would jump on the bathroom counter and drink from a faucet that I left trickling. That kept her well-hydrated, but increased our water bills. When she stopped jumping up, I would lift her up for awhile, but that was too hit-and-miss. After a broad search, I found the "Raindrop Drinking Fountain." Spendy, but made of ceramic, not plastic or stainless steel, and some pretty decent reviews. After two months of use, both my cat and I LOVE it! She drinks frequently and deeply and is maintaining her hydration really well. Now for some details and "tips". It's hard to tell from the product photos how this thing works. I've posted a video, which should help. A submerged pump under the roundish bowl on the top piece moves water up to the bowl. TIP: Set the pump to its lowest setting. It's quieter and works better. The water then runs down the curved trough of the top piece and falls through a slight, curved notch between the top piece and the bottom piece. The water falls into the "pool" that's in the bottom piece and recirculates. TIP: The level of water in the "pool" will affect how much visible and audible flow is created. If you fill it too full, the water will circulate, but with no "tinkling" noise and not much apparent current on the surface. My cat is drawn by the sound of running water and likes to drink from flowing water, so it took me a while to realize what the "trick" is to getting the "raindrop" effect. Even on the lowest setting, the motor is not silent. In fact it produces a quite audible, although not loud, hum. Using the lowest pump setting minimizes the hum, but on a hard surface there's a transfer/amplification effect. So, I put a layer of bubble-pack under it (on top of a tile bathroom floor), and it was much quieter. I would suggest the manufacturer provide an optional, thin, cut-to-size pad for use on hard surfaces. When I first placed the fountain where my cat had her water bowl, she wouldn't go near it because of the motor hum. So, for about ten days, I just placed the bottom bowl (without the motor) in the spot and used it like a regular bowl. My cat quickly adjusted to that change. Then I added the top piece, still without motor, for another ten days, and my cat never missed a beat. Then I added the motor, and she was a little hesitant at first, but within a few days, she was headed straight for the fountain after she eats. The fountain is ingeniously shaped so if you position it right, there's room for the cat's head and mouth to face the stream. That's the way my cat always drinks. In the video, she's approaching it from the side because I was in her way to capture her drinking. BTW, there's a filter in the pump, which you can remove or maintain and replace on a regular basis. I keep it in so it filters out the occasional debris she has on her whiskers. Hope this long story helps some of your own little critters enjoy their own in-home "stream."

ETA: Five months in and the motor conked out. No pressure whatsoever. It never made any sounds as if it was burning out. So now I'm out $16 for a new motor, which...that's annoying. I've been looking for a fountain with no plastic bits that come in contact with the kitties since one of my cats is prone to acne. The last one didn't last more than 1.5 months before the pump started dying. I've used Pioneer brand before and had that fountain for 8 years, only getting rid of it due to the fact that it had a plastic top my acne-prone cat drank from. The good about this one: 1. Ceramic - nice and heavy to prevent enthusiastic tippers, no plastic in contact with sensitive chins 2. Simple pieces - not a lot of fiddly bits to keep track of an clean 3. Large reservoir - no worries that my two will run out of water if I go out for the weekend 4. Enticing - my Kit was on this as soon as the water was in The bad/sub-optimal: 1. Proprietary filters - not unusual, but means I worry about supply chain issues 2. Noise, sort of - see explanation below So, some have complained of noise. They aren't crazy. A grinding noise can be caused by not having enough water in the unit and that will happen in any fountain if you don't fill it enough. The big issue with this one is that the pump is very powerful and the ceramic pieces don't seat very well. This could have been solved easily by a little redesign of the lip of the bowl to make the teardrop top slot in more securely. If it is off-kilter, it can reverberate or spill off the side. As for the pump power, there is a slider on the pump (black squarish piece inside the white housing) that needs to be turned -almost- to the lowest possible. Not the lowest, because then it won't pump enough to flow properly. But seriously, just barely above that. Anything more and this fountain "tinkles" so dang loud it will make you need to tinkle.

I have four of the Pioneer Pet fountains. Three are the raindrop design and one is the Fung Shui shape. All have worked great and I am dedicated to this brand. The Fung Shui fountain and one of the raindrops use the flat filters while the stainless version and this ceramic version use the hard plastic enclosed filter(Item 3002). I had decided when I used up all the flat filters I would do away with those fountains. I just didn't think they worked as well as the other filters. The Fung Shui fountain was my least favorite and my cats least favorite. I did not feel the water circulated enough and the ying yang design made it difficult for my 19 year old cat to drink comfortably. She would circle it trying to find a place to drink. The black and white plastic raindrop suited her fine but it quit working properly and I have taken it apart several times and couldn't get it to work and pump the water over the edge. It just sit there bubbling. Changing the motor speed didn't help. Therefore, that water wasn't circulating. For over a year I used the stainless steel version for my younger two cats and was thrilled. It began looking bad from mineral deposits and since it was in my guest bath and I wanted it to look nice ordered this one to replace it. ( I only use bottled water or Brita filtered water). When this ceramic version arrived I was thrilled to find you can totally remove the filter and motor!! Now I can run the entire thing through the dishwasher and sanitize it when I change the filter! Being white none of the mineral deposits show up on it at all! It is of course the heaviest of the fountains and very solid and secure. This and the stainless version I clean every two weeks and change the filter. Since you can buy them in bulk from Amazon the price is very economical. I will be using only these two versions now (the stainless and ceramic) but will keep the Fung Shui to have on hand should one of them fail. The other raindrop was tossed since it no longer worked. FYI I took the stainless version and soaked it for about an hour in white vinegar and it removed all the hard water deposits and it looks brand new. I now have it for my 19 year old cat and she is very pleased. She quickly left the bubbling raindrop fountain and chose this one. My advice would be to invest in the more expensive version of the stainless or the ceramic. Of all four these are the two I am most pleased with. If I had to order all over again I would definitely chose to order two of the white ceramic versions as they are the prettiest, cleanest looking, and easiest to clean. Plus these higher end versions keep the water cleaner and more sparkling for my cats.

pump/transformer did not function. connected to mains with a us plug. is it even legal to sell an electric device with this plug in an eu country?

Pump stopped working within one day and comes with a US plug…

Horrible, lo primero, el enchufe que trae es británico tienes que comprar un adaptador ojo, pero lo peor viene después , la bomba es como de juguete , adapta mal al contenedor donde viene y el contenedor con el filtro adapta mal a la cubierta de cerámica , tremendo … pero después de luchar conecto la bomba y su potencia era ridícula … no salía casi agua para a los 10 minutos dejar de funcionar completamente! No merece la pena el precio ni el esfuerzo lo único que tiene es que es de cerámica, una auténtica basura. Tuve que devolverla!

Purchased this cat fountain as I previously owned a Drinkwell Platinum fountain, but was always annoyed at how cumbersome it was to clean. It was made from plastic and had lots of corners and grooves and was a pain to pull apart. My research led me to the Pioneer Raindrop. It looks great and was made out of ceramic, which I prefer over plastic, and also it makes it much easier to clean. It has the bowl and the raindrop, both ceramic with the raindrop sitting on top of the bowl in little grooves. Both our cats love it. It has a trickle for cats that like flowing water or a faucet effect, and also the opening in the bowl for a more traditional drink of water. Filter was easy to put in and works well sitting in a little plastic clam enclosure that houses the pump and filter. Haven't had it long enough to test the filters lifespan just yet - but will update later. I ordered the drinking fountain from Amazon AU, even though I read a few people mentioning that they received a USA plug, I thought they must have ordered from an overseas seller or something simlar. So I made sure to purchase the product sold by and sent by Amazon AU. The fountain came with an american plug. I wen to Jcar and they recommended a $50 step down transformer. Bunnings didn't have any pumps that small to fit the unit. However, I did find a local distributor that put me onto a supplier to get an Australian pump for this fountain (model number 55-6099) about $45. Amazon were fantastic with their service too and helping me out, can't say enough about amazon support they are brilliant. The new local plug works perfectly, and the fountain is great. TLDR: Great fountain, sturdy ceramic, charcoal filter. Our cats love it. If you get a USA plug, just grab an Aussy version because this fountain is the best one out there for cats and way better then plastic Drinkwell ones. Edit: Just a year with this fountain. Still love it, but the ceramic base broke this morning. The tube that you feed the power chord into to get in/out of the water snapped right off whilst washing it. Might be able to get waterproof glue or something similar to re-attach it, but decided to just get another fountain this time Stainless Steel to see how it goes rather then ceramic. The design is so much better then any other its worth it, just for the ease of cleaning. Will have to see how the cats react to stainless steel, if they notice any difference. :)

De fontein zelf is prima, zat alleen een adapter bij die niet voor Nederlandse stopcontacten geschikt is. Gelukkig had ik zelf nog een adapter van de vorige raindrop fontein.