I adopted Peri-Peri last April. He is my 1.7 years old naughty cat. I am yet to figure out what breed he is, all I can say is that he has long hair, the color is a combination of black, dark rust and grey. Yeah, that!

Today I will take you through how and why I got around making a water spout for him.

One of the common ailments that happen to cats is kidney stones. A common reason is not drinking enough water, the other is drinking water with a high content of dissolved solids. In an average household, in Bangalore, tap water can contain over 900mg/l of total dissolved solids (TDS). Most generic water filters reduce this to below 100mg/l. The other spectrum of the problem is stagnant water. Water in a bowl will become stagnant over days and can even start smelling odd.

Cats do not like drinking stagnant water. This is one of the reasons we see them trying to drink off a leaking tap at times. Cats love drinking flowing water. It is believed that cats find it difficult to see still water up close and flowing water solves the problem. This is why I decided that I should have a water spout or a fountain for Peri.

Now, there are tonnes of options available in the market, however, they are very expensive. Most are imported into India, thus increasing the cost furthermore. And the cost honestly does not justify the build or the work it does. I figured that most of these fountains were just submersible pumps with a filtration unit in place.

Now, where did I come across a similar setup before? Aquarium Water Filters.

They may be functionally different but essentially pump water through a filter and in turn to create a flow. I had tried different types of aquarium hang filters in the past. They worked but had issues like splashing water outside and not being stable due to the odd shape and size.

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Recently I came across a water filter meant to be used in turtle aquariums. It has a slow flow rate and requires only the bottom 5cms of the pump to be submerged. It is equipped with a charcoal and sediment filter to clean the water being circulated. Additionally, it has a rubber suction pad to the bottom of the filter to stick it to the container you would use this in. This helps avoid the filter falling or running dry. This filter coupled with a deep dish became the affordable water fountain I was looking for.

The setup can hold up to 4 liters of water circulated throughout the day. Just keep topping up as you see the level going down. I prefer giving filtered water to avoid any health issues for the cat or scaling in the pump. One needs to clean the filter just twice every month. The filter traps any dust or pet hair that might find its way into the water. Additionally removes any odor the water might have, using the charcoal filter.

The waterfall is the bonus, it does not splash a lot. Just enough for it to make a soothing sound of flowing water. My cat loves drinking directly from the waterfall. It took a couple of days for it to get used to it. Till then it was happy drinking directly from the dish.

Overall, it took me just five minutes to setup & cost me around Rs. 600/- INR (under 10$).

Amazon link to the aquarium filter I used.