Siamese rejected two fountains? Try this fix

Two rejected fountains is genuinely frustrating — but it actually tells us a lot. Siamese cats are particularly sensitive to noise and water movement, and most fountain rejections come down to one of two things: the pump is too loud, or the flow is too forceful and splashy. Before I point you toward something specific, can you tell me — do you remember which fountains you tried, and did your cat seem startled by them, or just completely uninterested? Also, did you try placing the fountain away from the food bowl? That one detail trips up a lot of people.

It really is — cats have an instinct that tells them water near food may be contaminated, so many cats will actively avoid a fountain placed next to their food bowl. Move it to a completely different room if you can, even a bathroom or a spot in the hallway. That alone has converted quite a few fountain-refusers. The other issue is that both fountains you tried are plastic, and Siamese can be sensitive to the smell of plastic, especially when the motor warms it up. The Catit flower is also quite turbulent — the splashing puts a lot of cats off. What you need is ceramic, a gentle flow, and a very quiet pump.

Ceramic is definitely better for cats like her — no plastic smell, stays cool, and it's genuinely easier to keep clean, which matters because a fountain that develops a biofilm will get rejected fast. And your concern about kidneys is exactly right: Siamese are predisposed to kidney and urinary tract problems, and getting her drinking more now at five is one of the best things you can do. My recommendation is the Drinkwell Pagoda Ceramic Pet Fountain. It has a very gentle, quiet double-stream flow — not a splash, more of a trickle — a capacity of 2 litres, and the ceramic construction means no off-putting smells. The pump is one of the quieter ones on the market. It's also straightforward to disassemble and clean, which matters for keeping it fresh enough that she'll actually use it.

Yes — don't plug it in immediately. Leave the fountain out unpowered for a day or two so she can investigate it at her own pace and get used to the smell and presence of it. Put it somewhere she already likes to hang around, away from her food. When you do turn it on, set the flow to its lowest setting. You can also try placing a few of her favourite treats near it for the first few days — not to bribe her exactly, but just to create a positive association with that spot. Some cats take a week, some take a day. The key is not moving it around impatiently once it's placed. Give it at least ten days before drawing any conclusions.

Replacement filters for the Pagoda are widely available on Amazon UK and reasonably priced — PetSafe sell them in multipacks which works out cheaper per filter. You'll want to change the carbon filter roughly every two to four weeks depending on how much she uses it, and rinse the whole unit weekly. That cleaning routine is actually part of what keeps the fountain appealing — stale water or a slimy filter is a common reason cats go off a fountain they initially accepted. Keep it fresh and you give yourself the best chance of making this one stick.