The Catit Flower Fountain Triple Action Filter Pad is the replacement filter for the Catit Flower Fountain range. It does three jobs in one pad, and it uses far less plastic than the rigid cartridge it replaced -- Catit put the saving at around seventy-five per cent.

Key Features

• Activated Carbon: Takes out dissolved odour and the flat taste that puts some cats off tap water
• Ion Exchange Resin: Softens hard tap water, which matters in the UAE where mains and tanker water are both hard
• Mesh Layer: Catches shed hair, sediment and grit before they reach the pump, which is what usually kills a fountain pump
• Which Fountains: Catit list it for the Senses 2.0 Flower Fountain (HA43742W), the Flower Fountain with LED Nightlight (HA43747W) and the Stainless Steel Flower Fountain (HA43725)
• Two Per Pack: At a change every month that is two months of use

Water And Urinary Health

Catit say the ion exchange resin softens tap water and helps prevent urinary tract disease. The part that is well established is the water itself: cats that take in more water pass more dilute urine, which is linked to a lower risk of crystals and stones. A filter is not medicine. A cat that strains in the tray, goes over and over without producing much, cries while going or passes blood needs a vet that day, and a male cat that cannot pass urine at all is an emergency -- hours matter.

Keeping It Clean

• Strip it down and wash every part once a week. A film builds up inside the bowl and under the pump cover that you can feel before you can see it, and that film is the usual reason a cat stops using a fountain.
• Rinse all detergent out. Cats are far more sensitive to the smell of washing-up liquid than we are.
• Never let it run dry. The pump is cooled by the water it moves, so an empty bowl kills it.
• Change the filter pad about once a month, sooner in a dusty home or with a long-haired cat.
• Top it up daily rather than waiting for the low mark.

Who Makes It

Catit is the cat brand of Rolf C. Hagen, the Montreal company founded in 1955. The Design Senses and Flower Fountain ranges are its best known, and parts for them are sold separately so a unit can be repaired rather than replaced.

Good To Know

• Rinse a new pad under the tap before fitting it. Loose carbon dust makes the first bowl of water look grey, which is harmless but alarming.
• A filter does not make water safe to leave standing. Change the water in the bowl every day or two whatever the filter is doing.
• If the flow drops away, the filter is usually blocked with hair rather than the pump failing. Try a fresh pad before buying a pump.