Building An Indoor Fountain

My cat kept drinking out of the shower. This wasn't really a problem except that I kept freaking out when I was home alone and heard a click when the shower door opened. I decided that in order to entice her to drink from another source, I would get her her very own little indoor fountain to drink out of. Once I started pricing them, I realized that I would be spending a lot of money on a glorified, oxygenating watering dish. Having a rather practical nature, I thought perhaps I could make my own fountain. And where would I get information about doing that? Why the web of course! I found the now appropriately named buildfountains.com (it was something else at that time) and a few other sites and was ready to go.

Here are the supplies I used and how I acquired them:

A small water pump and plastic tubing. I went to an aquarium store (a nice mom and pop one, not one of those big "Pet Universe" places) and asked them for the smallest pump they had. The woman said "you're making a fountain, aren't you?" It was around $15-$17 dollars. There are various brands; some won't burn out as fast if the water level gets low. The pumps have little suction feet cups. Some assembly may be required. And of course remember you'll need to plug it in.

An elegant bowl, deep enough for the pump to be covered with water. I went to various garden stores and department stores looking for the right kind of container. I ended up finding a lovely dusty pink salad/pasta serving bowl at Target.

A container of river rocks. I bought this at Target too. The cashier couldn't believe I was buying a bunch of rocks. She said she could go out to the beach in her homeland (the Phillipines) and get a bunch for free. I was too polite to point out that we weren't in the Phillipines and it would cost me more to fly there.

Various seashells. From a restaurant and personal collection (see narrative below).

Assembling the Fountain
I put the pump and tubing in the middle of the bowl, covered it with rocks and added water. Voila, a fountain! I could adjust the water flow so that it just burbled out of the top of the tube. Without something to cover the top of the tubing, though, I wasn't satisfied with how it looked. I had gone to Pier 1 and Cost Plus to find various knick knacks and porcelain items that might be appropriate fountainheads. I also went to Home Depot and looked at copper tubing, but I would've had to do welding or make holes in it. I tried a nice little container designed for pouring soy sauce. I stuck the tube in the top of the container and the water would pour out of the spout. It was mildly cute, but I didn't really like it. I tried a few other things, but nothing was satisfying. Fortuitously, my cousin was in town on a visit and my brother and I went with him to a big Asian buffet place for dinner. They had scallops and mussels served on the shell, and I made everyone save their shells which I wrapped in knapkins and smuggled out in my purse (not that I thought they would mind, but they definitely don't like it when you take food to go). At home I got out my drill and started drilling a hole in the middle of a scallop shell, getting it as large as my largest drill bit, which luckily was the right size to stick it on top of the tube. I had the perfect fountainhead. I took a small shell that I had from a long time ago and stuck it on top of the hole. The water comes out from beneath the shell, gently enough to not push it aside and I positioned a mussel shell to catch it underneath.

The Cat Drinks!
The cat was drinking from the bowl before the fountain was even done. Now she drinks out of the top of the fountain all the time. It's wonderful! I often hear her lapping up the water. Of course, she still insists on visiting the shower every once in a while, but definitely not as much as before.

Maintenance
The water evaporates (or is consumed?) quickly, so I add more every couple days. And I try to clean it regularly too. But otherwise, it is very low maintenance, and the pumping of the water adds enough oxygen to keep the cat happy.

And here at last is a photo of the cat drinking at the fountain. Had to catch her in the act.