Pioneer Pet Big Max Ceramic Drinking Fountain for Pets, White, 8 lb

If you're looking for a quiet water fountain that's easy to clean and keeps water available during a power outage—look no further! This beautiful water dish checks all the boxes and fits in with just about any décor, if that’s something you care about. It also comes in ceramic or stainless steel. I’m reviewing the ceramic version, which is the heavier of the two. I’ve been using this bad boy for a couple of years now, and it’s still working with no issues. Cleaning is simple, but I recommend removing the fountain part before carrying it to lighten the load. One thing to note: you do need to keep an eye on the water level. If it gets too low, the pump gets loud and may stop working until you refill it. It’s on the larger side, so it’s great for homes with multiple cats or dogs. I have just one cat, and yes—it’s a bit much—but when I leave town, I can rest easy knowing she has plenty of fresh water. Highly recommend!

This fountain has been very good to me (and my cats). Any other fountain would have given up on us, or we would have given up on it, by now. We've gone through three other brands before this. I'd about given up. I wasn't too hopeful. So I did my research and chose this one. Perhaps I didn't need it this big... I thought I wanted plenty of room for their faces. No one likes bent whiskers. Well, there's plenty of room. It's not a bad thing but unless you have dogs sharing or multiple cats drinking at a time you really don't need it this big. The ceramic is really heavy so it doesn't get moved around and it's really easy to clean. It can be handwashed or put in the dishwasher. It's also BPA and plastic free which was very important to me. Even if you don't believe the stuff about science, cancer, etc. just know that the plastic fountains collect grime like no one's business. So even if it weren't healthier it's still easier to clean. If you don't do it for them, do it for yourself. It's a win win. Everything is easy to assemble. The cord is long enough for where I need it. The filters are easy to put in and easy to find available for sale. The only thing is I strongly advise to get good filters. I've had 3rd party filters disguised as the real deal except those burst within weeks leaving a film of mystery black powder sludge. Really not cool! As long as I stick to the good ones, I've had no issues. I realized something was wrong because the filters that came with the fountain lasted a full month with no problems. Another thing to take note of is how your pets like the water to drip. Yes, there is a difference. Some like the bubbling water, and some like the drip/waterfall. Others like their water as simple as possible, just the gently agitated and filtered water. This has a good size bubbling and a large gentle agitated pool so it's good for cats who are new to fountains. My cats, however are seasoned sink-drinkers and miss the dripping/waterfall effect they get from other fountains. Well tough stuff, cats... you can only have your water 2 ways because the important part is this one still works! If there's a next time I'll look for one with a waterfall effect. Then it would get 6 stars! :D Over all it's an excellent fountain that has withstood the test of time. I will keep using it for years or until I can't find the filters to fit it. Even then it has a very nice bottom dish!

The pump quit with a full bowl of water after only 5 days use in the middle of the night. I have not tested the adapter to see whether the pump failed or the adapter did, but all I can say is wow...really? 5 days? I have a $60 ceramic water dish now and I am just guessing but I bet I could have found a glass or ceramic water dish for much less sixty bucks. I have two yellow labs who get most of their water from their RAW diet so they drink very little external water and I thought this might make them want to drink more but we will never know because 5 days is not long enough to really tell. What I can say is that I could probably buy a better pump at the local hardware store than this. I have water pumps in my water cooled p.c. that have run for three years straight and are still running moving larger amounts of water than this cheap thing needs to. The pumps used in the production of this waterer must cost about 10 cents to manufacture because that is all they are worth. If you want a project go ahead and buy this thing then you too can figure out where to buy a real pump that fits the clam shell and runs more than 5 days without failing. Nobody is going to tell me the pump got gummed up in five days with minimal use because if it did, that only proves how poorly designed this unit is and what an ultimate pain in the butt it would be to maintain which means it will end up being a sixty dollar ceramic dog dish for the majority of users. Buy at your own peril or better yet, buy a ceramic bowl for $6 and then a real water pump from your local hardware store and make your own fountain, because even if you buy this you will be doing the same thing if you want it to work but the difference is that buying the parts to make your own will cost you a LOT LESS.... good luck. CAVEAT EMPTOR.

I've had my eye on this fountain, the Pioneer Pet Big Max ceramic drinking fountain, for a long time. When the price dropped to something affordable, I snapped it up, and I am so glad I did. I'm replacing the Drinkwell stainless steel fountain, which I owned for several years. I now wonder why I waited so long to get this fountain. Overall, the Drinkwell fountain is a great fountain, but it has a few serious design flaws. The biggest flaw is that cats have to stand at a specific angle to drink from it. Our largest, fluffiest cat had to position himself just so in order to drink without bumping his head against the central water tower or the sides of the fountain. (I'm not sure the designers are very familiar with cats, or they cared more for aesthetics than they did for functionality.) The other big design flaw is that it requires very strong hands and fingers to be able to fully take apart the fountain to clean it. That meant that I didn't completely dismantle it for cleaning as often as I should have. With the Pioneer Pet Big Max fountain, my cats can now position themselves comfortably without having their fur or heads touch any part of the fountain, and they can either drink from the bubbling upper spring or from the large, calmer pool at the base. Also, this fountain is a breeze to clean. For one, it's not as heavy as I expected. For another, the parts easily lift apart so you can get to every spot to clean it. Also, I love the fact that it's porcelain; it looks great and won't harbor bacteria like plastic fountains do. When it comes time to change the filter (they say change it once a month), I plan to take it apart and refill it as other reviewers have. (I did, and it was successful; see Edit 3 below.) If you are on the fence about this fountain, get it. You won't regret it. Edit 1: The pump stopped working after a week. While researching replacements, I found information on how to clean the pump. So I took it completely apart and found a human hair in the works. Cleared that out and the pump is working perfectly again. The instructions are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYyTFv_u3Sw&feature=em-share_video_user. Edit 2: It might be helpful to know that this fountain is super quiet. Edit 3 Refilling the filter cartridge: When it came time to replace the filter, I very gently pried it apart. I removed the old charcoal and filter pad and put in new filtration media. I tried replacing the loose charcoal with more loose charcoal, but my aquarium charcoal was too fine and fell through the holes in the filter housing. So instead I used the Deep Blue Professional ADB41002 Super Activated Carbon Media Pad, 18 by 10-Inch , which you can get here on Amazon. For the plain filter pad, I used the Deep Blue Professional ADB41001 Plain Polyfiber Media Pad, 18 by 30-Inch . I used the original filter pad to cut out pieces from the Deep Blue pads. The total cost of these pads was about the cost of two replacement filter cartridges, and I estimate I'll be able to keep cutting from the same pads for about 12 more times, so I am saving a huge amount over the cost of buying the replacement filters. Both the charcoal and the plain polyfiber media pads are pretty thick, but they both fit within the filter housing. However, although I think the thickness of the charcoal pad is a plus, I may try to find a thinner plain filter media.

I purchased this largest version of Pioneer Pet's water fountain because of problems I read about with the medium sized fountain (Raindrop) with the top sliding loose and water going everywhere. And I selected the Pioneer Pet brand over Drinkwell because of videos about cleaning the pump -- Drinkwell's pump and dish cleaning requirements seem to be just too difficult and time consuming, Pioneer Pet's is easy-peasy. However, take note that the dish holds a gallon of water -- that is a LOT of filtered water! The directions say you must keep the dish filled to within an inch of the top to protect the motor from burning out, and that you must empty and clean it frequently. Reviewers have said they clean theirs on average twice weekly (some said once a week in the dishwasher's disinfectant cycle, and once weekly by hand). When you have to filter your water, that can get cumbersome and expensive (excessive kitchen-sink water filter replacements). I mean, when it comes to my dogs, I pay whatever price is required for them to receive the best, and this water fountain is IMO among the best -- easy to clean, easy to notice cleaning needs with the white ceramic, healthy circulated water for higher oxygenation, etc. But just be aware that you're looking at 4-8 gallons of water per week, most of which will end up down the kitchen sink's drain during cleaning cycles. I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because of the shallow dish design. For this much water, you can't carry it to it's resting place without spilling. If it were deeper and not quite so big around it would be much easier to manage. I ended up putting the water-oxygenating motor with it's white clamshell container inside the red ceramic water dish I had been using before buying the fountain. It fits perfectly, doesn't require as much water, and is easier to carry without spilling. 6 Month Update: The motor died this week. I went online to look up warranty information, and found cleaning instructions saying I should have been removing the rotating plastic blade every week to flush hair/dust out. Sure enough there was a teensy-tiny clump of hair and/or dust inside the blade's housing. I cleaned the blade's stem and housing with a wet paper towel, replaced the black motor oil substance that came off on the paper towel with food grade coconut oil (seemed a better choice than the motor oil I use on my sewing machine!), put it back together, and it worked perfectly. So glad I read the instructions before going to the trouble of requesting a replacement motor! Preference Experiment: In 2018, I put down three identical red ceramic water dishes side-by-side in the room where their water is always located. (1) contained distilled water from store bought plastic jugs; (2) contained kitchen tap water filtered by a high-quality counter-top Best Filter unit; (3) contained same filtered tap water as dish no. 2, but also had the Pioneer clamshell filtering/oxygenating system. Over a 7-day period, all three dogs ONLY drank the oxygenated water in dish no. 3 that was first filtered by a high quality counter-top unit and then circulated/oxygenated by the Pioneer clamshell with motor and internal filter. Even when the water in dish no. 3 was halfway down, they refused to drink from either of the two full but stagnant water dishes. Proof enough for me that oxygenating and/or circulating water provides a significant quality improvement. Our dogs are supposed to have a sense of smell at least 60 times stronger than ours (300 million smell receptors to a mere 5 million in humans). I'd guess they smell something in those 3 water dishes that I don't know anything about. 5-YEAR UPDATE: About 2 years in, I bought a 2nd clamshell filter/pump system so I can rotate it out for cleaning without disrupting dogs' water supply. November of 2021 one of the two motors failed despite regular cleaning and proper care. Didn't try to determine if it was the original 2017 pump or the 2019 2nd pump - replacement pump is only $15-$20. I still only use the clamshell filter/pump system inside a deep ceramic water dish (the same one in the photo I've included). Reports of high motor burnout puzzle me - I've only had a problem when I didn't know I was supposed to be cleaning out the pump's cylinder where the motor's blade rotates, and as soon as I removed the tiny tuft of dust/hair inside the motor it began working fine again. Total failure has only occurred once in 5 years.

Pros: It's big and heavy which helps reduce noise from the pump, which is virtually nonexistent as long as the water level is kept within an inch of the rim. The ceramic surface is much easier to clean and keep clean than plastic. It looks nice. Cons: It's big and heavy which makes cleaning a bit more of a chore. Even with the pump set to highest power and all tubes perfectly aligned, the pump barely supplies enough water to the top basin for tiny trickle of water to go down the spillway. Most of the water just drains back out of the intake hole in the basin. By aligned, I mean there are three tubes through which water passes as it shoots up from the pump to the top basin. The tube from the pump doesn't quite reach the inner tube of the pump housing, and the outer tube of the pump housing doesn't quite reach the tube in the bottom of the basin. These gaps allow too much water to escape before reaching the basin. I fixed this problem with two small sections cut from a 41 cent piece of 7/16" plastic tubing which bridge those gaps (still need some alignment under the basin intake hole). Still, the pump must be set to full power just to get a bit of a rise at the water surface in the top basin, but at least it lets our cat know something is happening, and there is a bit more than a trickle of water down the spillway. Bottom line: After making the necessary modifications, our cat loves drinking from this fountain.

I have 1 dog and 2 cats. I consider this bowl to be the cats' water dish, because the dog will drink from puddles outside. The cats are indoor and this is their main - and hopefully only? - source of water. For 2 years I've had a PetMate plastic water fountain dish that has worked okay. I have filtered well water in my house, and I found that using that in the dish caused a calcium-like buildup on the plastic dish. I scrubbed the dish and started using bottled spring water, but over time, even with regular cleaning, the dish always felt like there was some kind of buildup on it. The motor did ok, but would get loud at times - to the point where I would unplug it because I couldn't hear the tv. I had kept this Pioneer Pet Ceramic Fountain in my Amazon wish list for several months, trying to decide if it would be a wise purchase. I finally bit the bullet and ordered it because I knew my PetMate water dish was tired. I received the Pioneer Pet dish, washed it, rinsed the carbon filter, put the thing together, filled it with spring water and set it out for the pets. All of my pets spent a little time saying goodbye to their old dish, and quickly fell in love with the new ceramic one. One of my cats loves to play with the little bubble of water that's pumped up; sometimes she just lays there and watches it. My other cat is actually drinking more water now than she was with the old dish. My dog - well, she's a dog. She'd drink out of a pond if I'd let her. This ceramic dish definitely good quality. It's really easy to clean, it holds a lot of water (more than my old dish), and the pump is quiet! Based on my experience, I don't think you can go wrong with this.

Finally found a fountain thatbi like and my dogs don't abuse. I tried a stainless model 2 plastic and a larger ceramic. I have 2 small dogs 6 most old. I just didn't care foe the stainless model and was worried there would be no water if the power went out. The first plastic had a battery back up but was small for 2 dogs. I bought a stand alone battery back up and tried a larger plastic. Dogs took it apart chewed up the parts and chewed through the wires. I Tried a large ceramic model, after reading ceramic was the healthiest for the animals. The dogs knocked the "tower" over and chewed up everything and again many parts not available. All of these had replacement filters and pumps bur no other parts available. The waterfall and the oval shape of the basin on this fountain, make it more difficult to knock over. All parts are available and very reasonably priced. It is very quiet and the filter design is far superior. All fountains need to be cleaned, including taking the pump apart and are relatively easy. This fountain has a housing that yhe pump and filter go in. This makes it one more step, but this greatly improves the design and well worth the extra step. My only wish is that the pump could be run dry, but warnings say it will burn out. 5 stars very nice design and all parts are listed on thier site.

I failed to notice that this item is fitted with a USA power adapter and doesn't work in Australia unless you use a power converter - which could surge with prolonged use so I haven't been able to use it as intended for my pets. Its the most expensive ceramic bowl I have ever purchased!

Der Trinkbrunnen ist sehr schön anzusehen und die Geräusche sind leise. Es gibt kein Plätschern. Die Montageanleitung ist vollständig in Englisch, wäre aber dank der Bilder auch ohne Englischkenntnisse gut zu bewältigen. Der Aufbau ist super einfach. Der Bruinnen fasst sehr viel Wasser und wir müssen ihn nur alle 2 Tage etwas auffüllen. Sowohl unsere zwei Katzen, wie auch unsere zwei Hundebabys haben ihn sofort angenommen. Die Reinigung ist ebenfalls superleicht, da die Keramikteile in den Geschierrspüler können. Er ist sehr stabil und schwer genug, dass unser Kater ihn nicht wie andere Näpfe durch die Gegend schubsen kann. Er ist den hohen Preis definitv wert. Klare Kaufempfehlung!

Really disappointing, pump couldn't even last more than 5 mins

We had the steel fountain before now and while it did the job, the cats would often knock it out of alignment and the flow would stop. The ceramic fountain worked right out of the box - nice, strong flow of water. It's heavy enough that the cats can't move it and it's VERY quiet. The only down side is that where it is white you do see whatever they drop in there, lol.

Mein Brunnen ist heute angekommen, superschnelle Lieferzeit! Zusammenbau war auch einfach da Anleitung in deutsch bzw mehreren Sprachen dabei war. Reinigung der Pumpe kenne ich schon von meinem vorherigen, ist halt etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig. Das Trinkbecken ist schön groß und einfach zu reinigen, das finde ich wichtig! Die Pumpe läuft sehr ruhig, bin zufrieden.