A simple bowl can certainly do the trick when it comes to providing your cat with water, but this bare bones approach does have its shortcomings. KittySpring is a more sophisticated solution for cat owners, consisting of a gravity-fed fountain that keeps the water supply fresh and avoids spillage and puddles.
The KittySpring fountain was conceived to address a couple of dilemmas its creators see with traditional cat bowls, in that they are prone to knocks and spillage, and that the water can become stale unless it is regularly replaced.
Their answer to these problems was to create a stable base for a wide, low-lying dish, hooked up to a tubular and transparent water tank that makes it easy to keep an eye on the levels inside. Gravity draws water from this tank and feeds it through a central bulb in the dish via a stainless steel filter, only topping it up when a thirsty cat begins to drain it.
This should mean that cat owners only need to refill the water tank every day or two, while the slow drip feed into the shallow dish below keeps the supply fresh and clean. All components are made from non-toxic pet-safe materials, and can be pulled apart for easy cleaning.
KittySpring is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, where it has amassed more than US$400,000 in pledges at the time of writing. Early pledges of $35 are available and will put you in line for one of the fountains along with a non-slip pad for underneath, with shipping slated for October 2020 if all goes to plan.
You can check out the pitch video below.
Source: Kickstarter
While this is a great idea for those who travel and are away for a day or two at a time, for the average stay home person I think it's better to stay with the simple steel bowl that gets cleaned and filled every day.