Cats are famously bad at drinking enough, and a bowl of still water that has stood beside the food since breakfast is part of the reason. Moving water reads as fresh water, and a fountain running quietly in the corner of a kitchen tends to get used through the day in a way that a topped-up bowl simply does not.

This one is built almost entirely in ceramic rather than plastic, and that is the meaningful difference. Ceramic does not scratch the way a plastic basin does, and it is those fine scratches that hold the film a fountain grows when it is not cleaned often enough. Water arrives through an arched 304 stainless steel spout, falls into the basin as a visible stream, and circulates from a 1.2 litre reservoir driven by a 5 volt pump.

• All-ceramic body, in black or white
• Arched 304 stainless steel spout
• 1.2 litre water capacity
• 5 V pump, quiet in use
• Visible falling stream rather than a still bowl
• Ceramic wipes clean and does not scratch like plastic
• No replaceable filter to keep buying: two removable trays under the lid catch hair and food bits before the water reaches the pump, and are rinsed with the bowl

Two things worth being straight about. The maker's diagram gives 10.2 cm and 10.4 cm for the two sections and 14.7 cm for the length, and those figures are hard to square with a 1.2 litre reservoir. Second, a fountain is equipment: the pump wants rinsing weekly and must never run dry, or it burns out.

Who it's for: Cats who ignore a water bowl, owners keeping an eye on how much their cat drinks, and anyone tired of plastic fountains going cloudy.