I’ve used a lot of water fountains for our cats. I used a knock off brand, two harmony brand, and Catit is the most recent brand I’ve used and I’m sticking with it.The most important reason why is because of cleaning. Harmony was a great design with easy filters to use, but it had all sorts of edges and corners that were impossible to clean regularly and time efficiently. I would have to get a q-tip to clean them, and the corners and edges got dirty faster than any part of the fountain due to the water flow being disrupted there.The knock off brand had a circular filter like Catit has, but it was only carbon filtering, and for some reason the makers decided to put edges inside of the water reservoir for no reason, leading to the same cleaning annoyance.Catit has no edges that build up gunk inside of the reservoir, everything is a smooth curve, meaning a sponge or towel can easily wipe away everything. I also like how the filter is structured, you can actually see the filter underneath the cover since it doesn’t cover it completely. This helps me know when I should clean or replace it without disassembling the whole thing. The filter also has more than carbon filtering it. I don’t remember what the white filter media is at the time of writing this review, and I’m writing it on mobile and can’t check unfortunately, but when I read it I was impressed. I own fish tanks and the media used had filter cleaning properties that carbon just doesn’t cover. We use brita filtered water anyways, but it’s nice to have a second filter making sure our cats drink clean water.Another thing is that the water pump is strong. Most brands use the same water pump that can be adjusted to weak to strong flow, but this pump has its weakest setting like the strongest setting of the previous ones. This means that the pump is less likely to get blocked, and when it dies build up gunk (usually fur or bioslime) its flow won’t be impacted so much, or as fast. Their are also guides on the bottom letting you know where the pump goes. And unlike most brands, the output of the pump isn’t off center, it’s just about right in the middle, which means you’ll never place the output in the wrong way (for example, the pumps of previous fountains had the output shifted to the right, so if you rotated the pump in any other direction, it wouldn’t go up the fountains tube.) A small yet helpful design change like that just makes the cleaning even easier.So far, I’ve had one Catit fountain I bought at the store, and no bioslime has accumulated even after two weeks. Bioslime usually appeared in other fountains after a week or less, I’d assume due to the weaker flow allowing it to settle on the surfaces, and due to the carbon only filter.I ordered two more Catit fountains through Amazon, and the only issue is that one fountain didn’t come with the yellow middle piece. Not sure how it happened, but it worked out since the cat I’m using it for like to drink from the middle output anyways.Two more neat things is 1. The clear plastic window that shows you how much water is in there. This is why I decided to try this fountain in the first place, it was such a neat design improvement, and it wasn’t all clear like some water fountains (which the excess light coming in from the all clear plastic can lead to algae growth) you have to look closely, at least on the non-led one, but you can usually tell by the drops of water that appear inside the window when the water level gets low. No need to dissemble the fountain, and you can see before it gets loud when it needs water. Another thing, this filter doesn’t get loud even when it gets low. I’d assume it’d get loud if it had no water, but you’d be able to catch it before that happens with the window. The low noise is such a relief, as with three of these I don’t always get the chance to refill them in a timely manner. The second neat thing is the filter replacements. Besides the two filter media’s, it’s got a hard plastic bottom, that just feels more study than the typical filter floss on a support structure that most filters use. I also find that I can rinse the filter since it’s so sturdy, and doesn’t get filthy like the others. I bought replacements, a pack of 5, for a good price in my opinion considering the quality of the filters, but I wonder when I’ll actually need to use them.One thing to note about carbon, it has a life span, something owning fish tanks has lead me to find. You’ll want to change the filters monthly just because of this, as when carbon reaches its end of its lifespan, it will not only stop filtering, but it’ll release some of what it’s filtered.Another thing to say, as if this isn’t an essay already, is that with our four cats of varying shapes and sizes, they all love these fountains. The water level actually drops faster than any other fountain I’ve had, showing that they are drinking more as well! With one cat having renal problems, this is such a relief. Drinking more prevents renal issues from occurring, like for our three younger cats, and prevents them from worsening, like for our old cat with renal problems.If you have a cat who has never drank from a fountain before, they’ll learn quick, but don’t be surprised if they seem taken a back at first. Most cats are used to water in a bowl because it’s what most people use, but flowing water is far more appealing to them once they realize it’s just water.Anyways, great water fountain! If anything happens over time that’s worth noting, I’ll be sure to update this review. But having the filter for over two weeks now, and this time mark usually being the time for poor design choices to reveal themselves, I’m pretty sure this a great filter.Oh, promise this is the last thing. For those who are always hunting for Made in USA products... the unfortunate news is that even after hours of searching I have yet to find any that fit the bill. The good news is that these fountains are made in Malaysia. The bad news is that the replacement filters are made in China... but I’ll take what I can get at this point.Okay, wait, seriously this is the last thing. The only thing I have not tested it how these stand up to machine washing, so I’ll be sure to update when I do that with the results.