10 Best Cat Water Bowls in 2022 – Reviews & Top Picks

When you have a pet cat, some accessories are must-haves. Obviously, they need a litter box, toys, a food dish, and of course, a bowl for water. Without water, you won’t have a pet cat for much longer! Granted, you could simply use any regular bowl in your house for providing your cat with water. The problem is, most regular bowls will slip and slide on the floor, cause a big mess, and they aren’t designed with cat whiskers in mind.

A quick internet search will reveal that there are more water bowls for cats on the market than you could possibly review. With so many options, it can become more difficult to sort through them and make a final choice. We wanted to help, so we gathered loads of different water dishes that had positive feedback so we could compare them ourselves. Our findings will be disclosed in the following 10 reviews. Hopefully, our recommendations will help you pick the perfect water bowl for your feline friend.

A Quick Comparison of Our Top Picks in 2022

The 10 Best Cat Water Bowls

1. Hepper Nomnom Modern Cat Bowl – Best Overall

While looking for a water bowl, why not just get a 2-in-1 water and food bowl like the Hepper Nomnom Modern Cat Bowl? It’s our favorite of all the water dishes we tried, even though it’s a bit pricier than most of the similar alternatives. Both dishes are made from stainless steel, so they’re completely pet-safe. Plus, they pop out for easy cleaning. They’re even shallow and wide to help reduce whisker fatigue.

The stainless bowls snap into a wide tray that has a lip to catch any food or water that gets spilled while your cat is eating and drinking. This prevents messes in your home, saving you time and frustration. Luckily, the wide tray is made from chew-proof materials and your cat won’t be able to bite off pieces to choke on.

Even though this bowl is a bit expensive, it offers great value since you’re getting both a food bowl and water bowl in the same dish. It’s the ideal solution for messy eaters, but will also work great for any cat, which is why we think this is the overall best cat water bowl.

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2. Petmate Pearl Replendish Cat Water Bowl – Best Value

The Petmate Pearl Replendish Cat Water Bowl offers convenience and affordability; two traits we love to see together in a single product. It’s such a great value that we believe it’s the best cat water bowl for the money. Unlike traditional water bowls that need to be refilled several times a day, this one has a large reservoir that automatically dispenses water into the dish. You’ll only need to fill it occasionally, especially if you get the largest four-gallon size, though there are three other sizes to choose from.

This product can be a bit difficult to set up. Some of our testers had trouble getting it to work as expected, but other testers had no problems with it. It will be helpful if you’ve used this type of water dispenser before. But if you set it up wrong, you could end up with gallons of water on your floor, so we suggest trying it only partially filled the first time so you can be certain you have it set up correctly.

You can offer your cat quality filtered water like you drink since this bowl contains a replaceable charcoal filter. Additionally, a Microban layer prevents bacteria from building up.

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3. Torus Filtered Cat Water Bowl – Premium Choice

If you didn’t know that the Torus Filtered Cat Water Bowl is a water dish for cats, then you probably wouldn’t guess from its appearance. This bowl looks space-aged, like some technology you’ve never seen before because this is much more than a standard water bowl. Perfect for people who love to give their pets the absolute best, this water bowl has an active carbon filter that keeps the water clean and fresh. Whenever your cat drinks, more filtered water will dispense into the dish.

You get four colors to choose from, depending on the décor in the room where you keep your cat dishes. The bottom of the dish features rubber feet that prevent it from slipping around and spilling. You’ll also find that this bowl is crafted entirely from food-grade, BPA-free materials for your cat’s safety. As you might expect from such a high-end product, this water bowl is prohibitively expensive. This best cat water bowl far pricier than the other bowls we tested, but it also offers premium filtration for your feline, which is a tradeoff we’re willing to make.

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4. UPSKY Cat Water Bowl

If you’re looking for an inexpensive solution that can provide both water and food bowls for your cat, then check out the UPSKY Cat Water Bowl. This best water bowl for cats is priced dirt-cheap, though the materials used to make it are similarly cheap and low quality. The bowls are supposedly stainless steel, though they began to corrode after just a short time. Still, there’s a lot here that might attract the bargain shopper.

This is a 2-in-1 design with both water and food bowls that snap into a larger plastic tray. The tray catches food and water that your cat spills, preventing it from ending up on the floor. Both bowls are dishwasher safe, making it a breeze to clean them. There are six colors for you to choose from. Hopefully, one of them works with your décor! We felt that this dish is appropriately-priced for the quality it presents, though we’d personally prefer to spend a bit more on something made from better materials.

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5. Frisco Gravity Refill Cat Water Bowl

We love convenience, and the Frisco Gravity Refill Cat Water Bowl seems to offer more convenience than a standard water bowl. This is due to the large reservoir that reduces the frequency of filling. Just fill the reservoir and the bowl will keep refilling as it empties out. Four sizes are available, depending on just how much your cat drinks.

If you need to move this water dish, handle cutouts make it easy to do so, even when it’s full. The reservoir is made entirely from recycled materials, which probably helps to keep the price down since this is a very affordable product.

On the downside, the plastic used to make this dish is very thin and flimsy. We don’t think it will last for years of use. Water delivery was also inconsistent. The dish wouldn’t always fill as expected and we would have to jiggle the reservoir so it would fill. Altogether, it’s a great way to spend less time refilling your cat’s water dish, but we think there are similar products that did it better.

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6. PetSafe Healthy Gravity Refill Cat Water Bowl

With attractive looks that separate it from other similar bowls with water reservoirs, the PetSafe Healthy Gravity Refill Cat Water Bowl looks like a premium product, and it’s accompanied by a premium price tag. However, we found that its performance wasn’t nearly as good as we hoped.

For instance, the water doesn’t always fill reliably, so you have to shake the reservoir to get the bowl to fill. Furthermore, despite the extra expense, if you want to offer your cat filtered water, you’ll have to purchase the filter separately, as it isn’t included with this already expensive water bowl.

Like most similar products, this best cat water dish is made from BPA-free plastic, so it’s safe for your cat. It comes in three sizes, with the largest holding 2.5 gallons in the reservoir. With that much water on hand, you shouldn’t have to refill it very often. In the end, this water bowl isn’t bad, it’s just overpriced and under-equipped compared to other similar products.

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7. PetRageous Ceramic Cat Water Bowl

Stepping away from the plastic and stainless steel used in most of the cat water bowls we tested, the PetRageous Cat Water Bowl is made from heavy ceramic. This should prevent it from slipping and sliding around due to the weight, but the lack of a non-slip bottom means that if your cat does move it, it will scratch the floor.

You get two choices of size; either 2 cups or 3.5 cups. Unfortunately, neither bowl holds nearly as much water as they claim, so you’ll be refilling quite often. Luckily, they are dishwasher and even microwave safe, so cleaning them is easy, and if you need to heat water for your cat, well, you can do that too.

The biggest draw of this bowl is the vintage design. It has a distressed look and says WATER in all capital letters, clearly labeling the dish, in case you get them confused. It’s a bit pricey for a ceramic water bowl, but you can get a matching set with the PetRageous food bowl if aesthetics are your main priority.

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8. Y YHY Cat Water Bowl

Generally, we like the 2-in-1 cat bowls that offer food and water dishes in the same unit, but the Y YHY Cat Water Bowls are far from our favorites. You do get two dishes, one for water and another food, but the bowls are too deep for cats and can introduce whisker fatigue. Plus, they’re much smaller than we expected, so they don’t hold much water or food.

On the bright side, this set is cheaper than many similar alternatives. Both bowls are microwave and dishwasher safe, and they’re raised to make it easier for your cat to use them. But since they’re deep with a small circumference, our cats had trouble using them. While attempting to, they’d end up pushing the unit all around, despite the no-slip rubber feet.

Many of our favorite 2-in-1 cat dishes featured wide skirts to prevent mess, but this product has no such mess prevention system. Since they slide around so much, the mess accumulates rather quickly. Unless you want to spend extra time refilling these tiny dishes and cleaning up the mess they cause, we’d suggest skipping this bowl set.

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9. K&H Pet Products CleanFlow Filtered Cat Water Bowl

After testing a lot of cat bowls with reservoirs, we’ve come to really love the convenience they offer. The K&H Pet Products CleanFlow Cat Water Bowl one goes a step further than others with an electric pump that circulates the water through the charcoal filter that’s busy removing impurities to offer your cat a pure drinking experience. Of course, this means that you’ll have to plug this water bowl in, which can present several problems. First, you’ll have to keep it near a plug. Second, your cat could potentially chew the cord.

Compared to other reservoir-equipped water bowls, the reservoir on this one is rather small at just 90 ounces. Still, it’s got a non-slip bottom to prevent slipping and spilling. Also, the bowl is made out of cat-safe BPA-free material and it’s entirely leak-proof.

Since it plugs in and features a water pump, this bowl is much pricier than similar products without a pump. Unfortunately, the pump is a weak point as ours stopped working, rendering the entire product unusable. Worse, there are no replacement parts available. So, when this inevitably happens, the K&H Pet Products CleanFlow Cat Water Bowl becomes useless, which is why we don’t favor it.

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10. Dr. Catsby Cat Water Bowl

Aside from the cute Dr. Catsby name that’s a play on words, there’s not too much about this cat water bowl that we’re fond of. While we do give credit for the creative name, the design of this product leaves a lot to be desired. Granted, we’re fans of whisker-friendly bowls, which this one is, but it just falls short in too many areas.

First, it’s so shallow that you can hardly fit any water in it, so you’ll be refilling it multiple times daily. Every time you fill it, expect to spill it while you try to get this too-shallow bowl from the sink to where your cat will drink.

Though it’s made of stainless steel, we found this bowl scratches incredibly easily. Washing it with a regular soft sponge will cover it in tiny scratches that ruin the appearance. We do like the non-skid base that does an adequate job of preventing slipping, but that’s not going to make up for the other flaws we found; especially at this price point. For a single dish, it’s pretty pricey, and we’d recommend skipping it in favor of something either more reasonably priced or higher quality.

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Buyer’s Guide: Purchasing the Best Cat Water Bowl

Purchasing a water bowl for your cat seems like a really simple process until you realize just how many options there are. If you’re feeling overwhelmed at all the choices, then this short buyer’s guide was written for you.

Considerations for the Correct Cat Water Bowl

The big question is: how do you choose between different cat water bowls? Which one is the best water bowl for your cat? If you’re having trouble answering these questions, then the following considerations will help clarify exactly what you need. Determine what would be best for you in each of the following areas. Then, just look for the water bowl that fits those criteria.

Single Dish or Double Bowls of Water for Cats?

Would you rather have a separate water dish and food dish or a single unit that contains both? It seems like a very easy question, but this is a big one you’ll need to decide before making your purchase.

Some of our favorite water bowls came as a 2-in-1 set, where both dishes fit into a single unit. This can keep your house looking neater than two separate bowls. Many of our favorites even included a wide skirt to prevent messes from building up when your cat is messily eating and drinking.

If you get a 2-in-1 design, then both of your dishes will look like they’re meant to go together. By purchasing two separate dishes, you might be looking at a mismatched pair.

Whisker-Friendly Designs

Cats can experience whisker fatigue by drinking and eating from dishes that aren’t designed with their whiskers in mind. Whisker-friendly dishes are shallow and very wide. This allows them to hold plenty of food or water while preventing your cat’s whiskers from being folded against their face while they consume.

Convenience

How often do you want to fill your cat’s water dish? If you don’t mind filling it several times every day, then any old dish will do. But what if you’re at work for most of the day and can’t get home to refill the dish? Will your cat be left without water for hours? In that case, you should look for a water bowl with a reservoir. The reservoir is large, often as large as 2.5 or even four gallons. This will automatically dispense water to the bowl, so you’ll only have to fill the large reservoir once in a while.

Mess

Cats can be messy eaters and drinkers. But some of our favorite cat dishes combat this. For example, some of the two-in-one designs we liked best featured wide skirts to catch the drops of water and crumbs your cat drops. This means there’s no mess on the floor for you to clean!

Other mess-inhibiting design features include Microban coatings or antibacterial materials that prevent bacteria from building up.

Safety

We generally don’t think of a water dish as being unsafe, but some of them definitely can be. Ceramic dishes can chip or break, which then become sharp, potentially scratching or cutting your cat. Some units have to be plugged in to function since they contain water pumps, and these could prevent an electrocution hazard if your cat chews the cable.

Affordability

At the end of the day, everyone’s going to have a specific price that they’re comfortable paying for their cat’s dishes. There will be models well above and below your budgeted amount, but don’t get pulled in by advertising and marketing. Look for the bowls that meet your needs, as we’ve just discussed, and then, compare them on price to find the best value.

Conclusion

There are tons of different water dishes on the market. You could even use a basic bowl or piece of Tupperware. But if you want to keep messes to a minimum while also reducing the amount of time you spend refilling water, then the cat water bowls we’ve covered in these reviews are a far better choice. Still, you have to narrow down the options to just one, so here’s what we recommend.

The Hepper Nomnom Modern Cat Bowl is our top choice. It’s a two-in-one water and food dish with a wide tray that catches water drops and crumbs to prevent your floor from becoming a mess. Shallow, wide, whisker-friendly Stainless-steel dishes snap out of the wide base for easy cleaning.

A more economical option, the Petmate Replendish Waterer, is our pick for best value. It’s a very convenient design with a reservoir that holds up to four gallons, allowing you to reduce the number of times you fill it. Plus, it’s got a replaceable charcoal filter and a Microban layer to prevent bacteria.

And the Torus Filtered Cat Water Bowl is our premium recommendation, made from premium, food-grade, BPA-free materials with an active charcoal filter.