Review of FELAQUA, the SMART water bowl that could save your cat’s life!

I know it's been a long time since my last review and I keep saying I will be more frequent but I have at least managed to make another review for you! This one is the brand new Surepet Felaqua connect, the smart water bowl that measure how much your cat/ cats are drinking.
The main reason you would want this is to make sure their water consumption is consistent, otherwise it could point to various health issues.
This is me by the way ‪@philipbloom‬
Harriet The Beach Cat T-shirts and more with proceeds to the Skiathos Cat Welfare Association:
gopb.co/harrietmerch
You can buy the Felaqua here: amzn.to/342AscU
You can get $25 off a Litter-Robot III here: share.litter-robot.com/3pStvV
US
Surefeed standard: amzn.to/3oW9Wus
Surefeed Connect: amzn.to/3mnD0ZO
Surepet hub: amzn.to/3r3fCV2
UK
Standard Feeder: amzn.to/3gN2Wgw
Surefeed Connect: amzn.to/3acEB2f
Surepet hub: amzn.to/2KxksJm

[@shubinternet]

What really strikes me about all these videos is the cinematography. That, and the depth of investigation that goes into each video. Absolutely amazing!

[@OneManFiveCats]

Thanks Brad. 🙂

[@lilisart]

You definitely put more effort into this video than they put into the software 🥲

[@NoneGiven-xt3ll]

Yup. I got one and am really annoyed how poorly it works considering the price point

[@miles267]

I was considering this for water. Can you recommend a better alternative?

[@headwerkn]

Sir David Attenborough: Arresting imagery, impeccable production, soothing British accent. Philip Bloom: Same, but with cats. You still owe us a proper look at your Catio, incidentally ;-)

[@EMBEVIDEO]

First of all you deserve a special award for most extensive and detailed cat-tongue-footage. :) Interesting piece of tech for cats. My wife would say "That is nonsense" ... which is a clear indicator that I would buy it ;). At the end - even with the data being not always accurate - it is surely providing solid information. And the software can be fixed. Great review! And a great change to finally show what you can do with a Laowa Probe lens :) And your cats always look very happy! Happy cats means happy Philip :)

[@presidentromana4506]

I love how much effort you put into these! If Surepet ever go all-out on a commercial, they need to hire you for the fancy cat-drinking-water shots

[@stephenkortzman]

We noticed my cat (Leia) was drinking more water. Her urine had a sticky, sugar-like consistency. After a visit to the vet, we found out she had diabetes. 😢

[@AllThingsFilm1]

As someone who loves cats, but doesn't have one at the moment, I am living vicariously through your One Man Five Cats channel. I am impressed how your 'cat' videos are as informative and engaging as your camera channel videos. You are truly a talented filmmaker. And I don't use the word "filmmaker" lightly. Oh, and happy birthday.

[@philipbloom]

Thank you :)

[@Floppycats]

Another beautifully edited, filmed and put together film, showcasing a cool cat product. Loved the bit about Harriet not speaking English and the Greek music in the background - British humor amuses me to no end. Thank you for enlightening me about the FELAQUA - Surepet is a cool company with great ideas. I wish they used less plastic because one of mine really doesn't do well with cat acne and plastic. Sounds ilke they also need to make some software improvements based on your findings. I am sorry for the cat you lost to CKD - I lost one in December to it. Dry food is our biggest enemy with that. I like the idea of the Felaqua - and love how ridiculously thorough you are. Do you chill the water bottles? I noticed they might have been chilled in a few clips. My cat, Rags, in my profile loved chilled water. Loved the close-ups of the Bloom cat tongues drinking - delightful. Thank you for another beautiful FILM.

[@rejn1420]

Thanks for taking such good care of your cats.

[@lexfrost2670]

You are by far my favourite KZbin channel now, I can’t watch your sad videos bc I will cry too much (CPTSD, I can’t cope with anything bad happening to cats) but your reviews are so wonderful and fun, I love them so much. You’re like Ryan from FortNine but for cats and I’m so glad I found your channel!

[@sheldonbk1]

Thanks so much. We have a fountain and 3 bowls for our cats. With the bugs on the feeders we've experienced and the obvious issues you've found with the microchip water bowl we're going to pass until it's improved. Also I think they need to come out with a fountain. At least 2 of our 6 cats really are less interested in drinking other than from the fountain.

[@bradarmstrong3952]

Thanks for all the detailed data and analysis. It helps with a potential buying decision and with understanding issues when using these. Well worth your effort.

[@barhernan153]

So thorough! Thanks for the great review

[@GeraldBertramPhotography]

Seeing as I purchased 5 of the microchip feeders for my crew based on your last video I may have to check this out as well.

[@MannysMadeatHome]

How many products does the hub support?

[@noradaly1]

Why don’t you have more subs??? You’re awesome and this channel should be over 1 million.

[@OneManFiveCats]

What can you do? 🤔

[@claudiapizanti7685]

tus videos son excelentes! no solo por tus explicaciones, sino por la manera en que presentas los productos. es un placer verlos . sin duda eres el mejor. GRACIAS!

[@ritareis5193]

Love your videos! They are really helpful, continue the good work! Thank you!

[@philipbloom]

Thank you :)

[@antzpantz]

I wondered how you got those macro shots of the drinking cats... OF COURSE it was the Laowa Probe Lens!!!

[@guidasilveira53]

I have 6 cats,thanks for your lovely vídeos!!!

[@leahmariewrites]

Great work, Bloom cats!❤️ (You too, Philip;)

[@silentmike0r]

Fantastic video, thank you! Just ordered a fountain myself to give it a try. We have had the pet door for a year now and there are some minor annoyances such as it going offline and the app being very slow but hopefully these will be fixed in future releases!

[@philipbloom]

Thanks Michael :) Yeah I’ve had these issues at times. How far from the door is your hub? They don’t need line of sight but not having any walls between them helps. The more devices you get, the stronger the connection gets as they create a mesh network. The app is too slow for sure. I could have gone on the much longer about my app annoyances! The data is all coming from their server rather than on your phone. I don’t know why they can’t change it to do both. Have the server update the locally stored data.

[@venumames6921]

Excellent videos! Just found you and subscribed. Love from Greece 🥰

[@OneManFiveCats]

Thank you! My favourite country. Many videos from Greece on my channel. 🙂

[@wyliecoyote1696]

Thanks for the review; but moving water is important to keep the water fresh and it encourages them to drink more.

[@philipbloom]

After the past 3 weeks of use there has been no issue with them drinking. The water is fresh as only a small amount comes out at a time. I would prefer a fountain to keep hair out of the bowl but despite that it works very well.

[@BlueRacer2007]

love your videos handsome!

[@medic1627]

I have just bought a Felaqua Connect as I have a new cat, she is 10 years old. My last cat who passed away aged 22 years had kidney problems, but I didn't know anything about it until I took her to the vet. Anyway, it was easy to set up, only thing is, she hasn't used it as yet. I hope she will soon, as it wasn't a cheap item. I gave it a quick clean and refilled the water, yet on the app it states there is hardly any water in it, so I'll empty and refill it again and see what happens.

[@thefingerofgod69]

I just got mine like a week or so ago. I like it better than the Petkit sweet-something-or-another-3 that I had before that. The one thing I didn't like was the setup process. For some reason I had a bitch of a time setting it up. I couldn't get my kitties registered but I sent their microchip IDs to the customer service person that I was emailing back and forth with and he or she entered them into my profile. I simply reset both the hub and the felaqua and BOOM they showed up and everything seems to work properly. That said, for this amount of money, the process should be much more seamless. That said, I can't rule out that the problems were somehow caused by my setup. One last thing I would say is that I would have preferred that the reservoir portion that the cats drink from was stainless steel instead of plastic. Get on top of that Felaqua people! All of that said, I am planning on getting two of their connect bowls at a later date.

[@Ange1dust29]

I like the fact you can see exactly how much water is in the reservoir. I have a Catit water fountain and it is hard to see the water level. When it gets low the pump makes a horrid noise.

[@det6509]

Oh interesting. I was deciding between this and the catit one

[@meboyotube]

I think the issue with the level of water being off (shows 75% when its at 50%) is a perception issue on their part. I'm thinking they take the reservoir and add the water in the bowl to it. I have had similar style water bowls and 100% full drops immediately to 75% full when you turn it upside down and it pours into the bowl. So: reservoir+bowl = icon level

[@Rachaelshaw7]

Please review an updated version or different ones, if possible

[@philipbloom]

no updated ones, no different ones.

[@det6509]

I subscribed! I was thinking it would be nice if the dish part was made of stainless steel. Thank you for your excellent video Philip. I think I will purchase one or two. I already have two connect feeders with a hub and my two cats drink out of regular dish bowls not fountains. I think this would be perfect for my cat family as I don't want to purchase filters. I don't mind washing every day. I was going to get the catit but this looks less complicated.

[@OneManFiveCats]

Thank you. :)

[@donnapascual2665]

Thank you for your fabulous videos! * with Harriet…I believe it could be a Calico thing. More than a lack of understanding the English language 🤔😂😂😝

[@usandthem4700]

Sorry for all the messages today 🙈 I just came across your channel and I’m working my way through them all. Love them all So I’m looking at buying 2 felaquas did any of your problems get resolved in the last year 🙏🏻ps give Harriet a stoke from me ♥️

[@OneManFiveCats]

No need to be sorry, I want these to be seen and ask away. Nothing has changed with these, I’ve just accepted that Lollipop won’t be picked up most of the time unless she wears their tag. The accuracy of how much is left in them isn’t hugely important as they are refilled every two days like clockwork. 🙂

[@djjluvv]

@@OneManFiveCats i will grab then thank you… literally sat crying at your holiday kitten videos. You have the best heart ever love your channel keep the videos coming ❤️

[@1keeviiin]

I had it alone for a few days, they didn't drink half as much as they did with their fountain so I had to put they fountain back. It may track how much water they drink, but its not a fountain.. no water moving, no filter, and so on.

[@DavidsDailyDrants]

Your reviews are amazing. Have the software issues been fixed now?

[@philipbloom]

Thanks David, I haven’t seen any big improvements worth the software. Lollipop is still frequently not being picked up either.

[@DavidsDailyDrants]

Okay thank you.

[@SwearMY]

🤣My cats do the same with cords when I open items that have them.

[@trig33kgirl]

My cats play in their water bowls and often clean their paws in it.

[@UsernamesForDummies]

I have a Maine Coon that’s 8 kilos. He should drink 400ml ? I’m sure he’s never ever hitting that mark. Also, he mainly drinks with his paw. Not very effective, lol.

[@catsandcrafts171]

If you feed wet food, the vet in this video said the general wet foods on the market are 90% water, so that is a huge amount... I imagine the Maine Coon that size is eating you out of house and home?! :D As an aside, I imagine the Maine Coon gives the BEST cuddles :D I'm at the opposite end of the scale with a Cornish Rex who is just under 3kg :D Would be funny to see them side by side!

[@gohazard4284]

I was wondering, have the problems been fixed by now?

[@JazzJadore]

Thank you for this video, I was going to get the Felaqua but knowing it isn’t even able to show proper water level measurements and doesn’t clock in when your kitties drink water, I don’t see it being a worthy purchase just yet - til they fix this issue I’ll hold off

[@philipbloom]

I think it’s great. It recognises all the cats properly except Lollipop which it misses sometimes due to location of her microchip

[@NoneGiven-xt3ll]

@@philipbloom mine doesn’t recognise mine reliably or at all. It really should not have been released yet. The only thing I would say is that WFH means I see them drinking but with two who get cystitis, I want to know they are drinking enough.

[@philipbloom]

@@NoneGiven-xt3ll you will have to use the rfid tag like Lollipop

[@csandbach]

Did you get an answer in regards to it not reading your two youngest cats chips? I bought one yesterday, my eldest cat it reads every time without fail. The youngest, it’s hit and miss. She does bend down a lot more to drink though.

[@philipbloom]

It’s never been fixed. It’s seems like a design flaw to me. They should have had the chip reader higher more like the feeders, by making it so low it means it won’t always read the microchip especially if they drunk from a funny angle.

[@cactiish]

👍👍👍

[@fabinho69fs]

So i have one with a little fountain, pump, filter and my problem with it is just that it always creates like a bacteria world in like 1 day... It is very very annoying to clean it every day or 2nd day. Even change water. I want to order a felaqua but I think one of my two will refuse it... probably... would you still recommend it?

[@OneManFiveCats]

I think so yes.

[@catcat7835]

How does it measure water volumes in hot weather, when the water tends to evaporate?

[@OneManFiveCats]

It measures how much has been drunk during a microchip detection only.

[@JosephDalrymple]

If it's not sure how much water is left in the bowl, how can it be sure how much water they've had to drink? If you eventually ran out of water in all three bowls, the amount it says they drank should match the water from the three bowls. That makes me wonder exactly how accurate their numbers are.

[@jeaugust]

I do wonder how much evaporation might play into it. Depending on how hot and/or dry it is, maybe that would make up at least some of the difference?

[@JosephDalrymple]

@@jeaugust That's a good point. Evaporation for sure, but I hadn't thought about temperature or even humidity... Tracking all of that would start to make for a pretty expensive bowl, I imagine 😂

[@PtxDK]

The data is probably shown in a different timezone than you are located in. See if you can figure out what amount of hours you should add or subtract to make the times match reality.

[@philipbloom]

Huh? How did you work that out? Sure Petcare are UK based and so am I. Even then I don’t see what that has to do with any of the issues.

[@malagastehlaate230]

I don't know... I have 2 fountain style water bowls... I rather like them... again the filter and such... and they really prefer running water... or moving water... also the sound they make when they get low alerts me to check them. I having ADHD and such do not always notice these things... I can barely remember to take my pills most days that's with alarms and such... thankfully the cats do not ever let me forget to feed them. They are quite insistent. That's why I don't have plants... plants don't insist you water them. I don't think I'd like to be having to remember to add water to that every day. The robot cat litter boxes I just really have never been a fan. Big bulky and annoying. Besides I HATE clay litter. My cats don't like the pine litter... which is a shame. But I've found a corn based litter all of us like. Anyway love your video's... very informative. I wonder if anyone has fixed any of these software issues.

[@OneManFiveCats]

Thank you. Nothing has been fixed.

[@jamieblack5878]

Hi I love your reviews on cat stuff. Thank u. I am in and out of hospital a lot, so I have an automatic feeder and camera for my fish so I can feed them and keep an eye on them when in hospital. I have a cat named Jazz who is also a very fussy eater. I have 2 Huge litter trays and water dispensers/food. I really want to buy a self cleaning litter but also an automatic food dispenser with camera for times I’m rushed to hospital and don’t have time to put out extra food and water bowls all around the place. Could you maybe ask your cats to test out automatic food dispensers (not treat) with camera’s? And your water fountain dispensers as I had one but was for ever cleaning it and was not easy lots of nooks and crannies. The items need to be there ready to go in times of hospital emergency. Ok sorry about long message. Please ask the cats for me. Thank u ❤❤❤❤❤ & now ❤😊

[@OneManFiveCats]

Thanks for the message. Unfortunately I can’t because it would be too disruptive for my cats as they are all on different diets. Also I can’t just go out and buy products I don’t need to review. The products I review are generally things that I use. Sorry!

[@jamieblack5878]

@@OneManFiveCats oh so sorry I forgot that only the two of them are not on diets. All good. Still love the all 7 of you. Take care

[@SpencerThayer]

What is the cat bowl @2:13?

[@OneManFiveCats]

The fountain? Can’t remember sorry. There are SO many out there. I didn’t like that one as the filter system wasn’t the best.

[@beautifulenigma1724]

@@OneManFiveCats ope I found my answer (I saw it in their feeder video and asked there what it was). Not having a good filter would be a no-go for me, so I'm glad I haven't been pining after it for very long lol

[@mustangnawt1]

I know this is a yr ago, but it’s new to me and I’d like to share and maybe it will help a kitty somewhere. U do a fantastic job all the way round with everything. Wonderful cat daddy. My kitty Baxley who has passed now was diagnosed with kidney disease. I figured out a way to know at least once a day how his thirst was and to encourage him to drink more. I believe this extended his life by years. Cats always want the humans cup. So I put a human cup, short wide glass on a coaster on my nightstand on my side. I can tell my kitties apart by their movements really well. So every night and every morn I’d fill the cup with fresh and one ice cube. Have coffee in bed and cuddles before bed to watch how many times he went to the glass. Light sleeper so I could tell mostly how often it was him walking next to me to the table too. Before he passed he would go every 5 minutes. So, I knew. But this one thing gave us more time 2gether and made him feel better. And it wasn’t a million pounds or need a shite app. Another thing vet told me, cats stay in a stay of thirst often in the wild. But they only average 7-9 yrs outside, and that every kitty should have a little wet food everyday just in case they skip the water bowl, they’ll still get it from their wet. Just a bit:) Bless u & yours

[@Mawyman2316]

For 130 bucks I would expect flowing water.

[@buds8423]

Plastic is a problem for some cats-allergies and persnickety-ness…

[@fredericklegrande4564]

Why is everything made of plastic?

[@OneManFiveCats]

Erm…instead make it out of what? This isn’t single use plastic you know? The thing you wrote your comment on? Plastic.

[@beautifulenigma1724]

@@OneManFiveCats I'm guessing they asked that since a lot of cats have contact allergies with plastic and can have skin issues bc of it, which is why a lot of people use ceramic or metal bowls for their cat's food and water. I don't think they expected the entire thing to be made out of a different material, but at least the bowl portion would be nice in a different material (and if I get their feeder, I probably will have to get their overpriced stainless steel bowls, which I just discovered are out of stock, as well as their standard feeder). Also, the keyboard they're typing on has nothing to do with what their cat will be drinking (or eating) out of lol. Have a Snicker

[@russell7852]

This man spoils his children so bad. I feel like a bad cat dad

[@buds8423]

Plastic is a problem for some cats-allergies and persnickety-ness…