Ever since Pierre’s blood tests showed him in stage 2 chronic kidney disease, I have been thinking about ways to keep him hydrated and having water everywhere he goes. So when the good folks at Heyrex offered to let us try out their Torus water bowl, I only had to hear the word “water” to say I wanted to try it.
The Torus bowl is shaped like a hollow donut with a floor in the “donut hole” to contain drinking water. The hollow donut around the bowl can store either 1 or 2 liters of water in a surprisingly compact space, and s small hole on the inside of the donut lets a small portion of water spill into the “donut hole,” where your cat can drink it.
You know those watering bowls that have a tall tank and make a big “glug” sound when they dispense additional water? Yeah, that would terrify Pierre. He’s still unsure of his own drinking fountain. But the water from the Torus reservoir spills silently into the center bowl area, letting even a timid cat accept it almost immediately.
The reason the Torus bowl works silently is that it is gravity-fed. There are no batteries or plugs needed to make it work.
One of the other things I really liked about this bowl as a clumsy human is that it’s low profile. Unlike a regular bowl, when I blunder into it in the middle of the night, it isn’t going to splash all over the place because it only has a small amount of water dispensed at a time. It’s also pretty heavy when it is full of a liter of water. That combined with it being low profile means that any accidental midnight soccer games you play with it will keep it pretty much in the same location and keep things tidy.
You fill the Torus bowl up by switching the three-way switch to fill mode and removing it. Water goes right in.
So does one of the Torus carbon filters that helps keep drinking water clean.
Then you put the switch back on, and switch it to drink mode. The reservoir around the Torus bowl gravity-feeds into the bowl in the middle. I liked how you can switch the bowl to travel mode and shut off refilling. After you empty the bowl, even turning the Torus upside-down doesn’t spill a drop. How great is that for car trips?
The only drawback I see to the Torus bowl is cleaning it. Water is stored on the inside of the donut-shaped reservoir and the cradle to hold the charcoal filter makes it hard to feed even a flexible brush inside. I can’t scrub all of the surfaces that come into contact with water. There’s a solution, though. You can use sterilizing tablets, designed for baby bottles, to clean the interior.
All in all, I love the Torus bowl. Even more importantly, so does Pierre. His having water everywhere is the real deciding factor for me.
The Torus bowl is cleverly designed, and it’s a really useful way to dispense water, especially if you travel with your cat. I’m going to add one to the cats’ hurricane evacuation kit, because that’s when my cats are most likely to travel and need it the most. Water everywhere you go. It doesn’t get more convenient than that!
FTC Disclosure: We were compensated for this review, but the opinions expressed are our own and not influenced by any outsider.
Summer says
May 6, 2016 at 2:44 amThis bowl sounds like a really great idea! I’m glad it works for Pierre.
Three Chatty Cats says
May 6, 2016 at 8:22 amLooks like a great bowl. Thank you for the review.
caren gittleman says
May 6, 2016 at 10:06 amWe have two of these (a large one for Dakota and a small one for Cody) and we just love them. We featured them a while back on both blogs because we think they are just fabulous!
Glogirly says
May 6, 2016 at 11:04 amWe’re so excited to read this! We’ve seen Torus online and have been very curious about how it works. How great that it’s completely quiet! The cleaning tablet tip is fabulous.
Great for travel…like to conferences and such!
: )
The Swiss Cats says
May 6, 2016 at 1:52 pmGreat review ! That special bowl sounds very useful for travel. Purrs
da tabbies o trout towne says
May 6, 2016 at 3:49 pmguys…..thanx for sharin….eye am gonna hafta chex thiz out coz
eye wood love ta drink sum thin bee sides tap…..{ water, knot beer 🙁
…. de food servizz gurl canna put in a fountin coz eye loves ta chew
lectric cordz ~~~~~
tuna
heerz two a monkeyface prickleback kinda week oh end ♥♥♥
Peyton says
May 6, 2016 at 4:37 pmI have three cats drinking out of a single large bowl. I am assuming that this would just replace my bowl. It does sound interesting as far as the cats would be less likely to create a mess.
Melissa & Truffles says
May 6, 2016 at 5:29 pmWhat a great bowl! I’m so happy it’s working well for Pierre (and you!)
The Island Cats says
May 6, 2016 at 6:35 pmWe reviewed this bowl too. Wally took to it right away. We like how it was filtered water…but wasn’t a fountain. We’re glad Pierre likes it.
The Florida Furkids says
May 6, 2016 at 8:24 pmThat looks like a pawsome bowl!!
The Florida Furkids
Ellen Pilch says
May 6, 2016 at 8:42 pmThat looks like a nice bowl, I am glad Pierre likes it.
Cathy Keisha says
May 6, 2016 at 9:40 pmI saw this at a show recently and my only concern was that it’s made of plastic. I love it otherwise.
Noodle says
May 8, 2016 at 12:06 amThat bowl sounds really cool!
Thanks for the review…
Noodle and crew
Deb Barnes - Zee and Zoey says
May 8, 2016 at 8:22 amWhat an interesting concept – water is so important to our kitties! I’ll have to look into this!
Connie says
May 9, 2016 at 1:48 pmlol.. I LOVE that filter photo..
Nice to hear it doesn’t make noise too, too many cats would be put off by that
Maxwell, Faraday & Allie says
May 9, 2016 at 5:27 pmHoly CAT – sterilizing tablets! Brilliant! We also use food grade H2O2 (it comes in a reeeally high concentration that’s more than 10 times the concentration of the stuff you get at the drug store and it’ll sanitize anything – and eat your skin off – in 30 seconds flat) but still, though it’ll kill stuff, it won’t eliminate build-up, it’ll just render it inert. So we’re guessing that you have to be diligent about sanitizing weekly??