I placed it next to our regular water bowl so they could get used to it. Our boy cat started drinking from it right away would not use the old one. It took our girl cat a little while before she got to use it she was a bit afraid of it at first. but after seeing her brother drinking from it she started using it and now loves it. Neither one of them will use the old water bowl anymore. It’s easy to clean I love that it filters the water. W definitely recommend