I got my first one of these 7 years ago for my two cats. After running continuously for 7 years, the motor finally burned out. I'm going to order another one since my cats like it so much. (By the way, the price has come down considerably... I paid $80 for mine in 1999!) It works well, but as other people have stated, it does require some regular cleaning (maybe every few weeks we dump it out and wash it thoroughly). If you check the water level every day and just top it off, it runs beautifully. Definitely worth it to keep the kitties happy!