Why are pet water fountains such a pain to clean?
Pet water fountains have complicated filters and parts that quickly accumulate nasty buildup, leading to bugs like drain flies if they aren't scrubbed constantly. This turns a simple hydration tool into a high-maintenance chore that owners dread dealing with.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 9.7× more often in r/cats than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Switching back to a standard water bowl or gravity waterer.Did this help you?
- 2Buying filterless fountains that can be wiped out with a sponge once a week.Did this help you?
- 3Scrubbing the fountain completely every other day.Did this help you?
- 4Scrubbing the pump and running clean water through itDid this help you?
- 5Using a baby bottle sanitizer tablet followed by rinsing and dryingDid this help you?
- 6Consulting the manufacturer's manualDid this help you?
- 7Replacing the water every other dayDid this help you?
- 8Cleaning with citric acidDid this help you?
- 9Switching back to standard water bowlsDid this help you?
- 10Throwing stainless steel parts in the dishwasher weeklyDid this help you?
- 11Switching to different fountain brands like PawspikDid this help you?
- 12washing bowls multiple times a dayDid this help you?
- 13rotating multiple bowlsDid this help you?
- 14reverting back to a simple water bowl refreshed twice dailyDid this help you?
- 15cleaning fountains regularly and replacing filtersDid this help you?
- 16Soaking in water with dish soap, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or denture tabletsDid this help you?
- 17Using pipe cleaners, straw brushes, or flathead screwdrivers to pry open partsDid this help you?
- 18Searching for YouTube teardown videosDid this help you?
- 19Giving up on fountains entirely and returning to regular water bowlsDid this help you?
- 20Leaving out a dedicated, heavy-bottomed glass on an elevated surface like a dining table.Did this help you?
- 21Using a large stainless steel dog dish and changing the water daily.Did this help you?
- 22Placing multiple still water bowls throughout the apartment and changing them nightly.Did this help you?
- 23Letting the cat drink out of a specific favorite coffee mug.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“What are these!? I just bought cat grass for my cat about 5 days ago and I do have drain flys sometimes. Immediately cleaning this because ew. Are my cats okay?”source ↗
“We got a fountain for our cats and ended up unable to use it at all because it became one cats life mission to get to the motor.”source ↗
“I wash his good bowl plate thing after every meal and rotate 2 others for water wash one use one wash use about 4 times a day.. Do u guys think that is fine or should I do it more the fountain seems interesting but not sure about it...”source ↗
“Seems no matter which brand I try or how much I spend, it still gets slimy and the parts are so difficult to clean.”source ↗
“I have two cats and tried really hard for years to keep up with the maintenance of my Catit plastic water fountain (it's really silent, it's not the flower one, I liked it) but ADHD and keeping 2 jobs made it so tough for me to be consistent , but I did everything I could to change the filter every month AND every filter change I'd deep clean the whole thing and accessories with a soft sponge. And yet almost everytime I took it out for cleaning it was disgusting and pink from mold.”source ↗
“I’m not big into those fountains- they’re a pain.”source ↗
“I keep seeing stuff on how much stagnant, filterless water left for just a few hours, with all the contact with cat mouths, become ridden with bacteria so so fast and I'm feeling kind of bad and worried.”source ↗
“I sometimes force my cat to watch my clean her nasty water fountain filters and everything hahaha 🤣”source ↗
“the parts and the spout get so slimey. 😭”source ↗
“One thing to note is fountains do need a good amount of cleaning and filter replacing, as otherwise they get gross inside”source ↗
“I had one but it was a lot of work to try and keep it clean and my cats didnt seem to be overly enthused about it ao I reverted back to a simple water bowl refreshed twice daily”source ↗
“This one piece does not pop off and there’s no way to get anything under it to clean. Any ideas?”source ↗
“Any suggestions for sanitizing the pump are welcome!”source ↗
“I did give it a good scrub to get the ick off & ran clean water through for about 10 minutes to make sure there wasn't any residue left, but I'd like to make sure it's really sanitized well.”source ↗
“i would like to know as well”source ↗
“I think we have the same fountain! I have the same problem. I try to clean any parts i can on the pump with a pipe cleaner.”source ↗
“I returned mine back to Chewy. Couldn’t clean it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Can I use Brita filters for hard water to protect my cat's urinary health?
- 11How to clean a reusable bottle with mold or sunscreen inside
- 9How to get pet bowl stains out of the floor before moving out
- 2Are cat water fountains actually worth it or a waste of money?
- 8How to clean a stained and grimy dorm faucet
- 3Water dripping after changing a whole-house filter