Only where the manufacturer says you may, with the product they specify, and rinse thoroughly afterwards — residue in a bowl or a fountain is worse than the scale you removed.
Descaling matters on anything that holds water in a hard-water area.
Where scale forms
Fountain pumps and housings, the inside of bowls, and the spouts that break up the flow. It changes the note of a pump long before it stops one.
The method
Follow the maker’s instructions for their materials — stainless, ceramic and plastic tolerate different things. Rinse until there is no smell at all, then dry.
What not to use
Anything strongly perfumed. A bowl that smells of cleaner is a bowl an animal may refuse, and the whole point of a fountain is that the animal uses it.
Prevention
Filtered water slows scale considerably, and weekly rinsing of the pre-filter keeps the pump clear of the biofilm that scale traps.
This does not replace your device’s manual. Blade temperatures, locking mechanisms and cleaning procedures differ from model to model, and the manufacturer’s instructions take precedence over anything written here. Unplug a device before dismantling it, check a hot blade or an air nozzle against your own hand before it goes anywhere near an animal, and keep a mechanism that closes or rotates under supervision until you know how it behaves.
Last reviewed 2026-08-17