Cat Bowls?

miao_kitty

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I've been reading a lot about cleanliness of cat bowls lately and wanted to compile info about different types of bowls and how good/bad they are for both wet food, dry food and water. Also, my mom's cat got some kind of E-Coli infection and needed antibiotics, and it may've been from an unclean bowl? So if anyone has info about the following, please share!

-Ceramic Bowls(The ones they sell at pet stores)
-Metal Bowls
-Glass Bowls
-Plastic Bowls
-Plastic food mats
-Cloth food mats
-The plastic automatic fountains (W/ filters or w/o)

Also, please advice on how and how often to wash them. Dishwasher? Soap? Hot Water? Is it different for them if they hold wet, dry or water?Anything else not mentioned here would be cool too!
 

natalie_ca

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Abby eats dry food, so I put it in a wooden salad bowl. Silly girl doesn't like glass dishes because the food tends to slide around more.

I wash it with dish soap and hot water a few times per week.

Chynna eats wet food. I use a bread and butter plate or a saucer. They get washed before any new food is put on them, regardless of the number of servings she has in a day, and lately because of her recent dental surgery, that is about 4 or 5 times per day.
 

sharky

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I use a woven wood mat ... Zoey eats off glass or corelle.. as do the dogs
 

joyzerelly

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I bought about 15 tiny plastic bowls from the supermarket and give the kittens a clean one nearly every time. I just wash them in cold water (we don't have hot water on tap in Indonesia) I never tend to use washing up liquid because these seem to leave an artificial scent on the bowls which the cats do not like.
 

dawnofsierra

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Sierra and Serenity have pretty China that I get them from the Oriental Market. They eat homemade wet, and after each meal, I was them thoroughly with hot soapy water.
 

wendyr

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We don't actually use pet food bowls. This is primarily because my husband's family never did with his cats. Instead, we use human ceramic bowls. They have three bowls for their wet food - which get washed with hot soapy water every night. I have never had a problem with them and washing up liquid residue, but maybe that is because we have always done it this way. Their dry food is in a deeper bowl and that gets washed every few days in the same manner. Their water bowls also get cleaned pretty much daily (when i go to refill them, I give them a quick wash).

We do have one cat who has an extremely flat face, which makes eating a bit difficult. I experimented with a few different feeding mechanisms for her, and the bowls we use work best - there is a lip so she can nose the food up onto it and then lick it up. Whenever I used any dishes with no lip, she just flung the food on the ground (and often forgot to pick it up to eat...meaning we were stepping in bits of wet food...ew).
 

missymotus

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Mine eat off a dinner plate or 2 smaller side plates. Washed after each meal in hot soapy water along with my own dishes.
 

going nova

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Nova gets her food in a stainless steel bowl. They are easy to clean- even wet food comes right off. Just a little bit of soap, a quick rinse, and they're clean. I usually dry them before putting food in because of bacteria growth. Another plus with stainless steel is that it's dishwasher safe.

Before these bowls, we used ceramic dishes that were not gently curved in the bottom (so it was difficult for Nova to eat everything on the plate) and were difficult to clean.

She drinks water from a Drinkwell Platinum, and she loves it. I'm not sure about maintenance, as we just got it (we've had it less than a week).
 

jennyr

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I have a mix of stainless steel and ceramic. I bought a job lot of large ashtrays with high sides so that they don't slop the food onto the floor. Under the bowls there is a rubber mat. I have one basic rule - never give a cat a meal out of a bowl you would not eat out of yourself. And that means dishwasher treatment every meal.
 

cc12

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I have about 20 stainless steel bowls with weighted bottoms. I give them fresh bowls at every meal and put them in the dishwasher. I also spray the ones with raw food with a diluted bleach spray before putting them in the dishwasher on sanitize.
They have a drink fountain.
 

siamesedreams

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We've switched to stainless steel bowls for their food...which we change everyday. Porcelain (sp?) for their wet food. Everything gets washed daily with hot soapy water.

For water we use a drinkwell fountain which we wash thoroughly weekly.
 

baloneysmom

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My guys eat their dry from a stainless steel bowl I got from the pet shop, which I think are great. They wash off really easily and last forever! I think my dog (with my mom now) has had her bowl for 10 years already and it still looks brand new.

For wet I usually just use a small dinner plate, the ones I use and just wash them after.
 

yosemite

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Plastic gets scratches which hold bacteria. Ceramics can over time develop hairline cracking which holds bacteria.

Stainless Steel is good.

I think the most important thing really is to clean the dishes between feedings. I wouldn't re-use my own plate from breakfast for my dinner so I don't expect my cats to either. It just isn't sanitary.

If you have a cat prone to acne, getting rid of plastic is definitely a must.
 

goldenkitty45

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The dogs and cats have the Corelle cereal/soup dishes they use for food/water. I don't wash them out at every meal cause I forget to go and grab them. So they get done every 2-3 days. We feed wet and dry in them. They pretty much clean them so there's not much left.

The dog, of course, has hers spotless
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

The dog, of course, has hers spotless
Spotless perhaps, but not bacteria free.


Although it may require extra effort, I'd still recommend thoroughly cleaning the dishes after each meal.
 

darlili

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I have a Drinkwell Platinum fountain for water, and clean it every week, and add a gallon of distilled water to the clean fountain.

Right now I have several sets ceramic bowls (from Petsmart) - bigger for the dry food, and smaller for the wet food. All the bowls get washed in the dishwasher, with my dishes, every night. I'm going to try steel bowls, as I agree they're probably less likely to hold bacteria down the road. Maybe this weekend I'll get a set and see how they go over.

In reality, Dharma dishes her dry food out of the bowl with her paw, and eats off the kitchen floor. No bacteria there, I'm sure!
 

aileen06

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I use an oval ceramic dish for dry, a round ceramic dish for wet, and a heavy weight dog bowl wide at bottom smaller at the top for water.
 

jcat

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We use glass salad dishes for canned food, and china cat food bowls for dry. They all go into the dishwasher after each use, i.e., one meal.

We have four water bowls: two ceramic, one china, and one Pyrex. The Pyrex bowl is the most popular.They're washed out with very hot water every morning, and refilled, and put in the dishwasher at least once or twice a week.

We have no placemats under the food bowls, but have a china dinner plate under the Pyrex water bowl, as that's on a parquet floor.
 
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miao_kitty

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Originally Posted by silvionc

My guys eat their dry from a stainless steel bowl I got from the pet shop, which I think are great. They wash off really easily and last forever! I think my dog (with my mom now) has had her bowl for 10 years already and it still looks brand new.

For wet I usually just use a small dinner plate, the ones I use and just wash them after.
THat's funny b/c one time i gave Luna wet food on a "people" dish and my roommate freaked out...It's not like i wasn't going to wash it and sanitize it before it went back in the cabinet. =P
 
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