bowl/dish

Wanting to get new food and water dishes. Problem with stainless steel bowls i hav now is they slide everywhere,what kind of bowl would b best to get that wont move around to easily? Dont want plastic.

A good heavy ceramic dish is best. A shallow saucer-type for wet food, slightly deeper for dry food, and I prefer deep, dog-size dishes for water.

I've had the same problems with SS bowls in the past. I got Mia 2 ceramic bowls that fit into a Metal (nicely decorated too) platform. Each dish has its own tray. It lifts the bowls up from the floor a bit. I got it at Wal-Mart for $10. They still have them as I saw them this past week when I was hunting for cat toys.

Still Stainless Steel.
I use Durapet Stainless steel bowls, which have a rubber ring on the bottom, preventing them to slide around - they work beautifully. I have the flat ones, and the slow feeder, for Lucky.
Ceramic develops microscopic cracks on the enamel/outer layer, which makes it easier to harvest bacteria in them... If you are going to use something else to prevent acne other than SS, try glass

I also use the durapet SS bowls and they do have a rubber bottom. You can also use glass bowls but they will slide around.

If you want to be sure to avoid any future skin infections or breakout problems, your best bet is to purchase only glass or stainless steel bowls - and that includes water fountains.

Stainless stool bowls with rubber bottoms are available, or you could just lay a towel under the glass and non-rubberized stainless steel dishes.

Regards.

AC

There is no need for special rubber bottom anything IMO, it just makes dishwashing a chore as you have to take those off on some of them.  The rubber ring ones at Petsmart for example are really cheap rubber with a very powerful smell that detracts from the food aroma.   Just get yourself an anti-skid mat to place whatever you want on it, and then anything generic will work.    My cats don't care that my glass plates are made for people.  

Plates are preferred over bowls I think, since the whiskers won't touch the edges of the bowl.

Regarding materials, if you use a dishwasher after every use, its really not important what you use.  

1) Plastic is porous and the worst at harboring bacteria, but the chemicals and high heat and steam of dishwashers eliminates the concern.   Handwashing is very wasteful anyway.

2) In theory stainless steel is non-reactive and should not change the flavor of food or drink, but hardly anyone uses stainless steel plates or glasses to consume their human food off of, and I believe its because stainless steel comes in various grades and its likely that the impurities affect the flavor and make them unpopular choices.   I know caviar is never to be served on stainless, so it must be for a reason. 

3) Ceramic is hygienic and heavy, so its what I used for my water fountain and is good for plates too IMO.

4) Glass is also hygienic and I think looks neat, and is what I eat my food off of too.  Glass plates are so pure now and usually thick enough that durability is not a concern.

Ducman69 said:

There is no need for special rubber bottom anything IMO, it just makes dishwashing a chore as you have to take those off on some of them.  The rubber ring ones at Petsmart for example are really cheap rubber with a very powerful smell that detracts from the food aroma.  

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To the OP: Not the case with Durapet, btw. Not cheap rubber, no smell, no need to take it off, and nope I don't even own a dishwasher nor ever felt the need of having one to wash these bowls. Durapet is not found on Petsmart.

I was told cats don't like their whiskers touching the sides while eating. So I find glass plates. Ceramic too. I had candle holders once,  only have three now.

Flat dishes for can/wet food. Large dog ceramic bowls for water and food. No SS, my dog is afraid of it and won't drink. Of course the cats they are braver. But we have to think of big brother too. All the cat food are up on a table I don't use. Two for dry as we make our choices Three sometimes.

Carolina said:

To the OP: Not the case with Durapet, btw. Not cheap rubber, no smell, no need to take it off, and nope I don't even own a dishwasher nor ever felt the need of having one to wash these bowls. Durapet is not found on Petsmart.

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I use Durapet dishes here, and send kittens off with them too. Agree there is zero smell and cleaning is very easy.

I've got a whole collection of china, stainless steel and glass plates and bowls. The cats prefer glass salad plates like these: Arcoroc Canterbury Salad Plate They're shallow, so they don't disturb their whiskers, yet deep enough that you don't have food all over the place. They also can be put through the dishwasher very easily. I pick up several whenever I see them on sale.

Wow, Jcat, those're some fancy dishes your cats get to eat from! Mine have to make do with a simpler design; Target, $1.54 ('though I am a HUGE fan of Amazon!). :-}

Mine are in various designs, because I picked them up at supermarkets and department stores, usually for between $1 and $2. The cats have fancy ones, and we use plain ones for salads.I just provided a link to Amazon to give people an idea of what I'm talking about. The Arcoroc ones hold up really well.

thx for all the ideas,my cat only eats dry food,wont touch wet,all these ideas now i really dont know what to get lol,ss is cleaner than ceramic from what it sounds,id like to get something that wont bother her whiskers and esp that wont slide,where can i get a anti skid mat??? pet store?

Racn1320 said:

thx for all the ideas,my cat only eats dry food,wont touch wet,all these ideas now i really dont know what to get lol,ss is cleaner than ceramic from what it sounds,id like to get something that wont bother her whiskers and esp that wont slide,where can i get a anti skid mat??? pet store?

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If you want ceramic, you don't need to worry about its hygiene.  

Porcelain, the thing that 99% of the human world eats off of (I'm sure you do too unless you have glass plates), is a high temperature ceramic.  Lower temperature thicker ceramics are used in coffee mugs and some bowls in just about everyone's homes.    Toilets are made of ceramic because it stays clean so easily.  

Not that the stainless one with the integrated rubber thing might not be best (no personal experience with it), just if you prefer the aesthetics of one over the other don't worry about it.  

Antiskid also called antislip mats or placemats are everywhere from home improvement to walmart to bigger grocery stores and are quite inexpensive.    They usually look like this in a little grid, but there are solid ones without holes too:   

jcat said:

I've got a whole collection of china, stainless steel and glass plates and bowls. The cats prefer glass salad plates like these: Arcoroc Canterbury Salad Plate They're shallow, so they don't disturb their whiskers, yet deep enough that you don't have food all over the place. They also can be put through the dishwasher very easily. I pick up several whenever I see them on sale.

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Very nice dishes I have a few glass plates that I got from Target - but not as pretty as yours .

Racn1320 said:

thx for all the ideas,my cat only eats dry food,wont touch wet,all these ideas now i really dont know what to get lol,ss is cleaner than ceramic from what it sounds,id like to get something that wont bother her whiskers and esp that wont slide,where can i get a anti skid mat??? pet store?

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Any pet store. I get my mat's from Petco or Petsmart. They have many mat's to choose from and the dishes will not slide around. I use these and they can easily be machined washed.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3458666

Ducman69 said:

If you want ceramic, you don't need to worry about its hygiene.  

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If you don't have a dishwasher you do.

AS far as the non-skid mats go, my two youngest think they are toys, and will pull the mats out from under their dishes, causing a big mess (think spilled water mixed with yucky damp kibble )  They even pulled one out from under their fountain!!

So, needless to say, we don't use those anymore!  I DO like to use the metal stands, though, to raise their dishes off the floor, especially since we have one porker who used to just lay down next to the bowl to eat.  We use ceramic bowls in those stands, for their kibble and water, then we use glass bowls that are narrow at the bottom and and wide at the top for the wet food.  I just set those on the rug in the dining room (apapropriate, no?) since they don't stay out all day.

LDG said:

If you don't have a dishwasher you do.

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We will have to agree to disagree, as clearly I don't believe you do. 

Out of curiosity, what material plates do you as a human eat off of?   Do you get sick from bacteria left over from the last meal?   I am over thirty years old now and to date have never gone to someone's house and been served on stainless steel plates, and while I do prefer glass, I am the only one of my close friends that actually has a set.    Just about everyone uses white ceramics dishwasher or no, and thats with frequent use of cutting knives on them.