My K9 Land

Paw Print:

Out of all my dogs (6 Greyhounds), 2 gulp their food as if they have never been fed before. I am greatly concerned not only about choking but the dreaded, deadly bloat that can occur as a result of eating so fast, especially with barrel-chested dogs. I’ve tried many things, including feeding them small incremental amounts (1/2 Cup) at a time, but with 6 feeding stations in the kitchen, that gets a bit complicated with the others always wanting ‘more’ when they see me putting ‘more’ into these 2 particular bowls.

I have also tried putting a much smaller stainless steel bowl (for a much smaller toy breed) upsidedown in their bowls and putting their food around it. This does work, however, liquid and some food always gets underneath so unless I’m standing watch as they eat, they can miss some of their meal: but their ‘nose’ always ‘knows’ the food is in there somewhere! This gets messy, too, having to lift out the smaller upsidedown bowl for them to get the last remains of their meals..dripping all the way to the sink, etc.

So, I gave in and tried these. While I dislike feeding my guys and gals in plastic (no dishwasher so I hand-wash and want to feel I’ve gotten them as clean as possible). I do prefer stainless, but will use ceramic if need be although ceramic can slowly wear down teeth in aggressive eaters. I tried these first for the expense. Didn’t want to spend $35. on a metal bowl if it didn’t work. So, here is what I experienced last night when I tried them out. (They arrived late yesterday afternoon).

First, I had to figure out how to make them work with the existing feeding stations. They are very light, weighing only 9.3oz on my kitchen scale. They are 10 5/8″ diameter at the widest portion of the base of the bowl while the actual food compartment with the ‘pillars’ is a mere 7″ in diameter and 2.25″ deep. The 3 ‘pillars’ are as deep as the bowl (2.25″) with the top of the pillar being 1″ wide growing in width to the bottom of the bowl to 2″ wide. Because there weren’t any dimensions provided, I figured no matter what, I could rig something up for them to work with at least 2 of my existing feeding stations.

They did not fit in the openings of any of the 4 different type feeding stations I own. The base is too wide, so I put silicone baking mats on the feeding stations covering the opening and placed the bowls on that empty. Didn’t slide when I tried moving them around. Next I tried putting some water in the bowl and placing it on the silicone. Again, it didn’t move around or spill the water when I tried to make it do so. Figured I had a winner on my hands and got ready to feed the ‘kids’ their supper meal.

Getting food into the bowls past the pillars is messy; spatters and spills all over. I would think it will be the same with plain dry kibble. So on the second bowl, I mixed the food in a separate bowl and tried slowly pouring it into this one. Same mess and this time, all the food landed in one spot almost overflowing the side; the pillars prevented the kibble mixed with fresh steamed veggies from filling the bowl evenly so a spoon/spatula was needed. Placed the bowls in front of the two aggressive eaters on their silicone mats that worked like a charm in the test run. HA! Guess I’m not as clever as my dogs. I turned my back to put down the last of the 6 bowls and the most aggressive eater was already done eating. Not only had he eaten just as fast as always, but he managed to do it while chewing off one of the pillars to allow him easier, quicker access to the food. (I found large chunks of the pillar on the floor beneath his station, just like a child hiding his peas)! The second dog who got one of these bowls did eat slower, but when his frustration level peaked, he simply grabbed the bowl by the pillar, flipped it up in the air, and chowed down once his supper splattered all over the floor, the wall and down the heating vent grate.

Maybe I can use these for my starter plants for this summer’s garden.
Rating: 1 / 5

Carol J. Rich:

I got this bowl for my bulemic cat. It’s working, sort of. The bowl looked new, I’m pleased with the purchase.
Rating: 5 / 5