4 Of The Best-Rated Raised Food Dishes For Cats

Providing nourishment for a beloved pet is a very rewarding experience.With so many homeless street cats struggling to survive, it's soul-satisfying to know that at least one creature in this world has love and a steady supply of good food.

I don't know about you, but I love seeing the relaxed, satisfied aura of a well-fed pet; especially the paw cleaning and whisker shampooing afterwards. That's what makes it so difficult when you have a cat that vomits his dinner all the time. You worry that your furry friend always has an empty stomach. 

Cats are so individual. They are as varied as humans when it comes to temperament, energy levels, grooming habits, and table manners. If your kitty eats and swallows normally when his or her dish is at floor level, I don't think it's necessary to spend your money on elevated bowls.

Cats naturally scrunch down when they eat. Some might even drag their food from an elevated bowl and onto the floor which defeats the purpose anyway. However, some cats will take nicely to having meals from a higher position.

Cats Have Several Challenges When It Comes To Digestion:

• Their Natural Anatomy-As you can see by our see-through cat picture below, the esophagus has to pipe food into the stomach at a sideways slant. This is the equivalent of you and I eating our meals laying down on our stomachs.
• Lack Of Certain Enzymes-
• Teeth That Are Not Kibble Friendly- Have you ever watched a cat eat dry food? They tend to press the kibble to the side and try to crush it with the force of their jawbone. Large kibble bits tend to take a long time to chew. Small kibbles can get trapped between cheek and gum.

Understanding Kitty Plumbing Can Help

Sometimes it makes sense that cats can have digestive problems. Cats who gobble dry food without chewing can end up with quite a clog in their digestive tract.Add a hairball to the mix, and you have a vomiting episode waiting to happen.

Digestion sensitivities, posture, and food scarfing behaviors leave owners searching for some way to help their pets hold on to their dinners.They may find a solution using pet food dishes that are elevated.

4 Elevated Feeders That Cats Are Loving Right Now

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When you look at the choices of feeding bowl materials that manufacturers create for raised food stations, they are usually ceramic, stainless steel, or some type of dishwasher safe plastic.Since plastic is not considered a healthy material for a food dish, I will just cover stainless steel and ceramic. Here are the pros and cons of each type:

Stainless Steel Pet Food Bowls

The Pros-Perfect for households that have rowdy, rambunctious fur kids that run all over the house knocking things around. A stainless steel bowl is bound to last a long time.

The Cons-It's not very decorative, is it? It's utilitarian and practical.

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Ceramic Pet Food Bowls

The Pros-Ceramic food dishes are more decorative and let you choose from different colors and patterns.

The Cons- They can chip, crack, or break. A favorite pattern can become discontinued.

On the evening of May 30, 2018, I came home from work around 11:30 p.m.  As I approached my porch, a small, thin, bedraggled cat came running out of the bushes wailing pitifully and crying for my attention. Even in the dark I could see that she had big patches of fur missing and ticks embedded around her neck and ears.

I felt so sorry for this poor creature. I am not allowed to have pets where I live, but I couldn't just  shut the door ( and my heart) on this situation. I found myself scooping up a strange cat covered with ticks and mites, and bloated with worms.

Little did I know the psychological damage that this poor kitty had endured.  She was rushed to the Vets where she turned out to be approximately a year old, seriously underweight, and suffering mange, fleas, mites, and tick infestation.

Scarf and barf.  It's not a very dignified term, but it is a blunt description of pets who inhale food without chewing, instantly vomit it up, then look at you with pleading eyes because they are still hungry.

 A Few Things That Can Help Your Scarf & Barf Kitty Keep Dinner Down:

1. According to many Vets, scarf & barf cats can do well eating many small, mouse-sized portions of food throughout the day.
2. Sensitive Stomach pet food formulas where the individual size of each kibble is smaller.
3. Those treat dispenser puzzles designed to slow them down.

 What I Did With Sylvie And Her Scarfing Of Food

I tried the mouse-sized portion thing by giving her a heaping tablespoon of Fancy Feast every 3 hours. All that seemed to do was tease her and keep her in a heightened state of non-satisfaction. She wanted rat-sized portions.

1. Made an elevated feeder with some old plastic containers.
2. Kibble for breakfast only-usually around 10a.m.
3. Next meals are wet food only and spaced at least 4 hours apart.
4. Stayed vigilant about keeping her bowels regular.

Handling a pet that has food insecurity takes a lot of patience and understanding. If you have taken in an underweight stray that does nothing but wail and cry for food all day, I feel your frustration. In their little feline brains, food is a precious commodity that must be grabbed and eaten as quickly as possible before it disappears.

Although there are some great elevated pet dishes on the market, there are times when a person might have to get creative if they need to feed a cat from a higher platform.If you need something NOW that works as a washable, elevated dish, check your cupboard for old Tupperware bowls or food storage containers from the grocery store. 

Any large plastic container will do. Turn the large one upside down for the bottom portion of your homemade elevated dish. The lid can stay on or off.

Tape an empty deli meat container to the upside down one to use as the food dish part.

Cat forums online are a great place to gather information about the quirks and challenges of caring for these furry critters. One of the most frustrating challenges is solving chronic regurgitation issues.This is especially true if you are trying to put weight on a very skinny stray that has adopted you.

Food insecurity is a sad, but painful truth when cats grow up on the streets never knowing where their next meal is coming from. A stray cat can go days without finding anything to eat. It's no wonder that they inhale food as quickly as they can.

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 * Nothing on this page is meant to take the place of professional advice from a Veterinarian. If your pet has issues with vomiting, definitely seek out help from an expert.