Catstages Kitty Slow Feeder Cat Bowl for Wet or Dry Cat Food, Helps Prevent Bloat & Improve Digestion, Non-Slip, BPA-Free, Small, Green

Our female cat has earned the nickname "Hoover" as she is known to vacuum up almost any food she can get to. Potato chips, spicy corn chips, even pickle slices- if she can get to it, she will eat it, or try to eat it. Any time we give her more than a tiny handful of kibble, she will invariably devour it so fast that it comes right back up. Our much slower eating boy cat had been very tolerant of her Hoovering up his food as well as her own, so we started feeding them in different rooms so he would get more than a small portion of food before she inhaled it all.As she can't be given more than a teaspoon's amount of food at a time (any more, and you will find yourself stepping in a pile of it on the carpet a few minutes later) we decided to look for a bowl that could slow down her eating. This bowl had decent reviews and was not expensive, so we gave it a try. It appears to be well-made, and not too difficult to clean- the channels in it are big enough to get a brush into.At first, "Hoover" was not pleased with this new food receptacle. At ALL. She could smell and see all those tasty nuggets that she usually made disappear within thirty seconds, but she couldn't get at them easily any longer. I could see she was frustrated, so I put down a few pieces of kibble right next to the new bowl. She gulped down this small bit of food, then looked at me, wanting more. I then tapped the bowl and "showed" her the kibble sitting in the channels of the bowl.At first, she walked away from this strange thing. Maybe her "real" bowl would re-appear, and she wouldn't have to deal with this kibble puzzle dish. She came back and checked out the new bowl again, and managed to get a few pieces of kibble out of it. I noticed she was shoving the bowl around with her paw on the cushion-y "placemat" we have under the cats' food and water. She got a few more pieces of kibble.She never flipped the bowl over entirely, which is what I was waiting for (and dreading.) The placemat we have keeps the bowl from moving around very much, so I can't attest to the bowl's "suction" (?) effectiveness. I just checked out the underside of the bowl, and don't see any suction cups or anything, but we keep their bowls on the cushy placemat anyway, so it's not going anywhere.She returned to the strange object that was holding her food hostage again and again, and each time managed to get out a few more pieces of kibble. I just checked the bowl, and there are about a dozen or so pieces of kibble sitting in it, which is amazing to see, as she is so strongly food-motivated.The bowl just arrived this afternoon, so I can't attest to its effectiveness in the long-term, but it seems to be a success so far. It has broken the feeding time cycle of giving her a tiny bit of kibble, her begging for more food, giving a tiny bit more kibble, then begging again, etc. I'll report back after a week or so. Hopefully, this new bowl will continue to keep our Hoover-cat on a lower setting.Edit: it's been about four days of her using the new bowl. As we saw that she had been leaving about half of the kibble in the bowl after eating (unheard of with a regular bowl) we increased the minimal amount of kibble we gave her to her entire morning portion. A day or so ago, if we checked the bowl after she appeared to finish eating, and there would be about seven to ten nuggets of kibble left. When she begged later, we just tapped the bowl. She got the message: if she wanted more kibble she would have to extract it from the bowl. ---- We noticed yesterday after giving her the evening's kibble allotment that the new bowl with its challenging channels was completely empty. She has figured out how to get all of the kibble out of her new bowl. After we fed her this morning, sure enough, she got all of the kibble out of it. But the bowl is still a success, as it has really slowed down her eating. In a way, she is now eating like a normal cat- and not like a fur-covered Dirt Devil. Very happy with our purchase, and if you have a Hoover kitty of your own, we highly recommend this bowl. :)

This solved an issue with one of our cats, a domestic shorthair named Watson. We feed twice daily, kibble in the morning, and canned + kibble + water in the evenings. In the mornings, Watson would scarf his kibble down so quickly, he would, a short time later, harf it up on the rug. We tried feeding the wet course in the mornings, same issue. It became so frequent, his upchuck showed signs of blood due to stomach acid scarring his esophagus (confirmed by a vet exam) Free-feeding wasn’t an option, because the booger has little self-control and would overeat and get tubby.This product takes a little effort and time to get the kibble out, and for us, it solved this feeding issue. It slows down the feeding time, just enough, so he keeps the food down. We provide these bowls for all our cats, and only use them for the morning (dry) meal. In this way, there is little competition; all is fair and equal.This model holds about 1/2-cup of (kitty-sized) kibble. We feed them about 1/3-cup at the morning meal. The description claims it holds up to 3/4-cup, but that amount doesn’t sink into the channels far enough to slow down consumption. They’ve been used daily for over a year, and are holding up quite well. The bowls have grippy feet on the bottom, which minimizes movement. But the boogers tend to push the bowls around, as they work the channels for food. It’s not uncommon to find a bowl across the kitchen 8-10 feet away after feeding. Sometimes, we gotta hunt them down looking under tables and chairs.The bowl is made of plastic, and frequent cleaning is needed. The cats use their little tongues (and sometimes paws) to get the food out, and as such, the bowls get kinda gross with saliva buildup after a couple of feedings. They are nicely dishwasher safe, though. Hand-washing requires brief soaking. A metal or ceramic version of this bowl would be better.I’m not a mind reader, but I see clues that our cats would prefer their kibble in a regular bowl, without the obstacles of this “puzzle dish.” That said, they seem to tolerate it, as all the cats have an identical bowl during this feeding time. When given a choice between the regular and puzzle dish, they go to the regular, as it may be less work to feed.One last tip, after adding kibble to the bowl, we find it best to jiggle it back and forth, so the kibble settles down into the channels. Otherwise, when left piled in the center, the little booger can still scarf down the kibble at a rapid rate.

Definitely agree with a few others that the ridges needs to be lowered. It's still too high.At the end of the day, it does its job to slow down eating. My cat uses his paws to pull out the food he can't reach at the edges.I like that this has a bit of weight than plates. I would have to sit next to him eat so the plate wouldn't tip over, but this works well staying in place. I haven't had it "suction", but it's okay.One thing I wish is that this was a covered product. My fault, I ordered this plate with other items that had strong scents, which made the plate smell. But again, that was my fault.

I ordered a couple of different slow feeder designs as I have two cats. I really thought that this one was going to be the best and almost just purchased two of these. I'm glad that I didn't as it is inhumane to starve animals. Neither of my cats could figure out how to get the food out of this bowl. It also took them time to figure out the other slow feeder bowl but they eventually got it.I think the problem with this bowl is that the internal channels are too deep. The kibble fell into the recesses but my kitties couldn't get to it. It helped a little to overfill the bowl so the kibble was close to the top of the ridges but that only worked until the top layer of food was finished.The construction of the bowl seems sturdy. I do not feed wet food so cleaning was not an issue. I have given it three stars because it definitely does slow down the eating process. I withheld two stars because it slows down the eating process almost to the point of stopping it. Your mileage may vary if your cats are smarter than mine.