A lot of cats get excited about feeding time and can end up overeating or eating too much. Your cat can vomit after eating too fast, develop digestive problems, or become overweight due to eating too fast and overeating. Cat owners should ensure that their cat eats slowly and correctly by using special feeding containers and alternative feeding strategies. Do you know the best food bowls for cats that eat too fast?
| Food Bowls For Cats That Eat Too Fast | Product Image | Expert Rating | Get It On Amazon! |
|---|---|---|---|
| CATCH Interactive Feeder |  |  | Check Price |
| Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree – Interactive Cat Toy |  |  | Check Price |
| Pioneer Pet SmartCat Tiger Diner Cat Feeder |  | | Check Price |
Does your cat gulp and gobble down every bit of food in her bowl in a matter of seconds? If your cat is eating more than you can tell, “It’s about time,” then she might be in for a whole bunch of unpleasant problems. Eating too quickly can lead to intestinal pain, a possible choking, and, of course, a very undesirable behavior known as “scarf and barf.” Simply, your cat eats too quickly or scarves down her food, and her stomach can’t keep up, too. She barfs it back up to your floors.
You don’t want to clean up vomit every time your kitty eats, and you certainly don’t want your little feline buddy to get sick or cough, so finding ways to make her eat slowly is super important. Since you’d prefer not to feed your cat by the side, there’s a perfect way to get your cat to slow down when she’s eating — slow feed bowls. Let’s find out about the best food bowls for cats that eat too fast.
What’s A Slow Feed Cat Bowl?
Definitely not your mill cat dishes, slow feed bowls feature a range of creative designs that are explicitly oriented towards making your cat eat more slowly. They are the food bowls for cats that eat too fast. Instead of only one cavern for your kitty’s kibble, these special bowls have elevated areas in a variety of designs that are designed to inspire your cat to work a little harder for her chow.
The fact that these slow-feed bowls offer a range of barriers for your cat to eat around not only make your pet eat slower but also provide the requisite mental stimulation and a more engaging way for your cat to enjoy its meal.
Why Do You Want To Use A Slow Feed Cat Bowl?
Remember the unforgiving word from earlier, “scarf and barf? “The sight of cat puke all over your floors is probably enough for you to yell a resounding yes to slow feed bowls, but vomit is not the only excuse why your kitty should eat slowly. Slow feed bowls are food bowls for cats that eat too fast.
First of all, it’s important to find out that your fetish feline has a stomach about the size of a ping pong ball. In other words, your beloved pet can only consume so much food at once, which is perfect if it eats like cats do in nature — small portions during the day. However, if you put a crumbling pile of kibble in front of her, she’s likely to inhale it, giving in to another instinct — fear of another animal stealing her food. When your cat eats too much, it can suffer from various unpleasant and potentially dangerous issues, so encouraging slow eating helps keep your cat safe and healthy.
Are There Any Other Ways To Get A Cat To Feed Slowly?
In addition to using a slow cat feed dish, there are a few other ways to enable your fast feline to eat more slowly. Since your kitty has a natural urge to gobble up her chow, these practices will help her adapt her behaviors to becoming a slower-paced eater:
A. Serve Small Meals During The Day
Although you may want to give your cat all of her food at once because it’s faster, you can’t rely on your kitty to pace herself when she eats. Therefore, it’s better to serve tiny amounts of your pet, even if you’re using a slow feed dish. Calculate the amount of food that your cat can eat in one day and split it into multiple meals that are approximately two tablespoons each. Your pet’s tiny stomach can tolerate these smaller servings better than a large bowl of food, which is a more enjoyable experience for all.
B. Make Her Work For It
Cats are natural-born hunters; let your cat work for food. Her innate impulses will be fulfilled, and she will have some much-needed mental stimulation. Many slow feed bowls are built to help your cat search for or catch her food, but you can also go a step further by hiding her cat bowl and leaving her with a few kibble hints to promote hunting.
Food Bowls For Cats That Eat Too Fast
Our Top Pick
Product Name: Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Cat Feeder
Product Description: This slow feed for cats is interesting because it encourages your pet to really work for a meal. Your kitty would need to feed for their food by pawing the side openings beginning at the top of the tree. They're going to have to keep pawing the kibble down to the bottom of the tree, where it's going to end up in the no-spill bowl. The whole process encourages hunting instincts and mental stimulation while providing a delicious reward.
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If your cat eats fast, then it probably makes you both worried and insane. The good news is that there is an easy way to stop cats from eating too much. Take a plain old cup, create some creative designs to spread the rice, voila! Now, your cat has to eat through the design barriers, and it can’t scarf down the food. But let’s get straight into some of the best food bowls for cats that eat too fast!
1. Northmate Catch Interactive Cat Feeder
This slow eating from Northmate is intended to activate your cat’s natural hunting instincts by using their paws to catch food. You can spread as much food as you need around this mat-sized interactive slow feeder, and more than one cat can use it at a time. Your cat will need to push and capture food through the rounded nodules, which will greatly reduce the rate at which it eats.
The Northmate Catch Interactive Cat Feeder comes in one size but is ideal for cats of all ages and breeds. It comes with four anti-slip legs to ensure that the slow feeder stays in place. This interactive cat feeder is made of hard, phthalate-free plastic and is ideal for cleaning in a dishwasher. Since this feeder is so durable, it will be ideal for indoor or outdoor use.
2. Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Cat Feeder
This slow feed for cats is interesting because it encourages your pet to really work for a meal. Your kitty would need to feed for their food by pawing the side openings beginning at the top of the tree. They’re going to have to keep pawing the kibble down to the bottom of the tree, where it’s going to end up in the no-spill bowl. The whole process encourages hunting instincts and mental stimulation while providing a delicious reward.
Don’t worry about your cat knocking over this feeder tree since the bottom base serves as a stabilizer. And your cat can’t cheat by taking all the kibbles from the top of the tree – a narrow hole stops your kitty from doing that. This Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Pet Feeder can be modified to suitably house the kibble size your cats eat through 3 settings. This slow feeder cat tree is a fun, interactive alternative for cats who eat too much.
3. Pioneer Pet Plastic Portion Control Food Dish
This slow feeder cat bowl from Pioneer Pet boasts a very basic design, but it encourages portion control and stimulates the mind of your cat. Your kitty is going to have to fight for every piece of kibble by pawing for it. Cats have natural hunting instincts, and this slow eating cat bowl helps your cat to “hunt” for food through a few gaps.
The Pioneer Pet Plastic Portion Control Food Dish can be conveniently filled with food via a funnel-shaped lid. Rubber’s legs will hold the bowl in place while your cat works to get food. The slow feeder is also safe for the dishwasher. We love how inexpensive this slow cat bowl is, making it cost-effective to buy more than one if necessary!
Components To Be Included In The Food Bowls For Cats That Eat Too Fast
Happy to pick a fun cat food dish for your feline friend’s slow feeding dish? There are a lot of great choices to choose from, so consider the following components when choosing one.
Form Of Food That Is To Be Used
Is your cat eating kibble, wet food, or both? Many slow cat bowls are only fitted for use with kibble, but wet food options are available. We’ve got a wet food slow feeder mat on our suggestion list.
Size And Potential For Food
If you have multiple cats that can use a slow feed dish, you’ll want to consider buying a big one that can fit multiple kitties. You will also want to note the food power, particularly if you have a large feline crew.
Cleaning And Maintenance Jobs
Many cat slow feeder bowls are safe for the dishwasher, but some need hand washing. If super easy cleaning is important to you as a cat parent, you’ll want to buy a slow feeder that’s safe for the dishwasher.
Design
Slow cat feeders come in a multitude of styles, from mats to bowls to trees. The design you choose will depend on your cat’s personality and how they like to play and eat. If you have a cat with restricted mobility, you might want to stick to a mat or bowl style.
Material
It would appear that most cat slow feeds are made of plastic. If you’re buying a plastic feeder for your pet, just make sure it’s BPA-free and non-toxic. Other materials used in slow feeder cat bowls are rubber and ceramics.
What Kinds Of Slow Feeders Are There?
There are a variety of different types of slow feeders on the market. — one has benefits and drawbacks, so we’re going to quickly outline them here so that you get a sense of which one may be right for your situation. Here are the types of food bowls for cats that eat too fast.
A. Traditional Hard Plastic Stationary
The typical hard plastic alternative is going to resemble a cat bowl very closely. The big difference you’ll find is that there will be many ridges or barriers installed in the center of the bowl.
They’re there to stop your cat from actually jamming his face in the bowl and wolfing down all the food as quickly as possible. The theory is that your cat is going to have to shift food with his paws to get it where he can reach it.
The main advantage of these types of slow feeders is that they are usually reliable, easy to clean and come in at a very low price point. On top of that, you’ll typically find that after years of production, they have a lot of small features that make them easy for owners to use (think anti-skid legs, for example).
B. Soft Rubber Or Silicone Feeder
Soft rubber and silicone versions appear to have a flat base with a lot of stuff sticking straight out of the base. The shapes and sizes can vary, but more often than not, they resemble a small patch of tree trunks attached to a rubber foundation.
The main difference here is that they are flexible, while they are not strong bowls. Hard bowls usually enable the cat to move the food directly with these paws.
Softer feeders allow this to happen, but they also allow your cat to sneak between them with only his ears. They’re often usually easier to get wet food out of, as you can quickly bend it to clean or spray it.
C. Ceramic Bowls And Feeder
Ceramic slow feeders are supposed to resemble hard and soft feeders. They’re all going to be made of ceramic instead.
The main reason you’d want to consider ceramics is that they’re not porous. This basically means that it is difficult for bacteria to hold up and grow, particularly if you often wash the feeder in hot water like a dishwasher.
Ceramics are also very heavy compared to normal plastic, which gives them extra weight to remain in place if you have a very rambunctious pet.
D. Stainless Steel
Similar to ceramic options, the majority of stainless options would mimic those of hard plastic feeders. At the moment, there are not many stainless options on the market.
Stainless steel is super lightweight and extremely difficult to crack. It is also a non-porous material such as ceramic, making it very easy to clean effectively.
If you’re on stainless steel, the best choice is to buy a standard stainless steel cat bowl and simply turn it over and use the bottom instead of the top like a bowl.
E. Puzzle Powered Feeders
Puzzles are a good choice as well, but I’d personally categorize them as a different form of feeder for a different reason. This is typically meant to make a normal cat work for their food, either because they have so much energy or because they actually need to lose weight.
Final Words
Slow feeder cat bowls are a nice, entertaining method to help your cat eat and digest food properly. We’re sure that you’ll find a great choice for your favorite feline on our list. If a slow feeder cat bowl is not enough to keep your cat from constant vomiting, it is recommended that you seek veterinary attention.
