6 Best Food Bowls for Persian Cats

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Picking the perfect food bowl for your Persian pal can be challenging, but it can significantly affect your cat’s eating experience, habits, and health. That is particularly important for unique breeds such as Persians, for whom feeding can be challenging due to their flat faces and long hair.

We’ve looked at the main things you should consider when picking an eating bowl for your Persian companion and found a few fantastic options to meet your Persian’s needs.

Main Things to Consider When Picking Your Persian Cat’s Food Bowl

Avoid plastic bowls.

Bacteria and oil build up on plastic, particularly in scratches and imperfections in the material. The bacteria can easily transfer to your cat’s face, leading to infections. That’s a concern for Persians as they are already prone to bacteria buildup on their face, especially around the eyes.

Plastic bowls can also absorb odors, which can be off-putting for your cat and may deter them from eating or drinking.

Select something ceramic, stainless steel, or melamine (a non-toxic, non-allergenic compound) instead, and check your cat’s food bowl for scratches and chips that can harbor bacteria and hurt your cat’s mouth.

Look for a shallow bowl.

In general, all cats prefer shallow and wide dishes, so they do not need to dip their head into the bowl to eat. They don’t like anything that prevents them from looking up at their environment while eating, and there is also a suggestion that deep bowls can irritate their whiskers.

Investing in a shallow, wide dish is doubly essential for Persians as their flat faces make it more challenging for them to reach into a deep bowl, making it difficult for them to eat all their food, causing them distress while eating, and increasing the likelihood that food will get caught in the hair on their face, which if not cleaned properly can lead to infection and further distress.

Go non-slip.

That can refer to dishes that won’t move around on the floor when your cat is trying to eat from them and dishes that help prevent food from spilling from the bowl or getting stuck in corners where your cat can’t reach it. A proper non-stick bowl decreases mess for you and your cat, leads to less food wastage, and means your cat doesn’t go hungry.

In terms of the bowl moving around the floor, the weight of the dish is an essential factor, as well as the grips on the bottom of the bowl that ensure good contact with the floor.

In terms of slippage within the bowl, many design techniques help keep the food in the center of the bowl, including internal ripples or a slanted base.

Consider a specialty dish.

Specialty dishes that offer your cat their food at an angle can also be ideal for Persians as it prevents them from needing to dip their head deep into the bowl. A slight elevation to the dish can also help with this, and some experts also suggest that this can be better for your cat’s back while eating. There are also bowls with nubs in the bottom to deter gluttonous and messy eating.

Never get a double bowl.

Separate bowls are preferable to ‘double bowls’ as cats don’t like to have their water next to their food as it can be contaminated with bits of food.

Which Are the Best Cat Bowls for Persian Cats?

Best Raised Tilted Bowl:

Frisco Double-Sided Ceramic Elevated Cat Bowl

This tiled ceramic bowl complements home décor while helping your Persian cat avoid neck strain. It helps with swallowing and digestion with its elevated design.

This bowl is a two-in-one set suited for different pet sizes while keeping the elevation and tilt no matter which side you use. You must flip the dish from one side to the other for different-sized bowls it’s that simple.   

Best Whisker Fatigue Bowl:

CatGuru Cat Bowl

These bowls are made from dishwasher-safe, BPA-free material (melamine) that won’t absorb smells like plastic will. These bowls will hold five ounces of wet or dry food, which will help to prevent overfeeding. These dishes relieve whisker stress and help keep feline acne at bay. These bowls are also non-skid to keep them in place while your kitty eats their meal.

What is whisker fatigue?

Simply put, whisker fatigue is when some cats’ whiskers brush up against something consistently, such as their food or water bowls. That causes discomfort, possibly even pain, which makes eating and drinking stressful.

This bowl is also designed to keep your cat from getting acne or help heal your cat with acne.

What is cat Acne?

Feline acne is where blackheads form on your cat’s chin and surrounding areas. That can cause lesions, alopecia, and crusty sores. In most cases, the symptoms are mild and need no treatment. You can tell if your cat has acne as their chin will look dirty.

What more can you expect from this bowl?  It is made safer for your cat because it is made from kitchen-grade stainless steel. The same stainless steel we use for ourselves. That makes the bowl durable and easy to clean. It’s dishwasher safe. This bowl also comes with a food-grade, removable silicone mat to prevent it from slipping and sliding on the floor.

Best Stainless-Steel Bowl:

Frisco Elevated Non-skid Stainless-Steel Cat Bowl

This stainless-steel bowl comes with a touch of color and an iron stand that raises the bowl for your Persian to help them with less stress while eating. The bowl is hand washable or dishwasher safe. The bast should be hand washed. Pawprint design with neutral colors adds a flair of style. You can find the perfect one for your pet in different sizes and colors.

Best No-Mess Cat Bowls

Do you have a messy eater? There may be a solution to that. Several dishes out there have little divider-type bumps in the bottom to deter your cat from gobbling their food down so fast. They have to get the food out from between these bumps to eat. So, if you have a messy or voracious eater, try this dish.

Slow Feed Bowl Cat Bowl

This premium ceramic cat bowl is durable and sanitary. It helps keep your cat from getting feline acne or black chin as it’s called. This bowl also helps improve digestion. Fast eaters can suffer from bloat, regurgitation, or become overweight. This bowl may also help you messy eater become neater. The Mickey Mouse bumps will make your Persian slow to get more food out of the crevices. It is easy to clean with its sturdy, smooth ceramic surface.  

Best Other Cat Bowls

What do we mean by other dishes? Well, what we mean by that is you can use different dishes than you would think such as pasta bowls, casserole dishes, even soap dishes as commented on in a previous version of this article. Here we’ve found a nice pasta dish with bright colors that you could use and we’ve also found a soap dish we like that might work nicely for your messy Persian.

Vancasso Bonita Pasta Bowls

These pasta bowls come in a set 6, which might not be what you want unless you have more than one Persian cat. This dish is on Amazon, but there are other places you can look for a dish like this. Your box stores, home goods stores, and secondhand shops are great places to find dishes like these. These dishes are deep enough to keep food in place, but shallow enough your Persian should be able to easily get their kibble or wet food out. You could even use one for kibble, one for wet food, and another for water. These bowls are made from premium, food grade stoneware, not only making them durable but safe.

Ikea Ceramic Soap Dish

This classic looking white soap dish is probably the last thing you’d think of to use for your Persian cat to eat food from. However, these dishes are shallow, long, and wide enough for your flat-faced furry friend to use perfectly for their kibble or wet food. The raised ends should help with keeping food in the dish as your cat eats. Consider something like this dish for your Persian cat. A comment left in an earlier version of this article states that the person uses a soap dish for her cat and recommends other Persian parents use them as well.

Using Your Food Bowl at Home

Once you’ve selected the perfect food bowl for your Persian, there are a few other things to consider.

Location

Cats can be very particular about the location of their food and water bowls. They generally prefer that their food bowls aren’t placed too close to their litter trays (you wouldn’t want to eat by your toilet!), and they also like to eat in quieter areas of the home with less traffic.

If you have more than one cat, don’t place their bowls too close together – cats are instinctually solitary hunters and can get irritated when other cats eat too close to them.

Also, don’t locate your cat’s water bowl too close to their food bowl (or litter tray), as the water can become contaminated with food and odor that can put them off drinking. Also, if you’re worried your cat isn’t drinking enough, consider a pet water fountain, as cats love drinking from running water.

Hygiene

While most people remember to wash their cat’s bowl after each use if they eat wet food, the same is not always valid for dry food. Try to wash your cat’s dry food bowl daily, as dry cat food tends to be oily, so it can collect bacteria and start to smell.

Also, check your cat’s bowl regularly for scratches and chips that can harbor bacteria or hurt your cat’s mouth.

Interactive Eating

As Persians are primarily indoor cats due to their long hair, tranquil nature, and high value, they don’t get to exercise their hunting instincts as much as some other cats. With this in mind, consider an interactive cat feeder, like this Doc & Phoebe Interactive Indoor Hunting Cat Feeder. The feeder allows you to place five small meals inside individual ‘mice’ feeders for your cat to hunt in the home. Experts suggest that letting your cat simulate hunting reduces stress, and breaking your cat’s meal into five portions reduces instances of scarf and barf and the need for early wake-up feeding calls.

Final Thoughts

While your cat’s food bowl may seem like a simple choice that requires little thought, putting a little bit of extra thought and consideration into getting a bowl that suits their specific needs can make your cat healthier and happier.