Food Bowl Advice...please

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

If I recall (and its been a while!), they charge you that fee and you only pay for the dish you want to paint. You use any paint, tools etc you want and for as long as you want during that time. The fee includes glazing and I assume labour. The price hasn't changed much in 6 years though. I did mine about 7 or 8 years ago and it was roughly £4 a day then.

Yes expensive BUT I landed up painting some lovely new mugs and a large centerpiece platter that I still use today.  And its a great way of making personalised gifts for friends and family, since you can sign them on the bottom.

I tallied up what I would spend at John Lewis or the like for the same kind of stuff and went with the paint my own stuff way! 

Saying that I think Lexy has a need for a new water bowl for the living room 

[chaotic_kittyuk]

If there is an Art 4 Fun store or Colour MeMine nearby they have unglazed ceramic cat dishes as part of their range. You can go in and personalise them youself

ohhh, cheers for the idea, these look really cool, only downside, could get quite expensive, lol.
It mentions: Our Studio Fee is just £5.95 per person for a days painting. is this on top of what ever items you buy to paint...either way i def like this idea, for so many diff reasons, ohh birthday n' christmas pressies...oh oh, very expensive indeed.

Thanks again

Rina

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

If there is an Art 4 Fun store or Colour MeMine nearby they have unglazed ceramic cat dishes as part of their range. You can go in and personalise them youself and they will glaze it for you. In a couple days you go back and collect. I made one for my sisters cat that lasted years. Its personal great for keeping water cool and food fresh.

[Team Svartalfheims]

I think and not the think LOL, that a ceramic bowl will stand the freezing as long as the water has room to expand, so do not fill the bowls completely, always leave an inch at top.

I'll get a cheap one to try then Gill, thanks 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think and not the think LOL, that a ceramic bowl will stand the freezing as long as the water has room to expand, so do not fill the bowls completely, always leave an inch at top.

I use the deep ceral bowls that you can buy cheap from Ikea and places, they can be used in micro wave or in dishwasher.

Mine only got chipped when I knocked stuff off counter onto them!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I catch fingers on stuff cos some fingers dont bend 

[Beanie]

I honestly don't know. I can see where you atre coming from given your geopgraphical location!

I know it is not the answer that you want but they are thick and when Barney knocks one off a shelf or similar they don't shatter into numerous fragments suggesting that they are well constructed. I am sure that Purrsonal Touch would be able to tell you,

[Team Svartalfheims]

P.S. I like the oval dishes named Tiny Paws. See weblink below.

Aww that dish is really cute 

Does anyone know how easily ceramic bowls will crack as I wasn't sure if a ceramic bowl would withstand water expanding as it freezes.

[Beanie]

P.S. I like the oval dishes named Tiny Paws. See weblink below.

[Beanie]

I get mine from Purrsonal Touch. They are at all the shows and their mail order service and friendly approach is excellent.

http://www.purrsonaltouch.com/fslibrary2a2.htm

Like Mark, I also recall somebody recommending Wilkinsons for ceramic bowls. I checked our local branch recently but couldn't find any. However, I didn't ask. Typical male 

[Team Svartalfheims]

I use stainless steel bowls most of the time but they have some plastic bowls for when it's cold outside as cold weather and stainless steel food and water bowls are not a good combo (the water freezes quicker in metal bowls outside and I worry about their tongues getting stuck to the metal! )

[Team Svartalfheims]

I am lusting over the Alessi cat bowls...

http://www.alessi.com/catalogo/oggetto/Tigrito/cat+bowl/1886/3599/

Oooo yes those bowls are gorgeous but very impractical. I saw them in a shop and I'd have to refill them millions of times each day.

[chaotic_kittyuk]

Hiya, Thanks for the advice, i'll go check Wilkinsons, might also find a new bed and some of that feliway spray stuff...

[Mark]

I bought some metal bowls recently but thought they are stainless steel, not aluminium. Hopefully they are, otherwise I will stop using them. I know when I was looking into binders, one website said that alucaps could cause memory  loss due to Aluminium content - so they recommended remegel (sp). I'm confused about these bowls now.

PS - I read on Catchat a while back that basic ceramic dishes are cheapest in Wilkinsons.

PPS - I bough some Armitages plastic so called "kitten bowls" - which are verging on dog-bowl size for 39p each . I always wash cat dishes in the dishwasher so hopefully that should kills all the germs?

[Desley (booktigger)]

i use ceramic bowls, some of mine have come from Asda, the others from charity shops.

[chaotic_kittyuk]

Hiya, Basically I've got a new cat coming in a couple of weeks and as I also don't like plastic/aluminium bowls, pretty much for the same reasons you stated plus i've just got a magnetic catflap.
I decided to look on ebay for some new matching feeding dishes, which match or are as simiilar as poss to the one Slinki already uses...anyway the ceramic ones i liked were all over priced in my opinion or not sturdy, safe etc ...so i thought rather than buy new ones and pay to have them personalised so they are both cute and have their own names etc on, why not do it myself which makes it more personal to us/them...they prob wouldn't even notice, lol so i want to have their names on, or something like meow, purr etc or maybe a cute kitty design.

The safety and practicality issue is topmost, but it doesn't hurt to have them also look nice in my kitchen and original.

 

[Beanie]

I'm a bit confused.  What do you mean by decorate? I assume that you mean with food.

Fancy cute looking bowls are fine providing you look at it from the cats point of view and not simply yours. I would suggest that you put practicality and safety first and cosmetic appeal a firm second.

Personally I don't like aluminum/metal and, especially, plastic. My reasons? plastic can harbour all sorts of germs when scratched and I don't like aluminum for humans let alone animals because there is a possible link to Alzheimer's Disease which is being researched. Ceramic bowls scrub up more easily and chips are more easy to detect.

How many? We have 4 dishes per cat which at first glance is a bit excessive I grant you. However, we have a one feline walking demolition unit called Barney who manages to break quite a few.    Under normal circumstances I don't think that 2 per cat is unreasonable. Ideally, Nobody wants to put out food in dirty bowls, especially in summer with flies bringing germs, etc.

We also take our cats' hygiene as seriously as our own with Hibiscrub around the house mainly because of Beanie's medical condition.

[chaotic_kittyuk]

Hi, i make sure there's always some dry food down as well as a bowl of wet.

aww the kitty ones are soooooo cute.

[Beccles]

Do you free-feed dry or is it a meal?

If it's down all the time then one biggish bowl should be fine.

I am lusting over the Alessi cat bowls...

http://www.alessi.com/catalogo/oggetto/Tigrito/cat+bowl/1886/3599/

[chaotic_kittyuk]

 
Hi all, Just thought i'd ask your advice...I want to get some plain ceramic food/water bowls for my cats  and decorate them for crimble  :xmas 4:
but I'm unsure what is best to use, esp in terms of safety and general use n' washing etc.

All advice would be appreciated, also any original ideas where i can buy these bowls cheaply ...I want them to be the same size...also how many do you think i need for 2 cats...1 wet food each with 1 dry food and water sharing or perhaps 1 wet and 1 dry each and sharing 1 water...hmmm,

 

 :catplay: