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10 Best Slow Feeder Cat Bowls in 2024: Reviews & Top Picks
10 Best Slow Feeder Cat Bowls in 2024: Reviews & Top Picks
Alexander Ross••14 min read
Sometimes, cats simply eat too fast. In many situations, this can lead to overeating and vomiting. Obviously, this is a problem for both you and your cat. It isn’t healthy for your cat to vomit up their food, and you probably don’t want to repeatedly clean up cat vomit.
Fortunately, you can utilize slow feeder bowls to help prevent your feline from eating too fast. These bowls are designed to slow down your cat’s rate of consumption, usually by making the food harder to get to.
In this article, we developed reviews of the best slow feeder cat bowls to help you choose the right one for your feline.
A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024
The 10 Best Slow Cat Feeder Bowls
1. PetSafe Eatwell 5-Meal Automatic Cat Feeder – Best Overall
Capacity:
5 meals of 1 cup each
Material:
Plastic
The PetSafe Eatwell 5-Meal Automatic Cat Feeder works a bit differently than some other feeders. It works on a timer and can hold up to five different meals. The feeder will turn and give the cat access to more food according to the schedule that you set. Therefore, you can limit the amount of food that your cat has access to at any given time, so they can slow down their consumption.
Each meal is contained within a BPA-free, dishwasher-safe tray. Setting the time is quite easy with the LCD screen, and the feeder runs on 4 D-cell batteries. Therefore, you can place it anywhere without worrying about having access to an outlet.
In general, these batteries can last up to 12 months without needing to be changed.
BPA-free
Dishwasher-safe
Batteries last up to 12 months
Easy-to-set schedule
Trays don’t always spin
2. Frisco Melamine Slow Feed Cat Bowl — Best Value
Capacity:
5 cups
Material:
Melamine
The Frisco Melamine Slow Feed Cat Bowl is the best slow feeder cat bowl for the money. It has a fairly simple design that relies on ridges to slow down your cat’s overall food consumption. It’s made out of melamine, which may be useful for felines with allergies to plastic. It is one of the few hypoallergenic bowls on the market that can also work as a slow feeder.
That said, this bowl does have a limited capacity. You can purchase this bowl in bigger sizes, but you’re going to pay more for them.
Of course, many cats may not need a bowl with much capacity, especially if they have a problem with overeating.
This bowl is completely BPA-free. It’s also dishwasher-safe and non-skid.
If you have a bit more money to spend, the Frisco Silicone Slow Feeder Mat With Stainless Steel Bowl is a solid choice. It has both a food and water bowl. The food bowl has ridges to make the food a bit more difficult to get, slowing down your cat’s food consumption.
While this bowl is more expensive than some other options on the market, it does come with a water bowl. Therefore, you’re getting more for your money than if you were just purchasing a food bowl.
The bowls are built into a non-skid mat with raised edges, which helps protect the floor from messes. The stainless-steel water bowl is dishwasher safe, but the rest of the mat is not.
This bowl does have a bit more capacity than some other options, so it may be a better choice if your cat eats more.
Has a food and water bowl
Stainless-steel bowl
3-cup capacity
Non-skid mat
4. Neater Pets Adjustable Slow Feeder Double Diner – Best for Kittens
Capacity:
5 cups
Material:
Plastic
There are many reasons to like the Neater Pets Adjustable Non-skid Plastic Slow Feeder Double Diner. It is raised and has a place to put both your cat’s food and water, making it an all-in-one bowl for your cat. The ridges and bumps help prevent fast eating.
The height of the bowl is adjustable using the leg extensions. You can make it low enough for most cats, though some large cats may need it on a taller setting. Either way, adjusting the legs to meet your cat’s needs is easy and straightforward.
This bowl can hold 2.5 cups of food and 8.5 cups of water. The difference in capacity is due to the ridges in the food bowl, which are absent from the water bowl.
Can hold food and water
Adjustable height
Rounded peaks work with any face type
Holds 2.5 cups of food
5. Fluff Trough Binge Blocker Elevated Pet Slow Feeder
Capacity:
2 cups
Material:
Silicone, polypropylene
The Fluff Trough Binge Blocker Elevated Dog & Cat Slow Feeder is a great overall slow feeder cat bowl. It has a rather simple design that works quite well. The inside of the bowl is covered in ridges so your cat has to work to get into them. Therefore, it slows down your cat’s rate of consumption, preventing choking and vomiting.
While this bowl is designed specifically for cats with flat faces, it can be useful for any feline that needs to slow down their consumption rate.
The whole feeder is dishwasher safe and has non-slip feet that prevent it from sliding around as your pet eats. The back of the bowl is raised to prevent food from spilling out onto the floor.
With a modern design, this bowl should fit in with most home décor.
Dishwasher-safe
Modern design
Raised back to prevent spilling
Simple design
Non-slip feet
Not electronic or programmable
6. Hyper Pet IQ Calm Slow Feeder Cat Treat Mat
Capacity:
8 ounces
Material:
Plastic
The simple and easy Hyper Pet IQ Calm Slow Feeder Cat Treat Mat is a suitable option for those with pets that like to eat too fast. It has different textures that help with dental health and slow down your cat’s food intake.
This mat technically only works with pastes, like peanut butter, but it will also work with wet food. The textured mat makes it take much longer for your cat to lick the mat clean, which can help keep them busy and slow down their food consumption.
It is made with non-toxic, FDA-grade TPE. Each tray is also dishwasher safe, though you may need to wash them by hand to actually get them clean.
Improves dental health
Made with non-toxic TPE
Works with wet food
Doesn’t work with kibble
7. Aquapaw Slow Treater Silicone Lick Mat
Capacity:
5 ounces
Material:
Silicone
The Aquapaw Slow Treater Silicone Lick Mat is designed for treats like peanut butter, but it may also be useful for wet food. The small ridges grip the wet food and prevent it from being licked off easily. Therefore, it can slow down your cat’s consumption.
This mat is made with 100% silicone and is completely dishwasher safe. However, the ridges do a good job of holding onto the food, so it may need to be hand-washed to really get it clean.
You can use this mat for pets of all sizes, though it does not work with kibble or other dry foods. It will keep your cat entertained for quite a while, which is great if you have a more intelligent cat that needs entertainment.
100% silicone
Dishwasher safe
Small ridges to slow down eating
Doesn’t work with kibble
Doesn’t suction well
8. Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Cat Feeder
Capacity:
Not listed
Material:
Plastic
The Catit Senses 2.0 Food Tree Cat Feeder is easily one of the more unique options out there. Instead of just slowing down your cat’s eating, it turns mealtime into a game of sorts, enabling your cat to fulfill their hunting instincts while they eat.
It can be rotated to three different settings for different-sized kibble and works for wet food. No matter how well your cat actually does in the “game,” the food ends up in the non-spill dish below. Therefore, your cat will always get their food, and you won’t have to deal with much cleanup.
This dish is quite difficult to fill, though. Some of the food will always fall out, allowing your cat to gobble it up right away. That said, it depends on the cat. Some cats won’t knock the food down or even interact with the feeder.
If you want a fancy slow feeder, take a look at the PetSafe Healthy Pet Simply Feed Programmable Cat Feeder. While this feeder does come with plenty of extra features that you won’t find anywhere else, it is also one of the most expensive options on the market.
The base of the feeder has a 24-cup capacity. You program the feeder to dispense a certain amount of food at a certain time. You can let it dispense only a small amount of food at a time, so you can reduce the amount of food that your cat has access to.
This product even has slow-feeder options, which slowly dispenses the food for the meal over the next 15-minute period. For cats that tend to overeat, this feeder is probably one of the better options — if you’re willing to pay for it.
Slow-feeder option
24-cup capacity
Completely programable
Extremely expensive
Inconsistent food release amounts
10. Catit Senses 2.0 Cat Digger Slow Feeder
Capacity:
N/A
Material:
Plastic
The Catit Senses 2.0 Cat Digger Slow Feeder is designed to be a slow feeder and a puzzle feeder all in one. It comes with five different tubes that you can fill with food. The cat then has to scoop this food out with their paw, which can take a while. Therefore, it will prevent issues commonly associated with eating too quickly.
The surface’s slopped design prevents slippage and helps collect stray pellets that your cat misses.
That said, this feeder is extremely slow, perhaps too slow for some felines. In this case, it may not be great for feeding a whole meal.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.