# Cats make excessive mess when eating wet food.



## Auroraei (Jun 18, 2013)

Is this normal?!

I mean every feeding, they get wet food flung all over the place, the floor, the walls, ect.....then it dries and is hard to remove.

Is there a bowl that prevents messes or something? They are each using one of these: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41TAlNrVUVL.jpg


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I don't have this problem with Book. He's a pretty clean eater.

MowMow is a pig. He gets food EVERYWHERE! He always has. I feed him on a placemat on the counter so I can just go over the whole area(counter around the placemat AND the placemat itself) with a disinfecting wipe when he's done.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Is the dish only big enough to fit the food in? It might make it difficult for the cat to eat around... but that's just a guess.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

Normal? I'm not sure if it's normal, but Galileo always gets food all over the floor all around his plate. It's partly a result of shoveling the food across the plate with his mouth until it falls off the other side, and partly because he doesn't seem to have mastered how to chew without having food drop out of his mouth between bites. I wonder if they make bibs for kitties.

Choco-cat, my foster, makes a mess with certain kinds of wet food too, also because she laps at it until it falls off the far side of the plate. She doesn't always get food all over the floor, but when she does, it's usually a food that she isn't as keen on--she seems to take big bites when I've given her a food that she really likes, and do more licking when she isn't as enthused.


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

My girls are pretty good MOST of the time.
When it's something that isn't that interesting it seems that pieces end up on the floor, wall, placemat, etc. But noting rediculous, just some pieces.

Sadie is the one most likely since she likes to eat very fast and ALWAYS has to look over at Belle to see how much she has left. So when she lifts her head with a mouthful to have a look at Belle's bowl, usually bits fall out of her mouth and hit the floor.

Years ago, my oldest use to have a stray "friend" that she would hang out with and share her food with. We called him Fat Cat, he was HUGE, tall and big boned. Anyway, when he would come in to partake of B.B.'s offerings it was as if he took a running start and ploughed through the bowl of food! There would be food all over the place!
B.B. loved having Fat Cat clean up all the food she wasn't so keen on. For years this went on. She would invite him in when we left LOL <eye roll> He was her little friend and she took good care of him lol She doesn't tolerate ANY cat in her territory, ever... the only exception ever was Fat Cat, the messy eater!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

cat face said:


> So when she lifts her head with a mouthful to have a look at Belle's bowl, usually bits fall out of her mouth and hit the floor.


I SUSPECT a similar problem with MowMOw. He's always looking around to make sure Book isn't going to attack while he's eating... despite the fact that Book has ALWAYS eaten locked up in another room. 

MowMow gets very nervous when he eats and drinks. ALways stop to make sure he's safe.


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## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

Neither of my cats are messy eaters, I'm happy to say. They may get small bits of food around the immediate area of the bowl or on the mat, but they don't track it to the rest of the house. I have more than enough other mess to deal with without having to add food bits to the list


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## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

Kittens always make such a huge mess! I've tried bowls (like the ones you listed), plates, shallow tupperware dishes, etc., but they still make a mess.  I use the large plastic food mats, then wash them off after meals with kittens.


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## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

MowMow said:


> MowMow gets very nervous when he eats and drinks. ALways stop to make sure he's safe.


My cats do this to, but not because of each other. I'm guessing mine are living by some kind of a feline honour code where they agree to no surprise attacks between them while feeding (they'll swap food bowls several times during a meal, but there is no aggression). 

What they're wary of is the slightest little sound, even ones they're otherwise accustomed to hearing. A car passes by, people conversing outside on the sidewalk, the furnace turns on, etc... They'll freeze, look behind them (like someone's going to suddenly appear and steal their food), make sure it's all clear, then resume eating.


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

I have one out of my seven, that loves to make a mess!
Skittles is 'gasp' a double dipper!!
I plan on getting a video of it, 
it does make me laugh tho, to watch her reach into the bowl and then to her mouth, to lick her paw...
and then repeat the whole process over again...
Skittles will not be going to any parties soon!!


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## artiesmom (Jul 4, 2012)

Artie is a very messy eater! I have a place mat which I was constantly cleaning. 
Now I just clean it once or twice a day.
When he was having dry food, he would put his paw in the plate and throw the kibble, one at a time on the place mat and eat it from there!!!!

Pumpkin, on the other hand was a very clean eater, compared to Artie..

I think it just adds to their character! :catmilk


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

tezster said:


> What they're wary of is the slightest little sound, even ones they're otherwise accustomed to hearing. A car passes by, people conversing outside on the sidewalk, the furnace turns on, etc... They'll freeze, look behind them (like someone's going to suddenly appear and steal their food), make sure it's all clear, then resume eating.


This. I keep reminding MowMOw that he's not a wild lion at a watering hole on the Serengeti.. that nothing is going to ambush him, but he doesn't believe me I guess.

I always figure it was leftover from him being a stray at some point and learning to be careful while he eats, but it sounds like it's just some inherent knowledge to be cautions during a vulnerable time.

Book is the opposite, his sole concentration in eating is to shovel as much as possible into his mouth in the shortest amount of time. He's not afraid of being ambushed, he's afraid someone/something is going to sneak in and eat his foods.... which makes sense since he was the smallest kitten in his litter and sickly for a long time. He was probably used ot the bigger kittens shoving him out of the way.


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

ET is not exactly a messy eater, but when I find ants in his room, I had always thought it was some lizard/cockroach carcasses until one fine day I followed the ants trail and found food bits. I decided to watch ET eat and discovered his eating habit. Bits of food got stuck on his nose, whiskers, mouth and when he lift his head, the food pieces falls onto the floor, or when he shakes his head, the food got flung elsewhere in the room. He has the habit of picking up the food in his bowl, placing them on the floor and then eating from the floor, thank goodness he doesn't do it all the time and whenever he does that, he actually will lick up all the food bits on the floor, but he won't pick up or lick up whatever food bits that dropped off from his mouth. 

So, that explains the ants invasion. I have since checked the floor after every meal and clean up immediately.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I do think it's normal for some cats. I had cats that would be very picky about food that fell on the floor they would clean it up then go back to the bowl. This current crop of cats are all little piggies and food gets everywhere! Everyday I have to sweep and mop. It's mostly my fault because I don't contain the bowls to one small area but scatter them over the floor to give space between each cat while they are eating. With 5 cats to feed, I have to maintain about 18" between the bowls or nerves get stretched.


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## thch8 (Aug 7, 2013)

yes, I'm encountering this 'issue' as well.
Personally, in the words of Homer Simpson "Are we so vain!?" *when Marge asks them to clean the house* I have no problem cleaning up after Sunny.
However, I live with my parents and they are beside themselves with Sunny's mess. They refuse to feed her wet food when I'm not home because of the mess and they keep giving her dry food. It's ridiculous.

I was thinking about a type of bowl...Products | WuvLuv.com 
I'd like to order it, but it's gonna be around $60 with shipping. However, if it helps my smooshy faced cat, then maybe it's worth it. I think this bowl may help with her messy eating, because as some have already mentioned, part of the mess is them pushing the food to the edge of the bowl. This bowl's design perhaps eliminates that problem.


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

*thch8* - if it's a bowl for a smooshy face cat your looking for, we have these:Amazon.com: Savic Whisker Bowl which get great reviews over here.
Here's the link to the UK Amazon, so you can look at some of the reviews. 



Even with the shipping, going through Amazon it's no where near the cost of the other bowl you were looking at.
Anyway, the "smooshy face" thing made me think of this so I thought I'd pass along the info


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## NOLAKitties (May 30, 2013)

Angelo is a messy eater. Ponyo is the clean one. They use flat small plates, old ones from Corelle. I read that using flat dish is better for cats because their super sensitive long whiskers can't touch the sides. Besides, Angelo's head is so big, he can't fit his head in a small bowl. 
They are using place mats underneath their plates to contain the mess. Place mats can be washed quickly in the sink then wiped dry.


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## thch8 (Aug 7, 2013)

cat face said:


> *thch8* - if it's a bowl for a smooshy face cat your looking for, we have these:Amazon.com: Savic Whisker Bowl which get great reviews over here.
> Here's the link to the UK Amazon, so you can look at some of the reviews. UK Savic Whisker Bowl
> Even with the shipping, going through Amazon it's no where near the cost of the other bowl you were looking at.
> Anyway, the "smooshy face" thing made me think of this so I thought I'd pass along the info


This is a really cool idea. Reading the UK reviews, I never realized that little kitty's whiskers could get irritated with the wrong type of bowl. I feel terrible.

See, I always thought I needed a bowl that was tilted downward to keep the wet food falling down for smooshy faces.
I will see about trying out the savic bowl first. Maybe they might even have them here in N.America for me to order. If not, I'd be happy to order from the UK (if they ship).
Thanks for the tip!


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

The first link that says, "Amazon.com: Savic Whisker Bowl" is the link for the US to order it through Amazon.

The second link was just so you could read the reviews.

Hope it works out


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## Auroraei (Jun 18, 2013)

I think it was the food type. They were eating pate. I think that makes a bigger mess. I'm having them try a new food thats in chunks and so far there is no mess!


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