5 Reasons For an Elevated Feeding Station

5 Good Reasons to have an elevated feeding station:

      1. Arthritis

     2. Convenience

     3. Blindness

     4. Cat anxiety

     5. Monitoring water and food consumption

There was a time I had water and food set wherever it was convenient for me. No cat complaints and life was harmonious with my happy cat family.

For 10 years I had an indoor/outdoor cat. His food and water supply was put in the garage. He was okay with that and so was I. He was fed dry cat food and plenty was put out for him. He also was happy to have a share of what we might be consuming. A hardy cat with no dietary issues.

Then along came Siamese indoor only cats. A fairly hardy stock, as they were not registered. Over the years we migrated to purebred Siamese. With it came princesses that had more dietary needs.

Finely had to give up plastic bowls and used my Corelle bowls. Chin acne was solved by tossing out the plastic. The water bowl was convenient for them and me to have on the table. Placing on the floor in my small kitchen was a disaster. Constantly kicking or stepping on the bowl. I think I might have placed the dry cat food in bowls in another room. That was many years ago and a lot has changed since then.

But the big change took place when Maggie started losing her sight. She could no longer jump on the chair that took her to the water. No more taking the leap to the kitchen sink. At least now my paper towels were safe from being strewn all over the kitchen floor, with bite marks. Even my mail was safe. She didn’t feel safe to land on the coffee table to lick the mail. She seemed obsessed with paper. Didn’t have to hide paper anymore.

For Maggie we created the feeding station above. Food on one side and water on the other. Always in the same place for each. We placed the feeding station beside the doorway to the living room and the hallway. A perfect little area that wasn’t in the way. It kept the bowls together. The other reason this was built for her, was that she had developed arthritis and not bending to floor level to eat and drink helped make her life a bit more comfortable.

Her blindness progressed rapidly. And her world became very small. Round and round in circles to get her baring as to where she was, it seemed only right to make eating easy for her to find.

Molly enjoyed the elevated bowls. Having a feeding station for your cats is a great idea.

Feeding Station Placement:

Where you place it depends on a number of things.

     – Is it convenient for you to change the water frequently and monitor it.

     – Is it out of a high traffic area.

     – Is your cat comfortable there or are they constantly anxious.

     – Is it away from other animals (such as dogs).

     – Do they have to compete with other cats for their food.

Lily and Lucy don’t eat dry cat food. Well, they are tricked into doing so. It has to be mixed with water and other wet cat food. So I feed them each separately 3 times a day. But the water bowl is placed in one of the holes. The feeding station is placed in the kitchen by a cupboard. Close to the kitchen sink. Every morning they get a clean bowl of water. It is close enough to the sink and we monitor it throughout the day. If it needs to be re-filled, if bugs are floating on the surface or they manage to drop a toy in the water, we fix the problem.

Lucy did attempt to eat some dry cat food one time. So I thought maybe I will just put some in a bowl and place on the stand. Only to wake up in the morning to a bunch of tiny ants swarming the bowl. And a bewildered Lucy staring at what had happened to her cat food. Abandoned that last ditch effort to supplement daily feedings with a dry food at their disposal.

Only the water bowl is in the stand now. Lily stands on the floor and drinks out of the bowl. Lucy jumps on the stand and drinks from the bowl. Silly girl.

How to build a feeding station:

The feeding stand size was determined by the needs for Maggie and my bowl size. It is made out of 3/4″ plywood, beefy enough to not be easily kicked and spilling contents. Measures 15″ long X 8″ wide X 3 1/2″ high. Two circular holes were cut in the top, just large enough to hold the bowls about half way up, to make it easier to remove. If they were to go down further then we would have had to make the sides higher. Attached with 4 long deck screws to give it support.

Look for alternatives to building your own feeding station.