Don't use plastic food/water bowls for cats & dogs!

Stainz

Stainz

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I guess it's the plasticizer causing a contact dermatitus. My vet said our cat's raw chin, termed 'chin acne', is a result of plastic dishes - and stress. The cure is simple - use SS or porcelain - and wash & rinse regularly. It would be hard to reduce the stress our mature inside-only cats experience in a day... deciding which window to sun in, or curtain to shred... decisions. We do have a small cat - the kitten I got last Christmas - who still aggravates everyone. Well, we went to SS - like my S&W revolvers - we'll see what happens.

Stainz
 
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I had the same problem on my boxer pup. I received the same advice, and changed over to stailness bowls. The chin acne went away in a couple of weeks after I changed bowls.
 
Interesting, another discovery that creates problems, thanks to a modern world?

Even Euell Gibbons eventually passed on and all he ate was twigs, roots, nuts and grasses!
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Interesting. We've had cats for years, eating out of plastic bowls much of the time, and never seen it.
 
Very timely post. We just took our sheltie to the vet about a week ago and one of the problems he had was hair thinning around his muzzle. What you said above is exactly what the vet said. I had never heard of it before but we immediatly replaced his feeding bowl with stainless steel. There must be something to it.

Roger
 
Is this the plastic leeching into the food/water, and being ingested, so poisoning the animal?

Or is this a contact thing, from the chin/muzzle rubbing against the food dish?
 
Wow. Here I thought it was OK, too. The ugly blue plastic bowl that has been on the kitchen floor full of water for the last 19 years (I can time it because it was early June of 1990 when we got a wiggling little puppy) might be hurting the flock of cats! If they don't like it, they can still drink from the toilet (the contortions they get into is fun to watch.) Or as one of my wifes cats prefers, sitting in the kitchen sink waiting for a droplet to come out of the faucet every 30 seconds or so.

You'd think some enterprising lawyer would have sued their pants off by now, marketing some terrible plastic product as a pet bowl. On trips, I took another approach. While in Tin Cup, Colorado, I bought a genuine tin plated cup to feed the pooch out of. He didn't care, all he wanted was water. Then along the line I picked up a sterling bowl at a yard sale. Genuine silver!
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It was small, about the size of a soup bowl. It then traveled in the jeep to water Ole Spot. He didn't seem to notice or mind luxury or plastic. He had no class. It was the water he wanted. He didn't care about the delivery mode. He'd have quenched his thirst from a stream and been just as happy.
 
My dog has always preferred Waterford crystal and chinaware.

He has disdain for my blue plastic drinking cup.
 
Erich,

Is Sipowicz yet another drug on the market? What are its side effects?
 
Is this the plastic leeching into the food/water, and being ingested, so poisoning the animal?

Or is this a contact thing, from the chin/muzzle rubbing against the food dish?
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IIRC, Phenol is put into some plastics in very small quantities to make the plastic less brittle. Phenol is a benzene ring compound and cats DO NOT get along well with those compounds. Some dogs can also be sensitive but usually not as sensitive as cats. Also never put paint remover(Xylene) on a cat to remove paint. Cut the hair off instead. And of course, Tylenol (Acetaminophen) is never to be given to a cat.
 
Ever put a pen in your mouth or some other piece of plastic and had it burn your lips???

I sure have. I think it's the same thing.

We use stainless steel food and water bowls for the dogs and cats and un treated wood for livestock.

Nice thing about stainless just throw it in the dishwasher once a week and it's nice and shiny and clean.

RWT
 
I've always hear that as well, but never really thought about it as I've always used stainless food/water bowls for the dogs. That said, both of our mastiff's have issues with chin acne and every mastiff I've ever had has had the same problem. Stainless bowls may reduce it, but it certainly doesn't eliminate it.

Yep, the dishwasher thing is a nice plus!
 
We use ceramic bowls, but the Big Siamese had chin acne, hard to believe it was stress, things generally go his way. Doc says wash his chin with germicidal soap.
You want to see stress, try hanging on to a 16 ½ lb healthy muscular cat while you lather his chin with smelly soap. Then try to catch him to do it again.

Turns out that it was hormone changes from neutering, sort of the reverse of teenage humans, he is a retired stud cat. Only lasted for a month.
 
Excellent tip on plastic and cats.

Bird owners, never use teflon pans to cook with if birds are nearby.
 
We have one of those Drinkwell water fountains. One of our cats, Isabella, likes to play in it. She wets her paw and then licks it off. She also sometimes wets her paw and washes behind her ears. She drinks out of the toilet too. Our Ginger Tabby Simba has kitty acne. The vet said use stridex medicated pads to clean his chin. He doesn't mind it too much, he is a big baby.
 
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