I’m clearly a pig for washing dogs bowls in the dishwasher

[Coolingdown]

My SIL has just expressed absolute shock and disgust at the fact I use ordinary China bowls for the pets that we also use) and put them in the dishwasher afterwards? Maybe I’m missing the point but they are WASHED thoroughly?? AIBU??

Using the same bowls, absolutely not. Washing the bowls in the dishwasher, no problem!

Our pets have their own bowls and their own dish Marci that is only used to clean them. Putting them in the dishwasher is 🤢.

Seriously, if living with cats and dogs is good for your microbiome and your immune system, why do people persist in claiming that it's filthy and unhygienic and 'gross'? It's just not correct. Your 'ick' feelings are not a proportionate reaction to actual risks, they are just learned overreactions of disgust to perfectly normal interactions with the world around us, which is not meant to be sterile.

Ridiculous! My dog acts as the pre-wash before anything goes in dishwasher! SIL sounds like an annoying hygiene freak!

My dog will polish off any gravy etc left on our dinner plates, and they just go in the dishwasher with everything else. His own bowls also go in there. I've no issue with it.
He accidentally pee'd on his raincoat during the winter. It went in the washing machine with our stuff. No big deal. He's our clean, healthy, beloved family pet, not a plague-ridden street-dwelling flea-covered animal.

I thought dishwashers worked like this...

@MonumentalLentil I apologise for laughing.

Pets should always have their own bowls, and utensils for serving their food.

Our cats have their own bowls but they go in the dishwasher with other dishes.

MN is an always a good reminder that you should refrain from eating food prepared by other people whose domestic hygiene standards you do not know about.

ICk, no. But then we don’t eat meat in this house so it’s extra gross to have any meat involved.

Yes. That’s why the sil is so upset. She realises she had been eating off dog bowls and plates when at OP’s house.

My dog would quite gladly do this 😂

I was just going to say that,loading the dishwasher recently, I caught the dog helping by licking the plates as I stacked them. Sadly someone has beaten me to it!

I have put my cats’ bowls in the dishwasher with mine for the last forty years. Still waiting for any problem to appear.

Do you eat out of the cats bowl though? Or give it to your SIL? Because that’s what OP does.

I think most people haven’t had a problem with putting separate bowls in the dishwasher, provided they are scraped clean and in a hot cycle. But do you really eat out of your animal’s bowl?

I would have no qualms about eating out of Madam’s bowl, user, and have very occasionally done so when she has a clean one spare and I’ve forgotten to wash up my favourite porridge bowl of similar size!
It is really just an emotional response of “yuk”, rather than any logical objection on grounds of hygiene, that PPs are expressing.

It’s the thought of them licking their balls & arses, then having the tongue round the bowl. But if you don’t mind then carry on. Although it doesn’t make up for being covered in dog hair or smelling of dog.

I've never been called batshit before, that I can remember. 😔

I'm just parroting something that I read years ago in a newspaper article about dishwashers - it was basically saying that they can be pretty disgusting.

But I admit I normally use the quick wash, which is probably not the hottest. Logically it's probably OK to put dog bowls in if you use a 70 degree wash, I suppose.

@Pocketfullofdogtreats

Apologies for being rude. I meant batshit in a fun kind of way. Like someone being bonkers or a bit of a doozy. Several of my friends are a bit batshit with some of their weird hang ups about stuff. A friend who wears jeans and washes them after one wear, that sort of thing. 😂

A short quick wash in a dishwasher is really only for things that don't need a proper full hot wash. So things like a mug and side plate used for tea and a sandwich, etc. Although, I'd usually wash them by hand during the day.

Anything that's had raw or cooked meat on definitely needs a proper hot wash. I often use the eco mode on mine at night because it heats up to a high temperature and takes a long time to wash everything very thoroughly.

I do put the cat and dog bowls in it as well as knives used for chopping up their food. They're not fed raw mice, after all. The dog's food (beef or chicken and veg) is cooked 3 times a week in the Pressure cooker so the pan sometimes gets put in the dishwasher, although I tend to wash the pan in the sink most of the time.

I wouldn't put the chicken feeders in the dishwasher unless I was feeling very unwell and there was nothing else going in there. Although I'd hope that someone else would take over caring for all the animals in that case. 😂

Thank you. I don't mind being batshit if it means fun 😊. You don't sound like a pig, and an awful lot of MNers agree with you. You explain it very well. I don't think I have Dishy (yes, that's his name) on a high enough temperature. Every day's a learning day!

My pets have their own bowls and they get hand washed in the bathroom sink

But surely humans also lick each others body parts?

Why is washing in a bathroom sink any more hygienic than putting in a locked up washing vessel that basically disinfects everything?

Speak for yourself!