Cat's messy feeding habits

[ChubbyCat]

Ok not the worst problem in the world but one of my cats is a really messy eater. She takes food from her bowl and eats it on the kitchen floor. I then have crumbs and yucky wet food on the floor all the time. I have put a plastic mat under her bowl but she just drags it to the floor.

Any suggestions or special bowls to try? Just tired of scrubbing the floor and getting cat food stuck on my socks.

Mine does this with his wet food.

I just accept it - he only gets it twice a day and is finished in five minutes - so the bowl gets removed and I just clean the area around where he eats.

He only gets fed on the floor though.

Hmmm wonder if stricter feeding times would help.. mine usually take their time, chubby cat (the messy eater) may just have a few bites and come back to it later. Therefore we usually have the bowl down for like an hour in the morning and another in the evening, plenty of time to make q mess I suppose. She also tries to steal skinny cat's kitten food whenever she can and make a mess with that too.

It may be that the bowl is too small and that your cat does not like the feel of her whiskers touching the bowl.

You can try a saucer, rather than a bowl, and putting the saucer on a large plastic tray that you can wipe down with a damp cloth. That's what I've always done.

Magic does that. But fortunately it's with dry food!

We found a tilted feeding bowl has cut down on the mess and the cats seem to like it.

Excellent thank you, will try a saucer/plate and if that fails will look into tilted bowls.

I don't mind when she does it with her dry food as I can just hoover it up, but the wet food is another thing, it really gets stuck to the floor if I don't wipe it before it dries up and just spreads everywhere if you (or the kids) step in it.

Oo yes. To the tilted bowl. I've got one and it's brilliant. It's also massively cut down cheddar's vomiting.

Mine is messy, couple of things you can try
Feeding off a plastic tray, the type with raised edges. Can't think of the material but the type your gran would carry mugs of tea on
Melamine! That's the one
I use a giant flat pasta type bowl, this one. It's huge but very wide and flat

@NotMyCat

Mine is messy, couple of things you can try Feeding off a plastic tray, the type with raised edges. Can't think of the material but the type your gran would carry mugs of tea on Melamine! That's the one I use a giant flat pasta type bowl, this one. It's huge but very wide and flat

That's the kind of tray I was trying - and failing - to describe.

Thank you!

FattyCat does this in phases. I cannot spot the trigger. So when he's in a messy eating phase I put his bowl on a couple of sheets of newspaper. Makes cleaning up a doddle.

Mine does the same,flat saucers help a bit but I just give up and clean up after him.

Try not having a bowl. Sheets of newspaper. Or one of those plastic under baby high chair mats.
My old boy 'ain't got no teef', so I tried giant dog size plastic bowl, all the spillage stays in the bowl. I have had the best success with newspaper. Quick and easy to clean up after.
My sympathies op, it is grim, add in summer flies, well, not nice. You have hit upon one idea though, shorten the time wet food is available.

Thanks everyone!

I have used Nuby baby weaning plates. They stick to the floor so more difficult to knock and have a large lip round them.