Quite a lot of cats spill water out of their water bowls. It’s a common issue amongst cat owners that isn’t often discussed, in my opinion, mostly because it’s not such an enormous or agitating problem in comparison to a lot of other, more pressing issues we cat owners frequently have to deal with.
Cat waking you up earlier and earlier with meows every morning, or even meowing into the wee hours of the night? That’s a harder problem to have to live with, considering it really impacts your sleep as a pet parent.
But back to the water spilling, because while it’s not the most pressing issue or much of a big deal most times, it is a pretty simple thing to address with the right water bowl.
If your cat is splashing rather than really spilling water, and it isn’t too big a deal to you, but you’d like to protect, say, hardwood floors or carpeting from the spillage, you may want to look into these food-grade pet place mats instead of no spill cat water bowls.
Either way you go, considering how easy a fix there typically is, and how low-cost these items are, there isn’t much point ignoring the problem of water spilling, especially if an adult kitty is the one doing the splashing, rather than a kitten who may still grow out of the behaviour.
Corelle Livingware 28 Ounce Super Soup Cereal Bowl – Amazon / eBay
Why do cats spill water out of bowls? There are actually a lot more reasons than you might expect.
Sometimes, cats are playful and find their water bowl a splashy source of entertainment. Other times, cats simply like to make water ripple before taking a sip.
Some cats will even try to topple over their bowls for one reason or another, causing an enormous mess and making it difficult to say whether your cat will become dehydrated if left for many hours on a hot day – what if your cat just so happened to spill the water bowl over early and needed water in a few hours?
It seems to me that most cats typically spill or splash out water for one reason or another.
My cat Avery likes to make his water ripple before he drinks – I doubt he will ever begin to spill water from his bowl for any other reason.
Other cats, who spill water because they find their bowls fun to play with, I doubt will begin to splash water for any other reason as well.
So figuring out why your particular cat seems to be spilling water is a good thing to do, and in my opinion, really goes a long way in helping you determine which type of no spill pet bowl you will end up going for.
If your cat likes splashing but never turns over his or her bowl, for instance, you won’t necessarily need something heavy and/or weighted. Something light, but that will keep water in should suffice.
If you have a cat who likes to ripple water before drinking like I do, there may be a chance a water fountain that constantly has water rippling and flowing will suit your cat’s needs better than a no spill cat bowl.
Luckily, there are a lot of options. I will try to go over as many of the types of options you have as I can in this article, as well as a description of when I think those particular no spill water bowl options would work best for cats.
Do let me know in the comments if you have a kitty who spills water for a reason I didn’t describe yet, and what your thoughts are on ways to remedy the spillage issue. Without further ado!
Catit Design Senses Food Maze – Amazon / Chewy
No Spill Water Bowls for Cats: From Non-Slip Feeding Stations to Heavy Ceramic Dishes
1. Petmate No Spill Bowl
If your cat doesn’t do a lot of splashing, and more or less does a lot of toppling over of his or her cat bowl, you may want to entertain this no spill pet bowl.
It’s got a lip over the majority of the bowl to prevent water from easily spilling out.
That being said, it is quite light, which isn’t ideal, and thus you may want to use this hack to weigh it down if your cat really likes to whack his or her water dish until it’s spilled everywhere.
It seems to work well for a lot of pet parents, and really poorly for others, so be aware of this before you commit.
One alternative you may want to check out: the Pet Supply Imports Anti-Splash Waterhole Dog and Cat Bowl.
2. URPOWER Dog Bowls Stainless Steel Dog Bowl with No Spill Non-Skid Silicone Mat
These no-slip style stainless steel bowl combos – basically food bowl and water feeder stations that are held down by non-skid silicone – are an excellent alternative to the no spill pet bowl if you’re trying to keep your cat from completely toppling over his or her bowl.
I think they’re probably the least ideal for cats who like to splash, as they will do nothing to help in that regard. But for the typical cat who topples dishes, this should work really well even for food.
Check out the Bonza Cat Food Bowls, Premium Non Spill Dog Bowls with Mat as well if you like the non-slip silicone mat and two bowl combo.
3. Catit Flower Water Fountain
Got a cat like mine, who likes to ripple water before he or she takes a sip? I have a theory that cats like to do this so they can more easily see where the water depth is at in a bowl, though I think I’ve read somewhere it’s because they’ve evolved to prefer drinking moving water over still water.
That explanation would make perfect sense since, in nature, moving water has a lot less dangerous bacteria in it than still.
Whatever the reason, if your cat likes to see those ripples before drinking, it would make sense that if a water fountain created those ripples, there should be no need to place a paw inside.
Water fountains are often also good for getting cats to drink more water, so you may be hitting two birds with one stone by grabbing one.
Have a cat who likes to ripple water before drinking? Bought a fountain for your cat? Did the rippling behaviour change? Would love to know – do take a moment to leave a comment below telling me if yes or no.
4. Necoichi Raised Cat Water Bowl, Stress Free, Backflow Prevention, Dishwasher and Microwave Safe
If you’re looking for something quite heavy and weighted, you might want to simultaneously give a try to raised water bowls as well.
There are a lot of elevated food and water bowls out there, and many cats seem to prefer having that extra height.
Necoichi makes some of the most popular raised pet dishes around for cats, and they seem to help with problems from increase in comfort while drinking to vomit issues that can be brought up by drinking with a low bowl.
Considering how heavy they are, they strike me as being good options for fending off spills as well.
5. UPSKY Double Dog Cat Bowls Premium Stainless Steel Pet Bowls
An alternative to the URPOWER Dog Bowl set, this time with a little more elevation from what I can tell.
I think these types of products should be excellent if you’re looking to reduce the likelihood of cats spilling over their water.
Whether they work as well as raised bowls is up for debate, however, they may need a little more height to work as well as the Necoichi raised bowls or some other varieties.
6. Kaytee Stoneware Pet Bowl, 5-Inch
Just want some heavy bowls, weighted because of the material they’re made with and the fact that they’re pretty thick?
Kaytee Stonewear makes some excellent looking pet bowls that fit this description to a t.
7. Indipets Stainless Steel Spill Proof – Splash Free No Tip Anti Skid Dish with Easy Pick up Grip Handle
If you’re looking for a heavy, no-tip, anti-skid water bowl for your cat, this may work out better than most.
A lot of positive reviews, though there are absolutely pet parents out there who this particular spill-proof bowl wasn’t spill proof for.
8. Hepper – Nomnom Modern Cat Bowl – Whisker Friendly + No Spill – Stainless Steel Pet Food and Water Dish for Cats
Apparently this combo food-and-water dish is excellent, not only insofar as it’s whisker friendly and spill resistant, but it’s also good for cats who eat wet food, and eat it in quite a messy, sloppy way.
9. Modern Artisans American Made Heavy-Weight Splash-Free Stoneware Water Bowl Dogs Cats
This Modern Artisans heavy weight stoneware water bowl looks like an excellent combination of both a really weighted water dish and a spill rim barrier along the outside of the bowl.
While there aren’t too many reviews from feline pet parents, these bowls do look like they may just do the trick for a lot of cat owners looking for stoneware and heavy dishes, with a little extra protection against splashing and spills.
10. Less-Mess Pet Bowl – Dripless, Anti Gulping, Spill Proof, No Skid – Water or Food + Great for Dogs, Puppy, Cats
These types of water bowls are really interesting.
They work sort of like water dispensers that don’t dispense very much water at one time, so they reduce gulping and slow down pet drinking if that’s ever a concern you have at home as well.
Not quite sure how to describe the concept besides giving you a quick peek at a dog using a Misyue No Spill Dog Bowl, an alternative to the Less-Mess Pet Bowl.
That reviewer has particularly good pictures taken of the process. I think it’s an excellent idea, though I’m not sure how well it will work for every cat.
Alternatives include:
- Misyue Dog No Spill Proof Water Bowl Slow Feeder
- Vitalumos Dog Water Bowl, Splash-Free Pet Bowl with Antibacterial
11. Portable Pet PorablePet WaterBoy Travel Water Bowl For Pets
This portable travel water bowl seems like a good option in case you were looking for a no-spill dish you could easily move around from place to place, room to room, house to house, or put in a kennel while transporting a cat in a car, even.
There are a lot of practical uses you could get out of this one, and honestly, if you’re having issues with your cat tipping over the water bowl a lot, I think it may even work better than the vast majority of non-portable solutions out there.
Your Thoughts on Spill Proof Cat Water Bowls?
Have you ever had a cat who splashed or spilled water? What do you think was the reason behind this behaviour?
Did you ever solve the issue of spilled water, or did you simply live with it?
Do you have any tips for what to look for in a no spill cat water bowl? Have any advice for what to stay away from?
Love to hear any and all advice you have in the comments down below!
One of my 2 cats either swats the water out…or if I haven’t paid enough attention will topple the while thing over… the reason? Because some tiny little thing is contaminating the water..a piece of food, a hair, a tiny piece of dust! The solution..I change it twice a day… this seems to mostly work… and if anything gets in the water… he will let me know!
listen up everyone! I have an orange fluffy psycho cat that has made it his life goal to completely spill and flip his entire water bowl. First it was the regular water bowl, but then it was the GALLON water dispenser. BUT the solution has been found. I put out a CLEAR CASSEROLE DISH and he has not once tried to tip it over or spill it…..we are on hour 15 of no spills after he spilled the other bowl moments before switching to the clear casserole dish. EVERYONE GIVE IT A TRY!!!
listen up everyone! I have an orange fluffy psycho cat that has made it his life goal to completely spill and flip his entire water bowl. First it was the regular water bowl, but then it was the GALLON water dispenser. BUT the solution has been found. I put out a CLEAR CASSEROLE DISH and he has not once tried to tip it over or spill it…..we are on hour 15 of no spills after he spilled the other bowl moments before switching to the clear casserole dish. EVERYONE GIVE IT A TRY!!!
Our kitty had a different reason all together! We had a two-dish silicone mat, and he kept tugging on it and spilling the water everywhere. It turns out it had nothing to do with the water! We left out the mat with empty dishes and he still tugs on it! So we started putting the water and food dishes down on a plain old dish towel and so far so good: no more tugging or spilling!
Read the article to find a bowl. He tips whole bowl over. Had a Cat-it. He pulled the plastic pieces out! So that’s a no go. Might try the raised dog dishes. Not sure, he’s pretty
good at figuring out how to topple things. He’s a mischievous boy! 😸
we have tried a ceramic bowl and now have a daisy fountain but the cat still drags the bowl and tips it over, any suggestions as to why or what to try next? she has really long whiskers which I know are sensitive
I would try a heavy pot that’s the right size for her. That way, it’s difficult to tip over. That’s the only solution I’ve managed to find with my bowl-spinning kitten.
I’m reading this because we have one of those wonderful dual bowl systems that the bowls fit tightly into a silicone mat. My cat grabs the corner of the mat and flips it, spilling the majority of the water on the floor,
We’ve had water fountains, raised bowls, ceramic bowls, non slip silicone mats and our cat still tugs at his bowls and spls water everywhere. We don’t know what else to do
Thank you so much for a great article!
I feel like all of these were directed towards cats who topple over their water bowls or want the ripple effect; what about bowls for the cats you mentioned who were more playful and splashing with the water? Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t think it was actually addressed or are there just now bowls that have been designed around that? I feel like the splashing gets the water dirty so much faster, too, if there’s litter or dirt (my kitty loves to dig up potted plants); would the running water be a good option or is that too much of a play thing?
We’ve had water fountains, raised bowls, ceramic bowls, non slip silicone mats and our cat still tugs at his bowls and spls water everywhere. We don’t know what else to do
The only thing that mildly worked for me for my youngest cat was a steel pot I had that was heavy enough to only move a little when my cat tried to spin it. If you can find a good one (right size, & heavy enough), give that a go.