Cats love containers, especially if the contents are for them. With the same acuity they use to spot small prey, they evaluate and monitor their special containers.

Part of good cat care is supporting their food and water needs with proper serving dishes.

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Here’s how to avoid problems:

The right materials. Many pet dishes are made of plastic. Yet this is probably the worst choice we can make. Plastic lends its odors to whatever we place in it. Water won’t smell like water; food might smell dangerously “off.”

Cat dishes need to have a sealed surface that can stand up to scrubbing without developing scratches. A rough surface harbors bacteria and irritates our cat’s tongue when they go for the last of the gravy.

Plastic dishes have been implicated in the chin lesions of cat acne, since many cats are actually allergic to plastic. A cat’s fussy appetite can improve when we switch to ceramic or glass.

The right shapes. Deep or narrow dishes flatten a cat’s whiskers against their face, or makes them lower their eyes past the rim of the dish. Now they are vulnerable and anxious when they should be savoring their dinner.

Water dishes need to be deeper, so my cats prefer the giant coffee shop mugs also used for soup or chowder. These seem to keep the water cleaner than the flatter water bowls sold as pet dishes.

The right maintenance. Soaking cat dishes is more efficient than scrubbing at them, and won’t scratch or wear off finishes as fast. Consider investing in several sets.

Garage sale coffee saucers make ideal cat food dishes. When we serve our cats on familiar dishes, they will enjoy the process even more.

The right location. Last, but not least, be sure we put these dishes in a good place. It might make sense to us to place them in the kitchen, handy for cleaning and filling, but if we have a high traffic rate there, we’ll be chasing the cats away.

Far better to place them in some private spot where cats can enjoy their meals. Move a cat’s water dish away from a source of dust and crumbs, and place it in some quieter space where we hang out. Our cats will drink more water that way.

Bowls and dishes, cats agree, are part of gracious living.

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