What Lurks In Your Dog’s Water Bowl
DISCLAIMER: This educational article is sponsored by Loving Pets. I am being compensated to share information about dog water bowl safety and why the Robusto Bowl is an ideal solution to keeping your dog healthy. I only share information about products I personally use and recommend to my clients. Loving Pets is not responsible for the content in this article.
Did you know your dog’s water bowl is the fourth germiest place in your home?
That means, according to a study performed by NSF International (formerly the National Sanitation Foundation), there are more germs in your dog’s water bowl than on your toilet! Let that sink in for a minute.
Your dog’s water bowl has more germs in it than on your toilet.
Fresh, clean water is critical to your dog’s health. Just like humans and every other living species, dogs cannot live without water. Yet, most of us are unintentionally providing this life-sustaining, essential nutrient to our dogs in bowls teeming with bacteria.
What Lurks In Your Dog’s Water Bowl
How does your dog’s bowl get so contaminated?
The primary reason is the presence of biofilm.
Have you ever rubbed your finger on the inside of your dog’s bowl and noticed a slimy feel on the bowl and your finger? That slimy substance is biofilm.
In short, biofilm is a build up of different types of bacteria with mold, yeast and algae thrown in, this all which binds together in a gooey substance that sticks to the side of the bowl. Are you feeling disgusted and do you have an overwhelming urge to wash your hands (and your dog’s water bowl)?
Well wait, there’s more.
Biofilm is the perfect place for bacteria, such as E.coli, Listeria and Legionella, to live and reproduce, and allows for contamination of water. Bacterial biofilms have caused many serious bacterial infections in dogs, including: bladder infections, urinary tract infections and middle-ear infections!
(Okay, you can go wash your hands now… and maybe your dog’s water bowl while you’re at it!)
There are a few factors that affect how much bacterial biofilm is present in your dog’s water bowl, including but not limited to:
- How frequently you change the water in your dog’s bowl
- The way you wash your dog’s water bowl
- How frequently you wash your dog’s water bowl
- The material used in the construction of the water bowl
How do you get rid of and/or prevent biofilm?
There are a few ways you can limit or prevent bacteria-ridden biofilm and provide your dog fresh, clean drinking water in a bacteria-free water bowl!
First: Make sure you change the water in your dog’s water bowl at least once a day. If you can change it more often, say two or three times a day, that’s even better.
Second: Clean your dog’s water bowl every day. Notice I said clean, not just rinse! Just giving the bowl a quick rinse under running tap water isn’t going to remove biofilm.
Third: Clean your dog’s water bowl with a pet-safe, environmentally-friendly soap and non-abrasive sponge. Any abrasive cleanser or sponge can cause scratches, which can cause the bowl to be more porous and hospitable to bacteria and other germs.
Fourth: Consider the material used in the construction of your dog’s water bowl. Ideally, you want a clean, smooth, non-porous surface, such as ceramic or stainless steel.
Plastic bowls are definitely out for one simple reason: Plastic bowls are notoriously porous, which allows bacteria and other germs to proliferate. Additionally, plastic bowls scratch very easily, increasing how porous the bowl is.
Stainless steel is better but not ideal because it can scratch easily when being cleaned. This results in a porous bowl, allowing bacteria to proliferate.
The most ideal material is ceramic: It’s not porous, doesn’t scratch easily and its smooth surface hinders biofilms’ ability to adhering to the side and is easily cleaned. One drawback of a traditional ceramic bowl is that it can crack, chip or break easily.
The water bowl I recommend to all my clients and pet parents everywhere is the Robusto Bowl by Loving Pets.
The Robusto Bowl is made of heavy gauge stainless steel with a smooth, ceramic-like, bacteria-resistant interior. Not only is that ceramic-like material bacteria-resistant and easy to clean like traditional ceramic, it is also extremely durable.
During product testing. Loving Pets drove a 6500-pound truck over one and the bowl survived completely intact! The only thing that was damaged was the truck tire!
The ceramic-like interior means you get all the benefits of ceramic plus bacterial resistance and extreme-durability.
It’s easy to say goodbye to biofilm with the Robusto Bowl by Loving Pets.
For more information on the Robusto Bowl, look here.
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