Providing a pretty, comfortable, and peaceful cat feeding station is a way of showing your feline friend some love (we share the sentiment between cat parents at least!)
You can make place it high with a view, hide it in a silent spot of the house or even inside a cabinet, and more!
Let’s get straight to the point: If you are struggling on how to set up your cat’s feeding bowls, don’t worry, we have you covered! Here are 12 creative cat feeding station ideas you can try today:
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1. Elevated Feeding Stations
Offering your cat elevated food and water bowls is the first step to improving its feeding spot.
Bowls that are raised from the ground a bit are best for your cat’s digestion, as the plate is closer to its mouth. Therefore, it requires less effort to reach those last few kibble pieces.
You can accomplish this with a multi-purpose furniture set like the picture, make a small DIY project, or get elevated food plates.
2. Multiple Cat Feeding Station Ideas
Big feline family? Don’t worry! There are some amazing ideas like the one we shared in the introduction video that you can DIY. Or this one that Lela implemented in her laundry room!
You can transform furniture, and make a feeding spot for multiple cats.
Food stations with multiple bowls should feature divisions between plates in order to avoid food aggression, which can be common in households with many cats.
To do this right, the divisions should be opaque, so each cat can relax and they don’t interfere with one another’s feeding time.
3. Outdoor Feeding Station For Stray Cats
Helping your community cats is an act of goodwill that can help feral and stray cats in many ways.
If helping indefensible kitties is what you want, we have a post on outdoor cat shelters, check it out!
You can easily provide food plates in your backyard or a safe, secluded space of your property by DIY-ing a plastic box and repurposing it with a slight reinforcement that helps to keep it in place during strong winds and harsh weather.
4. Multiple Cats Outdoor Feeding Station
Do you have more cats that you can count at home and a backyard with some free space? Or perhaps you just want to provide to a broader stray cat population.
Then take a look at this practical approach! If weather is an issue, you can use this bucket separation method by placing them under a roof or a small cat shack.
5. Automated Feeding Stations
All about automation? Not at home for long hours? Then an automatic feeder may be the right thing for you and your feline friend.
In our ideal automatic feeding station, we also include a water fountain, that will keep your cat’s water fresh and more attractive to drink for picky cats.
Adding a mat underneath these cat appliances can help control any spills, and it can contribute to a more seamless look when it comes to your home decor efforts.
Did you know that cats are usually dehydrated? Learn how you can help your kitty drink more water.
6. Corner Feeding Stations
If you have an unused corner or a strange nook at home, you could give it some use and install your cat’s feeding station there! With a mat or tray under the food and water bowls, you can control any potential spills.
You also have the opportunity to use verticality to take even more advantage of the space. Installing some cat wall shelves can encourage your cat to explore and move. Plus, they love it (I’ve put my cats to the test)
Consider installing the bowls in a platform attached to the wall as well if you have little space or want to provide your cat with a unique view of the house during their lunchtime.
7. Hidden Feeding Stations In Furniture
Hiding the feeding station or making it available only when you’re serving your cats’ food is an option! Take a look at how seamless a feeding station can look when placed inside a cabinet, for example:
You can integrate feeding stations into kitchen cabinets or an island if you have one (and some space inside) and install a cat door.
This way, you provide your kitty easy access. You can also make it only accessible for feeding time like you saw on the video.
8. Feeding Stations with Storage
Designating a piece of furniture for this where you can also store your cats’ supplies, especially cat food and treats (for the purpose of this article) can help you keep everything in one place while respecting your house’s aesthetic.
I really like to use functional furniture that allows easy and custom setups. This is especially true if you live in a small apartment.
9. Interactive Feeding Stations
If your cat is a fast eater and needs some supervision when eating, then a slow feeder or interactive feeder is perfect for them to keep them engaged while controlling their eating speed.
This interactive food plate is a perfect example of a puzzle feeder.
You can also place treats instead of food inside an interactive plate to keep your cat entertained for a long while.
10. Feeding Stations for Senior Cats
Older cats sometimes need special treatment. On top of any additional care you give them, a nice, considerate thing you can do for your elder feline friend is to raise their food and water bowls.
Digestion can be complicated and any additional centimeters they need to stretch to reach the food can be uncomfortable.
In addition, give them less deep food bowls so they don’t leave food at the bottom.
11. Wall-Mounted Feeding Station
Wall mounted feeding stations are ideal for agile cats such as Dakota.
They take advantage of any vertical space available. Having tall walls and plenty of space, i may implement this in the future myself!
12. Easy-to-Clean Feeding Stations
Your cat’s food and water bowls should be cleaned everyday, so it can turn to be a time-consuming task if you are not using the proper elements. Plus, some materials like plastic for bowls are not so hygienic or good for cats.
Setups made of stainless steel, silicone, or ceramic, often with removable trays or splash guards are the way to go. These are designed to make cleanup fast and sanitary.
Additional Feeding Station Tips
- Separate food from water: Cats don’t really like to drink water in the same spot that they eat. And since making your cat drink water is already complicated, putting them a bit further away can be very beneficial. Some say this is because, in nature, they would never go to the same place for both eating and drinking.
- Far from cat litter box: Would you like to eat in the bathroom? Cats neither! If you happen to have the litter box close to the feeding station, separate them as soon as you can, as it’s also possible your cat’s food gets contaminated. The litter box pollutes the air around it. This is why an air purifier is so important to have if you own cats.
- not too deep feeding bowls: This applies to all cats, not only the older ones. Changing your cat’s bowls to lees deeper ones will reduce their stress, and this is especially important if you have multiple cats eating at once and are looking to avoid food aggression.
Conclusion
To sum up, each cat parent will decide what the perfect cat feeding station looks like based on the space available, creativity, cat preferences, and decor concerns.
As we’ve seen, there are plenty of options to choose how to make this feeding station liked by your felines while respecting your house’s aesthetic.
Some of the picks are not exclusive, so you can easily mix and match most of the ideas listed!
How does your cat feeding station look like? What changes are you making to it after reading this inspiration list? Let other cat parents know your tricks and preferred ideas!
