Old plastic bowls can grow bacteria and cause infections
Over time, plastic dog bowls get scratches on their surface. These scratches might be from your dog chewing or scratching the bowl, you dropping the bowl, or tiny scratches from cleaning that you can’t even see.
Mold and bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella, can find their way into these scratches and grow there, even if you wash and clean the bowl regularly.
It’s quite easy to stop mold from growing in a smooth or a new dog bowl, but you can’t remove all the mold and bacteria from cracks in the surface of an older dog bowl.
If there is mold and bacteria in your dog’s bowl, your dog could get quite ill.
And if the plastic bowl is damaged or rough from wear and tear, it could cause canine acne. This is because the rough surface breaks off fine hairs on the dog’s muzzle and chin when the dog uses the bowl.
Each hair is kept in the skin by a follicle, which is a small sac that sits under the skin’s surface. When a hair breaks off from being rubbed against a rough surface, like a plastic bowl, its follicle can burst and irritate the skin around it. The irritated skin can react with red bumps or pimples.
These red bumps or pimples in dogs are called ‘canine acne’.
You can manage these risks by replacing your dog’s plastic bowls regularly and checking your dog’s face and chin for any signs of acne.
If your dog has been using the same plastic bowl for a while, the bowl has any rough surfaces or broken edges, or you can see cracks or scratches, it’s time to get a new dog bowl.
It’s also good to keep your plastic bowl very clean, and here’s exactly how to do that…
3 steps to clean a plastic dog bowl
Here are 3 simple steps on how to clean plastic dog bowls properly:
Which Dog Bowls Are Safe (with a few considerations)
Ceramic bowls are a fairly safe choice, as long as you do your due diligence before purchasing. Ceramic bowls are coated in a glaze, so make sure that the glaze is lead-free and the bowl is certified for food use. Otherwise, this is a good option for a dog bowl, as long as your pooch isn’t a rough and rowdy eater. In other words, if your dog tends to kick his bowl, slide it around, and paw at it, ceramic might not be the best choice. If the bowl gets chipped or dinged, these areas can harbor harmful bacteria, plus your dog is at risk for ingesting any small pieces that might break off of the bowl.