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I had recently purchased new dishes for the household animals which included an automatic dog food feeder, as well as a ceramic water dish.
A list of other great, large water fountain dishes can be found here.
I decided I needed a mat to go underneath them, not just for aesthetics but because the dishes are set on tile. When I move the ceramic dish to clean it and then place it back, I am always concerned about bumping it just a little too hard on the tile. I figured a mat would provide enough buffer, however I wanted something easy to clean so landed on a silicone mat for pet dishes.
The first issue that I ran into was that many of the mats did not seem to be large enough. Between the automatic dog food dish and a large ceramic fountain dish, I needed a big mat as I wanted them to sit together.
When I did find larger mats for pet food dishes, the prices seemed rather unnecessary. Factored in that I would need three mats because I have three sets of dishes, this started to become a slightly more significant undertaking than I had anticipated.
After browsing through numerous adorable options, I still was not satisfied with my particular needs.
In fact, the only difference I found between them was the crafting ones did not come with cute little paw print designs, which I did not have any inclination to purchase in the first place. And they did not come with a lip around the edge, which many of the mats for pet dishes do. This was also not a deal breaker for me as I was not attempting to use the mat to contain any kind of mess. I just wanted a nice place setting for the dishes and a modest buffer for the ceramic dishes. I was also pleased to learn that the craft mat came in a variety of colors and by default, most of them are at least as large as the largest mats sold for dog dishes and some are even larger.
All of this came at a significant reduction in price.
I have been using this mat for several months now. It has held up to the animals using it, and it has protected the dishes. The mat is easy to clean and it is pleasing to look at, all while accommodating a set of large dishes at a fraction of the cost.
Do you use a mat for your pet dishes? Let us know in the comments!
