¿Los COMEDEROS ELEVADOS para GATOS son mejores? 🐱🤔 ¿Por qué MI GATO LO USA?

Foreign if you've seen this type of elevated feeder online and are thinking of buying one for your cat, stick around, because today I'll tell you if it's a good idea. Hi, I'm Carlos and I'm a veterinarian. And today the cat isn't with me because we've left him by the window, enjoying the sun that has stopped raining. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Sometimes things become trendy online for our cats, and suddenly you start seeing them everywhere. This is what's happened, for example, with elevated cat feeders, which have recently become trendy and promise a ton of health benefits for your feline companion. But are these types of feeders really better for our cats? Before we start talking about elevated feeders, I do have to tell you a few things you should keep in mind when choosing a good bowl for your cat, such as the type of material it's made of. We generally prefer bowls that are made of a material that cannot be easily damaged. I always recommend that they be made of stainless steel, ceramic, or glass because these types of materials do not impart any strange odors or flavors to the food, and the food does not remain impregnated on the walls, which in the end ends up stinking. For example, some cats reject their feeders because they do not like the smell or taste of the food inside the bowl. In addition, plastic feeders scratch more easily, and when food remains remain in those scratches, bacteria can grow that are dangerous for our cats. Another very important disadvantage of plastic cat feeders is that the plastic items that people use in contact with their food are regulated and have some products that cannot be used in their manufacture because they have been found to be toxic. You may have heard about the issue of BPA and all these plastic products, which have been very much criticized lately, and rightly so. However, cat feeders are not regulated, so they may be manufactured with the type of plastics that are harmful to health and that could affect our feline companion. So I would never use them. Well, we have already seen the issue of materials, which I thought was important to mention, but here we have come to find out if elevated feeders are really an advantage for our cats. First, let's stop and consider what is said out there, why they can be beneficial for our cats. On the one hand, and this may be true, they reduce the effort of our feline companions having to bend down when eating their food. Sure. Well, they have it a little higher than their mouths and so they don't have to bend down. And it is also said that they improve their digestion, reduce the possibility of our cats vomiting, are better for older cats because they do not have to make as much effort and also reduce something that has recently been called whisker stress. Some cats are bothered by this part of their body rubbing against the edges of the bowl, and so they often refuse to eat from bowls with slightly higher edges. But I want to focus especially on this one that says that the way cats eat from these types of bowls is much more natural. In other words, look at all the things it can do for your cat. But is all this true? Well, let's take it one step at a time. It's not true for all cats. Science has not conclusively demonstrated that these feeders offer any kind of advantage. In fact, when people tell me that this way of eating for cats is much more natural, well, it really grates on me because there's nothing more natural for a cat than eating directly from the floor. Come on. When have you seen a cat on the street take its food or prey on a small stone to have it higher and make it much more natural for it to eat? Okay, but of course, this speech has suddenly become super fashionable for you and many people have commented on it and come to ask me, hey, is this true? Is it true that these types of feeders are better? In fact, you have put the artichoke feeder on a small table. Is it because it is much better for cats and you are keeping quiet about it? Well, no one has told me that, but I want to add a bit of drama to the video. Well, later I will explain why I have the artichoke feeder on a small table. But what I am telling you is that elevated feeders do not offer any advantage for a cat without pathologies. And this is very important because it is true that sometimes our feline companions may have certain conditions that mean that it is better for them to use feeders that are raised off the ground. Because of course, you may notice that your cat vomits after eating, that it does so more or less frequently. And you say that said, the problem is with the food bowl, because of course, I just saw on a reel here or on a TikTok or I don't know where, that a food bowl placed on the floor makes cats vomit more. And I have to tell you that this is not the case. There are many reasons why your cat may vomit more than usual. Most of them have to do with health problems, and none of them have to do with the position in which they eat. For example, if a cat eats Very quickly, it is possible that they will regurgitate or simply vomit from indigestion. Sometimes it has even happened to the cat with a can of food. They eat it very quickly, excitedly, and then throw it up. Or cats may have hairballs. But other situations, such as chronic gastritis, food allergies or intolerances, and certain diseases such as kidney problems, also cause cats to vomit more than usual. So before you think it's their food bowl, one recommend that you go to the vet if you see that your cat vomits frequently, because, as I said, the food bowl has nothing to do with it. What has been observed is that some cats may have a slightly more preference when it comes to choosing their food bowl. And this also has a lot to do with what I mentioned about whisker stress. It is true that there are many cats that do not like their whiskers rubbing against the edges of their food bowl, but this is not the case with all cats either. And you also have to consider that having a raised food bowl will not be an advantage either if we do not reduce the edges. It is true that if the food bowl is a little higher and has completely flat edges, the stress on the whiskers will be reduced. But if we put a rim this high on a raised feeder, we're still going to have the same problem. Be very careful not to get carried away by these advertising claims that we see online. Are these viral videos? What has been proven is that there are some cases in which it is justified to have your cat's feeder elevated, but only for very specific conditions regarding their general health. For example, there is a disease called megaesophagus, which means that the esophagus, which is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach, is dilated in some cats, so the food takes longer to pass through that part of their body. If our cat eats with its head a little higher, the force of gravity will help the food get from the mouth to the stomach more easily and quickly, making it harder for a cat with megaesophagus to vomit. But of course, it has to be a sick cat, a cat that already has the disease. In no case will your cat eating on the ground cause mega esophagus. This is caused by other things which can range from congenital, meaning that our cat has them from birth, to acquired causes, sometimes due to problems with the formation of the esophagus when they are in their mother's tummy, the cat later develops esophageal problems, or also due to diseases such as myastia gravis and others. It has nothing to do with where their food dish is. There are other cases in which it may be justified to use a table for our cat to feed itself. For example, if our cat is very old and has joint conditions such as osteoarthritis, not so much in the neck as some Internet claims claim that our cat will have to bend its head less, but perhaps much more in the elbows. Okay. Because this is a more frequent place where joint degeneration is found. So, as I said, older cats with this disease may find it a bit uncomfortable to eat in certain positions and may find it a bit more comfortable if you raise their food bowl. And there are other conditions in which your vet, for example, may recommend that you put a raised food bowl on your cat. Well, I have nothing to say in those cases if your vet has told you so. It is well said, because there are some diseases that make our cats swallow their food more poorly. For example, that is, they have a harder time swallowing their food. This has been seen in some cases of toxoplasmosis. If your cat has been infected by this parasite, it is possible that it will have difficulty swallowing. And that is why your vet will tell you, hey, it is better this way to prevent food from going into the wrong place. But again, if your cat is healthy, it does not need it, it will not give it any kind of advantage. In my case, you might be telling me that I put it on for the cat, not for any medical reason or other reason, but because the cat had his bowls on the floor and ate perfectly from them. But suddenly we realized that the automatic sweeper, the automatic vacuum cleaner that comes through the house, was always taking them, running them over, leaving everything a mess, throwing the cat's food. Sometimes it would arrive and there was no food left in the bowl. So we had to raise them so the automatic vacuum cleaner could see them and not take them away. It was simply a logistical issue. But now let's suppose that none of these arguments I've given you have convinced you. And you want to put an elevated feeder for your cat. Are you going to cause any kind of problem for your cat? Well, not at all. Okay. Your cat can eat perfectly well on the floor and can eat on a surface. Do you need to spend money to put an elevated feeder on it? Well, no, not that either. I mean, can you use anything you have around the house? If you want some kind of support, elevate a food dish, a piece of wood, or an old cutting board that you have around the house and put a couple of heights underneath it that will keep the board elevated. And that's it. I mean, you don't have to spend a lot of money to buy any type of product that you don't already have at home. I'm also telling you that, for example, the cat should eat on top of it, but your cat may prefer to take its food and eat it on the floor next to the feeder. Hey, as I'm saying, this is much more about each cat's individual preference than what is considered to be general for all cats. The most important thing is that any surface on which you place your cat's feeders is stable, safe, and easy to clean. For example, when we put that little table on the cat tree, I varnished it very well so that bacteria and moisture could not penetrate and so that it would be preserved much better for longer. So, as you can see, these elevated feeders that you find on the Internet are neither magical nor do they really offer any advantages for cats that do not have health problems or anything like that. We are going to dispel myths, but they are not bad in themselves either. The problem is when a marketing campaign is created to create needs for you. And so that you say, oh, I have to buy other feeders for my cat, I have to spend money, because these are going to do them a lot of harm. So if you were worried because you did not know if your cat's feeder was good enough for him, I can tell you that it probably is. And if you still have any doubts, observe your cat. If you notice that your cat is having some discomfort or is getting older and is having a hard time eating, then, yes, consider changing it. But in all other respects, if you see that your cat is eating perfectly, you don't need to change anything at home. And above all, if you notice that your cat is vomiting after eating, regurgitating, or can't keep food down, which is quite common, even if it doesn't happen every day, before changing anything at home, go to the vet, tell them, and have them take a good look at it, because that will be a better solution than changing your cat's food bowl. Okay? And today I'm here from my solitude because the cat is still in his solarium. Uh, it's time to say goodbye. But first I'm going to ask you, hey, have you changed your cat's feeding bowl? Have you put it on an elevated one? Have you noticed any difference? Did you change it because of an Internet fad? But everything is still the same. Well, tell me in the comments so I can find out. And by the way, I want to thank you very much for all the support you've been giving our channel lately, because I've already told you that the algorithm issue is punishing us quite a bit, uh, and that the videos aren't getting very many views. However, with your support, we've managed to perhaps reverse the situation a little. So I want to thank you, not just cry. Anyway, if you like the video, what you have to do is subscribe to the channel, give it a like and share it with everyone. And if you want to support us a lot, give us a super thanks. And before we go, let's meet these two beauties who they rest so close together that their names are Rufus and Frieda. They don't greet their companion Gong from Zaragoza, although they are from Le Rioja, from Bogota. The humans, Aldo and Maria, greet us and show us photos of their feline companions. One is called Compadre and the other is called Maya. We say goodbye with Osiris, who looks like Milou to me. Uh, he doesn't greet his human companion, Esther from Madrid. They took him in there because they had abandoned him before Christmas. Thank you very much for following the Pets and Happy Families channel, and we'll see you in the next video next week. Every Wednesday they acquire those smells and aromas that can be impregnated by your cat's food on them.

On them. On them. On what? The smells are impregnated on them. That's why I said them. The phrase is very complicated and the simplest. Okay, no, but because I'm going to rephrase it. Kociofo, what's wrong? He doesn't want to record today, does he? Scoundrel. Well, today we're giving you the day off.

These types of products that are so popular right now, a marketing campaign is created to make you believe that you don't. The problem is when it's believed that your cat's feeder was good enough. These magic feeders that you find on the Internet aren't magic. No, magic. Not elevated. Because I've seen somewhere on the Internet that it's from Vale, but that's it. I mean, I have two of these that say most of what we've said. Do you understand what I mean? No. And that's it. Well, now I thank them and tell them.