Pet feeding habits inspire the new SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl

24th June 2019

We surveyed 1,420 cat and dog owners to gain an insight into the feeding habits of household pets.

We found that on average, cat owners waste 33% of wet cat food because it’s no longer fresh and has become unpalatable for their cats. In the worst cases, cat owners have to throw away more than 50% of wet food. A mid-range wet food diet could cost over £400 per year*, which means that based on our statistics, many cat owners are wasting over £10 per month on food.

Other surprising statistics revealed that the average dog owner wastes 25% of wet dog food, indicating that not all dogs eat their meals in one sitting, and like some cats, will graze feed throughout the day and turn their noses up at stale food.

Keeping a pet’s food fresh is a key priority, not just to enable the owner to save money on wasted food, but also to ensure pets can lead healthier lifestyles by having access to fresher food whenever they need it. During the warmer months, pet owners also want a way to stop flies settling on pet food. Flies lay eggs on exposed food which quickly turn into maggots. It’s unpleasant for you and your pet and leads to more wasted food.

The feedback we received from the survey highlighted the need for a feeding solution that addresses the issues of stale food and flies. That’s why we have developed the SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl.

Launching soon, the Sealed Pet Bowl will be the first of our products that will not be microchip operated. It has a lid that opens when it detects movement and then closes onto a sealed bowl when they have finished eating, keeping food fresher and preventing flies settling on food. It’s ideal for single pet homes or homes with multiple pets that do not require segregated feeding. (If you need to separate your pets’ food, our other SureFeed product, the Microchip Pet Feeder, is perfect for that).

The concept of the Sealed Pet Bowl has been well received by pet owners, with 83% of cat owners and 68% of dog owners stating that they would use the product. Here are some of their thoughts on the Sealed Pet Bowl:

“It will help my cats enjoy their wet food how they prefer it - wet/moist and thus contributing to their overall daily fluid intake.”

“I struggle to keep flies away from the food in warm weather and end up throwing half of it away as flies have laid eggs in the wet food.”

“My dog is a fussy eater and does not always eat when I put her wet food down. I then sometimes have to bin it later and put fresh down so it gets expensive!”

“I think this would be great for the cats. Especially in summer with flies buzzing around. Our cats have biscuits down all the time, and meat twice a day. So it would help keep food fresher.”

*Based on Felix feeding guidelines for an average 4kg adult cat and average retail pricing taken from a representative sample of specialist retail pet stores.