Aw Hailey, sending good energy her way, and yours. Hope she's better soon.

Hayley - you sound like a wonderful pet mom. Your pups are lucky to have you.

Haley I agree I'd do anything for mine:)

I have to feed one in the cage and the other two separated! I'd love to have something cool like your above pic! Maybe some day:)

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. She was so sick Saturday that I was actually looking for a vet that comes to your house to put them to sleep, but then she suddenly perked up and is on the mend!!!! She's definitely getting back to herself as she's out barking at the kids playing in the street.

Hayleydaniels, when my dog got pancreatitis, my vet recommended poached chicken breasts (no skin) with rice. I would mix in a yogurt-based probiotic powder, and it seemed to help.

If she seems to wane, I hope that might help.

The barking at everything and everyone on the street always drives me crazy, but when they don't bark because they don't feel well, that silence is so sad.

Haleydaniels, I know how you feel, we had a real close call with one of the kitties, Caroline, recently. When we made the ground tuna or chicken formula up, we not only mixed in broth, but also electrolite water. She had not been improving much before that, but then she did. I won't lie maybe it was just the turning point, but I will say, we did it based on our personal experience, electrolite replacement can be phenomenal when you are ill, especially if it is a tummy problem. We even invented a special diet for tummy flu, based on it. Hope Eskie feels up to par soon!

trying to get back on topic, I have 3 cats and 1 small dog, dry food is kept in a small cupboard in rolling cat food bins. cans are stacked on shelf above. Cupboard is closed and garbage can jammed in front. caroline's twin brother, Solo, pops the cat food bins open with his nose, but if they are near empty he gets his whole body in. I am afraid, he might get locked in. they are fed in the kitchen, plastic bowls for dry and paper plates when they get their wet. Large water bowl in kitchen, this is all in the corner. They then have a water bowl in the family room, bathroom counter, and under the bed. Rorrie, the Tenerief dog, eats out of styrofoam bowls where ever we are eating with dry food under the dining room table in the family room. Before we start on the green thing. I am now disabled, bending over is hard, styrofoam and paper I can pick up with my grabby thing, water bowls are plastic for same reason. I usually eat my lunch etc. on the paper plates, doesn't tend to leave a mess, so the kitties don't mind. And my poor husband has much less dishes to do. So this is how we do our pets, what about you?

mrsstem, I did the boiled chicken and rice to no avail. She refused to eat it, but my lab gulped it down like a canine vacuum cleaner. I called the vet to see if she could have chicken broth [yes, so long as it's low sodium] so she had some of that for a few days, and did eat a bit of the boiled chicken, but not much which is why we tried giving her grilled meat that we were having for dinner. She loves that! I did order her some multivitamins as I'm concerned about her getting the nutrient she needs.

northgehl, thanks for the info about the electrolite water. I'll look into it.

That's a smart idea to use paper plates for feeding your pets o your hubby has fewer dishes to wash.

Off topic here, but I fed my Dixie with chicken baby food directly off my finger when she was recovering from a dog attack injury. What we won't do for our precious fur-babies!

yes, the vet said baby food for Caroline too, she liked the ground better though, they are all individuals aren't they? Why ever did the scientists not talk to us before they made up all those silly statements about our pets! Eating their words now. i bet houzz never does another pet related post. This is the second I have seen (last was kitty boxes) and we never keep on topic. lol By the way, the pups pictured are adorable;).

At Cabinets & Designs we offer pet parlors from Wood-Mode Cabinetry. This allows you to have pull out drawers for the dog food, bowls, pet toys, and much more. If you like a clean space this would be perfect for you!

For more ideas and inspiration go to www.cabinetsanddesigns.com and look through our projects.

it looks wonderful, but i can see solo with his butt half off the counter and his head in the food. And, my little buddha, Caroline, would soon break that food drawer. lol

Here is our mutt Ruby's feeding area.

Haley get Sure Grow 100 from Amazon. Really good vitamin with trace elements.

Any local feed store will have electrolyte powder.

for food try Dr Harvey's

Dog food set up should be easy to clean because they are notoriously messy eaters. I have dogs that are 5 lbs to 9 lbs. So they aren't big dogs but they are still messy. So I use paper bowls and throw them away. For drinking water I use a stainless steel dish. Again it's easy to clean and stainless is better at bacteria and it's not breakable for when I drop it. I use a plastic, air tight container for their dry kibble so no bugs or mice can get in and if it gets tipped over it's not going to go everywhere. I keep it in a closet where the dogs can't get to it. I do not use a place mat under their bowls because anything liquid gets underneath and you don't know about it. I ruined a hardwood floor that way. I thought I was protecting it but I didn't know the water was underneath and it mildewed before I found it. What I use are pee pads. I put one cotton side down and the other on top is cotton side up. It soaks up any liquid spills. Then I throw them away. I have a couple of blind dogs so I feed all my dogs at the same place every time. Their water dish stays at the same place. If your blind dog has a problem finding the water dish, try using a tabletop fountain. The sound of the water tells them where to go to find it.

Rosie dines on the porch in good weather. I have one of those Mohawk rubber-backed rugs, about 2x3 feet. Her bowls are on it, with fresh food in one bowl twice daily. (I cook for my little girl)

I keep two mats, and every other day switch out. They wash in the machine then hang to dry.

Aw, hailey, so sorry about your dear adorable AE -- I'm so fond of them. Glad she seems a bit better.

Everest thinks that squeezy cheese out of a can is called "Prozac," since that's how I get him to eagerly gobble up his meds. (It also draws all kinds of interesting fish and crustaceans while scuba diving -- I want to try anchovy paste, but it's so strong it might bring me the local great white. I've encountered lots of large and lovely sharks, but don't care to meet that one in person, although I've spotted her from the shore.)

I'll have to take a pic of Everest's setup. People were always giving me "stuff" when my son was younger, and one of those "gifts" was a chalkboard that had seen better days. Like most castoffs, it sat around for a while unneeded until the day I was hauling it to the trash and walked by the black dog bowls on their raised wooden base against my newly painted kitchen wall. ...hmmm... the paint color was inspired by a piece of my son's sidewalk chalk that perfectly matched the straw tones in my kitchen light fixture... and 2+2= my wall protected by a chalkboard backing, with wood trim to match the wooden base, and even chalk to match, saying:

CHEZ EVEREST

Today's Specials:

Mashed Mailman

People Pie

UPS Guy Gruel

...if we're having guests, sometimes I put them on the menu as well (while Everest is secured elsewhere, of course.)

...or sometimes it just says "Chunks."

...and tonight it says, "Salmon Burgers."

Wegman's had them on sale, so we gave them a go. Our distaste is Everest's delight; he's ecstatic!

Make sure Everest's salmon is well-done! Salmon, if not cooked, can make a dog sick...

barnhart gallery, when in the keys we used to feed the reef fish left over spaghetti, they loved it and we got great pics of them dragging those long noodles around! lol, of course that was prepark days, try it, it might work wherever you are. I think that Rorrie would like "Cat Custard." That board is a great idea.

Thank you mrsstem and yes, the salmon was cooked well, and is already cut into treat portions for the next few days, so he doesn't overindulge.

And northgehl -- do you mean pre-Pennicamp park? The upper keys have done a much better job of ecological preservation than Key West, where diving just makes me sad, the reefs are so destroyed. Hilarous to see fish eat spaghetti, I'm sure. When my dad used to go lobster diving at night, he'd put a couple of holes in a cat food can and place it in the vicinity the afternoon of the dive.

Sorry, back to dog dishes!

our spare bedroom is the DOG room and my computer room. we live in a small house and I didn't like the dishes in the kitchen so since I collect everything "dog" in that room it only made sense to feed them there. the vanity was a $10 yard sale find that we painted because the veneer was beyond saving

Here is a set-up I created for my three cats in my unfinished basement, which was hand dug beneath my 150-year-old kitchen sometime in the 1930s. The automatic feeder cost $200 (for the mechanism) online but over fifteen years I have been through many automatic cat food dispensers of many different kinds, and they always stop working at the worst moment (when I'm going out of town) or the timer options are very limited. This one is guaranteed for life and has an infinite number of food-dispensing times and duration options.

While each cat is not above "stealing" from the other cats' dishes on occasion, for the most part they use only their own dishes, and when they are especially hungry, the three of can be found waiting. expectantly, at their respective bowls for the kibble to fall into their dishes at the designated time.

It's too bad the set-up looks like something from outer space, but it definitely works. I bought a food-grade, airtight (to keep humidity at bay during summers in the midAtlantic) hopper online in which to store the kibble, which is gravity-fed into the dispenser. A three-way manifold and some PVC pipe from Home Depot was all that was needed to create the three-way dispensing mechanism and, once installed, the entire set-up has needed very little adjustment.

I do have a petsitter come over every day when I travel, but it's mostly to clean the litter boxes and play with the kitties. Feeding them is completely taken care of by the automatic dispenser. It dispenses four times a day, six hours apart, so they never go hungry while I am at work or asleep.

Lynell in Baltimore

Here is our pup's space. The drawers hold her brush, meds, etc.

Our spoiled rotten and adored Bichon's have this little space in our tiny but beloved beach house.

mptravels. love your dogs! I have three too! :)

Lynell, that is one clever cat-traption!

Sorry Barnhart, i been shopping. No, we always went to marathon, mile marker 50-52. Destinations were sombrero Light, Sister Rock, sambos. Loved Pelican shoals, sure that isn't protected, I can tell you how to get there if they havent destroyed it, found a unique shell there, Smithsonian named it after my family. I'm on oxygen, so the others as lamb chop used to say were on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them. I would have sworn cat food would have attracted a lot more than lobster! Key West was a one day big city affair.

itobler 74, incredible contraption, kudos. When we have a neighbor care for our 3, I always leave 4 boxes prefilled, they just pull one and put the next down. And a gallon of water so they don't have to travel far or go up and down if they can't. That and returning the favor always keeps it free!

Ok, mp travels, your bichons look just like our rorrie (a Tenerife), Do they sing too? and do their claws touch the ground, we live in a small town and I have noone to ask, his claws go straight out. just adorable!

I was constantly refilling the water bowls for my 3 large dogs and 2 cats. When I remodeled the island I added a water bowl at the end with its own faucet. I keep the leashes in the small drawers above it. There is also a night light under the drawers. It's one of my favorite features in my kitchen.

This is where Toby chows down - not sure if you can read the green sign

I bought each of my two dogs a Neater Feeder. Love them! No more water spills or dribbles on floors or walls and no more crumbs on floor. Made with nice sturdy materials. I also purchased extra bowls that can be placed in the freezer for few hours and then filled with water. The water is then chilled by bowl for several hours. The feeders are made in small, medium and large sizes. I ordered them direct from the company but I also found them at Amazon and some pet stores. Shipped through FedEx at no extra charge and I had them in 3 days. The web site has great information. Take a look at neaterfeeder.com

tgb1 love the sign! and the puppy!

Nancy Kramer, I am definitely keeping that in mind for my next redo, but I am going to try to one up you. You think I can get an icemaker installed there too? My kids would be in heaven! Rorrie, the dog won't even drink water in summer without ice cubes. Half the time, he drinks my husband's ice tea, has even learned to take the lid off. I am safe, he hates soda. Caroline, our little buddha cat thinks her ice is some sort of water basket ball and keeps bouncing them in the bowl! lol

To the lady worried about her daughter's cat on the counters, I would not worry too much. I am from FL where you are constantly fighting the dang palmetto bugs (giant flying roaches). i have had 2 husbands willing to testify that those bugs actually chase me. Anyway. i wash everything before I use it. Those things go everywhere, and what do they really love to eat? Soap and glue. uggghhh. Now I do train my cats not to go on the counter, but I wash every time I go to use a counter anyway. I rinse or wash everything I cook with or eat off, right before I use it.

This has been almost as fun as my kids!

northgehl I hope that the Cracked Conch is still churning out conch fritters and alligator bites in Largo, that your tank of today is lighter than it used to be for diving, and that it's all you need to stay your apparently vibrant and delightful self. ;)

(Good wishes and dog dishes.)

thank you so much barnhart, but while my family remains in Hillsborough and Pinellas county, My hubby and I finally escaped to Md and now a village in Southern DE. We find the climate and season changes fit us far better. There are days I would gladly trade for any number of fabulous restaurants back home though. lol And my husband thought I was kidding about the lack of food up here. Good Wishes and much spaghetti shots to you.

show very small kitchen remodel

This is Mr. Murphy's private backsplash for pet bowl

Nothing but an oriental and a crystal bowl for the Royal Corgi Will.

I used a discontinued rug sample from one of my rug vendors and

An old salad bowl. Works great and always gets laughs from our guests

Oh look at his lordship!

I wonder if Queen Elizabeth's corgis have it so good?

Will's setup is precious!

Just two stainless pet bowls on the floor in our mudroom....I dream of adding a little station where there is a faucet above the water bowl! I refill the water several times a day -- with two dogs and four cats, it goes quickly! :)

3 cats, 1 dog, 3 bowls, one of which is equal to 3, minimum one refill per day, where does it all go? I am larger than the 4 of them put together and my eyeballs would be floating!:)

What a coincidence. I just made this raised dog feeder today! I'm going to cut holes for bowls next, but this is what I've got so far.

Thought I'd update everyone on Molly, my Eskie's health. It's been a month, but she's 98% recovered. The only issue now is she won't take her very expensive eye supplement that is the size of a horse pill so I had to buy some cheaper chewable ones. We give them their supplements in some canned food and she figured out that used that to 'con' her and now won't take it.

Her ability to walk is at 95% as well, and she's back running the fence line barking at everything that goes by!

Finally snapped a pic of Everest's feeding station with the chalkboard backing -- and big news for Everest, he's sharing with his new baby sister Alaska:

Aww, Everest and Alaska are adorable! Hayley, I'm glad to hear Molly is doing much better.

Keeping an eye on things