Painted Ceremic bowls - Poison to dogs-

[Lady's Human]

Never, ever argue religion with a true believer.

[areias]

Then what is recommended for a dog that will tip any bowl except ceramic?? I only use it for his food...but when he starts eating, even in a "no-spill" bowl he will normally loose about 1/4 of his food in the floor. Ceramic put an end to that.

I have a plastic "auto waterer" with a jug that is tipped over, and have never had a problem-the first one we had would leave mildew at the highest point of the water but we took care of that with washing everytime the jug was empty...

[borzoimom]

Then what is recommended for a dog that will tip any bowl except ceramic?? I only use it for his food...but when he starts eating, even in a "no-spill" bowl he will normally loose about 1/4 of his food in the floor. Ceramic put an end to that.

I have a plastic "auto waterer" with a jug that is tipped over, and have never had a problem-the first one we had would leave mildew at the highest point of the water but we took care of that with washing everytime the jug was empty...

I use bowls like this. At dinner time the one side comes out ( thats femkas spot to eat) and the rest of the time they are both water.

[Karen]

There are many, many, many, many, many types of plastic. Saying "plastic bowls absorb fat" is misleading, in that it depends on what kind of plastic you have. Some are softer and more prous than others, and so unsuitable. But you cannot rule out "all plastic" or "all ceramic" any more than you can say "every dog likes to play fetch." Tupperware, for example, is a fairly soft plastic - if you store spaghetti sauce in it, it will stain. That is not true of harder plastics. Think about it.

For ceramics, if it is made in the U.S., and if it is people-safe, it is perfectly safe and fine, even if it has pretty colors. There are manufacturing standards set for such things.

[borzoimom]

Yea- if we use ceremics they are made in the US or Canada.

[Catsnclay]

I have been in the pottery business for the last 30 + years and this is one of those "old wives tales" that pop up now and then.


Let me see if I can straighten this out for everyone. Ceramics - earthenware, stoneware & porcelian are completely SAFE. We have strick regulations that we MUST meet if we sell/make anything in the ceramic world. All clays and glazes, if used properly are completely safe. The dinnerware you eat off of every night....safe. The coffee/tea you drink in the am, perfectly safe.

Now, the ceramic you must be aware of is some of the stuff made in China and Mexico. They sometimes do not fire the clay to the correct tempature, and the glazes they use are known to have some lead in them, BUT......it would take years, and years of eating & drinking off of these before anything would happen to you.

I suggest strongly if you are going to buy any type of ceramics at a dollar store or from foriegn countries, to go and buy a lead kit - yes they are out there. It is a little paper stick that you put on the said piece with water (I believe) and if it turns a specific color it either does or does not have lead. Very simple.

Buy your ceramics from stores & people you trust (sorry, I don't trust dollar store ceramics at all!) Yes, the local potters at craft fairs are safe - we have to be or we would all be out of business.

If anyone has any more questions about ceramics, please feel free to PM me, I will be happy to help.

Bunny

[borzoimom]

Bowls in the US are safe. I totally agree! If I use ceremic bowls they are made in the US.
BTW- I use to do ceremics too Catsnclay... Thats pretty cool!!!

[borzoimom]

Never, ever argue religion with a true believer.

lol.. yup!

[cyber-sibes]

Just adding my 2 cents, gained form 30 years of working in the ceramics field:

Lead is perfectly safe in glazes if the pottery has been properly fired. It is physically impossible for it to "come out" into your food. Unfortunately, some cheap imports aren't properly fired, hence the persistent rumor. For at least the past twenty years, all lead has been "encapsulated" in commercial glazes used for food items, human or canine. The industry also used to use uranium, which is no longer legal.

Regarding overseas pottery: The USA is the baby in the industry. Ceramic ware has been commercially produced for centuries upon centuries in European, Asian and Middle-eastern countries.

And yes, gloves & respirators are standard when mixing leaded glazes.
Moral: buy a decent ceramic bowl. I've used them with pets for years and no one has dropped dead yet or shown any signs of heavy metal poisoning.