My last cat ate and drank from ramekins - perfect size and shape for kitty bowls. She also used pretty blue and white bowls from Chinatown.

My current cat is spoiled and received a little wrought iron stand with food and water bowls as a gift from my mom.

My cat now uses one of our old glass salad bowls for her water. Her preference is to drink any glass of water left unattended and refused to drink out of her normal cat bowl. It is sort of a compromise. Sometimes I give her a glass of water by her window seat when I think she might now be drinking enough...perpetuating bad habits. Oh well.

I use dishes from CB2. I don't think they sell them anymore, but they're white and flat shaped for slices for pizza or pie or whatever. I have two side by side forming a half circle against the wall. I can't use anything deep because Leroy will knock it over and I've slipped a couple times from his water puddles. It also ensures that he gets a fresh dish of water every morning (with filtered water of course!).

what is up with all the cats lately?

My cats love to break their bowls, so i have a stash of Value Village bargains.

My little cat prefers my old green stoneware saucer to her food bowl (I think it is a whisker-interference issue) but mostly they stick with their little stainless kitty bowls. Though, as far as the rest of the house goes, they have pretty much claimed everything...

I put my cats kibble on the saucers from my cabinet (heck, I don't use them), for some reason she doesn't like eating the food out of a bowl, maybe the rim presses on her neck? I love the bowls you have pictured though!

.Jaclyn. - I didn't know till a veterinarian informed me that cats don't like to have their food and water bowls together. They like them separated. Do you have the bowls together?

I use a regular plate for my dog because when I first got him he wouldn't eat and I had to trick him into thinking it was people food (I mixed people food in too to get him to eat). He's spoiled.

I got a couple of tear drop shaped bowls from Bed Bath and Beyond for food/water bowls. They sort of link together and are really cute. The other bonus is if there is left over food the tapered side helps funnel the food back into food container.

My cats will eat off anything, but now enjoy a variety of mismatched fine china pieces I found being thrown out in my buildings basement.

Our water bowl is a big heavy crockery type, that is light blue. This is because Roxie (dog) kept knocking the others over.

Her food dish is a vintage blue pyrex bowl ( i had the set, but again she knocked it over with water)

Misu cat has a raised food dish area so the dog can't get hers (even though she still drinks the dogs water) Her bowls are parisian and green and lovely.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/2799442893_827afd1293.jpg?v=0

I used to use "people" bowls from Ikea for my dog, but they were exclusively hers. Then I found cute little dog dishes at Crate and Barrel outlet that are white and black and say "hungry" and "thirsty" inside. I just had to get them.

Human dishes? Try human glasses. My kitty's favorite thing in the universe:

ICE WATER THAT HAS BEEN SIPPED BY HUMANS.

Put that ice in his bowl and he'll ignore it. Put that ice in a human water glass and put it on the floor by his food an--no, he'll still ignore it. But don't give up--if you then pick up that glass and take a sip, then MEW MEW MEW MEW he must have it, immediately. If you don't give it to him fast enough he will proceed to get up on his hind legs and beg you with heartbreaking cries.

So, so odd. But so cute!

I have a really ugly water dispenser for my cats (one of those with a jug upside down that trickles into a bowl). I really hate it and it's difficult to clean, but the cats LOVE it. I've never seen them drink so much water.

Their food bowls are a black ceramic set I got at Ikea for next to nothing.

My cat uses two pretty white bowls I got from Ross, because I was tired of all the cat bowls with fishes and weird sayings. She likes them.

Our cats get water in a spare bowl from our everyday set. Slightly off topic, we used to have one of those plastic pet fountain things. A month or so in, kitty developed "acne" on his chin, which was not pretty. The vet said that drinking from plastic vessels can cause this. Apparently the plastic hosts more bacteria or something. Anyway, the acne cleared up when we switched back to ceramic dishes.

Pixie - she's always had separate bowls, but they were low, ceramic ones. The bowl is pretty deep and she'll drink from it if it is filled to the top so she can drink sitting up...maybe she just doesn't like drinking hunched over.

But she still loves glasses more. I usually keep water on my nightstand and now have to use a small glass that can be wedged in between the shelves. I woke up too many nights to slurp, slurp, slurp next to my head.

My dog eats out of a Heath Ceramics vegetable/serving bowl. She loves it. It's durable and gets tossed in the dishwasher.

My cats used to have their own bowls, but after we moved they were misplaced and I just started using two of our regular bowls. It's actually easier on me, because I can quickly swap them out, putting the used ones in the dishwasher with the rest of the dishes, instead of having to have an extra set of special cat bowls on hand while their used ones are washed or just wash them quickly enough that they don't miss their food and water. It's only a concern because they only seem to be desperately hungry and thirsty when I get near their bowls...

What a great reminder that my kitties need some new bowls! I love the idea of using "people dishware" but worry slightly that my biggest guy, Noam, will break it. He has this weird habit of pawing at the dish and scooping peices out so that he can nibble them off of the floor. I can only imagine the sides of the bowl bother his whiskers so a saucer would work better...

kdka - I've heard of this happening with plastic bowls! I have the same kitty water-jug for my guys and while they don't love it, it keeps me them from tipping it over since its so heavy.

My cat has to have a regular pet bowl for her water, with the sloped sides so she can't knock it over...If I put water in any kind of regular bowl she'll tip it over to purposely make puddles on the floor to play in. Her favorite is pushing the water and making a "river". Weirdest cat ever.

She still loves drinking out of the bathroom faucet the best though. Anyone know a cheap fountain so I don't have to keep turning on the faucet? Even if it's a decorative people fountain, I think she just wants running water.

Be sure and not use anything that is not good for food or water to be stored in---that decorative stuff that should have a sign on the back that warns not to use for food. Lead painted glazes I guess! Most pets are small babies really, and need protection also.

Our cat also uses CB2 bowls on a black vinyl placement. http://flickr.com/photos/mviamontes/367462750/in/set-72157594496738668/

I spent about $10 for both bowls and placement.

My cat scoops his food out of the bowl so he can eat it off the floor, which attracts ants. So I grabbed a rubbermaid storage bin and throw his food in there. No more ants. :)

I've thought about a chip-and-dip set for my snowshoe boy because more food goes on the tray underneath the bowls and on the floor than goes in his mouth. I just don't get it.

Russian blue-esque girl has no problems with this. She eats the stuff he flings (or whatever is happening) occasionally.

kdka, I agree
Cats should never have food or water in a plastic bowl. They get mouth and skin infections too easily

kgenesius - Have you looked into these?

http://www.petco.com/product/8820/Drinkwell-Pet-Fountain-for-Cats.aspx

My dogs also eat off of Heath Ceramics - the small side dish bowls. Their water bowl right now is a large glass bowl from a set of nesting bowls my mom gave me.

Cats like fresh water, moving if possible and it was absolutely imperative that I keep my cat drinking all the water he would , if we were to have any hope of saving him from the kidney damage caused by the poisonous pet food.
He is the only pet I have left after putting down the rest of my pack last year and I was prepared to do anything to save him.

I bought several food grade fountain pumps, for champagne and stuff at wedding receptions and used my old mismatched crockery to make my own fountains. Everything goes in the dishwasher but the plug in part and it worked great. Everyone comments on the fountains and my boy is still alive! And no more weekly IV for him either because he is getting the fluids he needs.

My kitty used to eat out of a couple of pretty glass dishes we picked up at a flea market, but after we had to move him up onto his own little dining table (away from the dog and her insatiable hunger), we switched him to a bowl stand with a rubberized bottom. It's not thrilling, but at least he can't knock it on the floor and get glass everywhere.

We did surrender the old couch to him. It was ugly anyway. It's his favourite scratching post. And he doesn't touch the new one.

My cats have a Drinkwell (so they won't whine at me to turn on faucets for them). I'd love to give them a ceramic bowl for food, but one of them is a very messy eater, so for now it's an ugly plastic bowl with a special rim to catch falling food bits.

My mom's cat once snatched a small stuffed sheep ornament off the Christmas tree, of all places, and it's been one of her favorite toys ever since.

elveden, same with my kitty! ha ha!

My kitty eats out of small bowls I got cheap at IKEA. She seems to like 'em all right, but then she's a chowhound. Nothing comes between her and food.

I've lost two Pyrex bowls to my cat-- she's a terribly messy eater, so I find a slightly larger dish helps her not get food absolutely everywhere. This same cat also is of the no-water-glass-is-safe mindset: sometimes she'll tour the room, sampling from everyone's glass when they turn away for even a moment. It's super, super annoying, but try as I might, she just won't stop. Eventually I got her her own water glass with a heavier base so she wouldn't keep tipping everything over, and while that has helped some, she still goes in for the freshly poured ice cold stuff given a moment's chance.

My cat has a nice wide food bowl that almost matches my dishware, and a cat food bowl for water from his previous owner to drink from. There is also an 8x8 baking dish surrendered to him that has cat grass water in it, and another glass is in the bathroom for him to drink from. Plus a sink in the bathroom is often plugged and has water in it.

He is super prone to crystals, so the more water the better!