How Often Should You Wash Your Dog's Bowls?

Dog parents are always worried whether their dog’s bowls are clean or not, but keeping in mind information online it’s difficult to know what you should do when it comes to your dog’s bowls.

How often should you wash your dog’s bowls? What should you wash it with? You’ll find tons of conflicting information online, and so we decided to ask experts and find out what they say about bowl hygiene!

William (Bill) Burkholder, DVM, Ph.D., DACVN, and Charlotte Conway, MS, from the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA state that, “The FDA doesn’t regulate pet food bowls; however, we do regulate pet food. Just like with people food, pet food that’s left out too long can grow bacteria.”

As far as the kinds of bacteria growing in the bowls, they state, “What kind of bacteria grow in the bowls depends on factors like the environment, exposure and oral hygiene of the animal, but possible examples include Staphylococcus aureus, Pasteurella multocida and different species of Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Enterobacteria, Neisseria, Moraxella, Bacillus and, less frequently, Salmonella and Pseudomonas.”

When it’s time to clean the dishes, they “can be effectively washed with hot, soapy water. As an extra precaution, you can use a solution of one tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach in one gallon of water to sanitize washed surfaces and utensils,” add Burkholder and Conway.

A spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association stated that it’s okay to wash your dog’s bowls with other dishes in the dishwasher, provided that they are washed regularly to avoid the growth of bacteria. Loading your dog’s bowls in the dishwasher with your dishes can make you and your dog sick if they’re not washed regularly. Having said that, you should avoid washing your dog’s bowl with your dishes if someone in your family has a compromised immune system.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay