LickiMat Casper, Fish-Shaped Cat Slow Feeders Lick Mat, Boredom Anxiety Reducer; Perfect for Food, Treats, Yogurt, or Peanut Butter. Fun Alternative to a Slow Feed Cat Bowl or Dish, Green

I needed to find a way to stop my cat from scarfing and barfing. The dishes with the larger spaces in between them didn't help because she was still able to shove her little mouth in the gaps and take big bites. This little dish worked a lot better because the gaps are so small she has to work extra in licking between the grooves. I use wet food and make sure to really squish the food into the grooves. If I just plop the food on top and spread it around it doesn't work. Really pack the food in there so it requires a lot of slow licking to get every bit of food.Cleaning is easy if I don't clean it as soon as she finishes eating. I let the crumbs dry up and then spray it down with a strong jet of water from the kitchen sink. The crumbs fall out easily. A quick scrub with a sponge after and it's clean and ready to be used again.I worry about her licking the rubber too hard to start removing pieces of the rubber and eating it but I haven't seen that yet.

Sylph, who outgrew her name some time ago, has to go on a diet. Vet’s orders. He called her obese.She thinks eating less = oppression. And she’s very creative at expressing displeasure. She’s not the kind of cat who communicates with body fluids. She launches her 15 pounds of fat self directly into you chest or back the second she sees an opening.I was looking into puzzle feeders and found this. The genius of it is that she has food bits to pick out of it for time enough to start feeling full. So instead of trying to murder me, she goes back and works on the fish.The bonus part is that her skinny sister who eats so fast that she regurgitates right back into her dish was absolutely fascinated with it. I got her one of her own and she has not lost her lunch since we started using it.

I have two cats. One is about 2 1/2 and the other is going to be a year old in May. Last summer, I had an issue with my older cat and needed to take him to the vet only to find that he had idiopathic cystitis. The problem was that nothing had changed in my household for close to a year that would count as a "stressor". I didn't even rearrange the furniture. I chose to make some changes in the house, including getting another cat, changing food, and trying to provide more enrichment opportunities. The choice to get another cat was absolutely the right call. While they play together and entertain each other much of the day and there have not been any further issues, I am still actively trying to find ways to provide enrichment. The new cat is a little bit of a chatter box. Unfortunately, he often decides to be loud in the middle of the day when I am trying to work from home and speaking with customers on the phone. My noise cancelling headphones DO NOT help with this. The new guy is very food motivated and when I learned that licking promotes calmness, I jumped.I don't even WIPE these. THEY ARE SO EASY TO CLEAN IT IS INCREDIBLE. I knew when I got these that if they were complicated or annoying that I would never use them and luckily that has not been the case. Even when I leave the mats out overnight, it takes me less than 30 seconds to clean them. I toss them into the sink face up. Then I spray them with Dawn Powerwash and let them sit temporarily while I pull stuff out to put on the mat for that day and set it on the counter. Then I blast them with the handheld sprayer on my sink and it is over and done with.They can occupy my cats anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.I watched a few people on Tiktok and looked up different recipes. The following is the list of what I am using or plan on trying on my mats at home. I try to do a mix of different things every day and put them in different places on the mat to see what is being eaten. I noticed some people just pile stuff on and...it just looks awful so I stay away from that kind of application.1. Canned cat food. I free feed dry food, but I put the canned on their mats. I use half a can per mat (preferably pate) and mix it with extra water before smearing it. This is the "main course" of the mat. Anything else I add is a smaller portion and really just serves to keep them interested.2. Canned pumpkin. Make sure you are getting the pure pumpkin and not one that contains sugar and spices. You can also buy pumpkin or carrot baby food.3. Goat Milk powder. You can use it to make the milk in the bowl or as a meal topper, but I find that mixing the powder with the pumpkin makes the pumpkin more enticing. I used this brand https://amzn.to/3HhdjGV4. A spot of honey. Just a very tiny bit and only occasionally.5. I have done very small amounts of cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or plain greek yogurt, but I am trying to get away from this.6. Meat flavored baby food.7. Canned tuna - but only if I am opening a can for myself. I give them a little bit and mix the juice with some dry food.8. Bone Broth - you can find dry powder mix specifically made for pets (it doesn't contain any garlic, onions, seasoning, etc).9. Raw food (I like Stella and Chewys frozen raw dinner morsels). My local store is out but I'll be trying these in the near future.10. Supplements. My cats get gel for hairballs, but these mats work great for hairball treatment, calming gel, l-lysine supplements, etc. I don't need to smear it on their paws because they eat it willingly and this gives me space to do that.

My cat didn’t mind it but didn’t love it either. To be fair—she’s picky. The product is in good condition but I did end up donating it because my cat wasn’t that interested. I think this would be good for a number of cats but maybe the design could be more enticing? That way picky cats would take more of an interest.

TL;DR: if you have a scarf & barf cat, you need this! I like the Caspar over the FelixMy cat is in constant danger of scarf and barf. I had been feeding him teaspoons of food at a time, but it would take an hour to get through one meal. I had reservations about using one of these mats, I was worried about how much work it would be to clean it. I had finally broke down and bought one to try. It has completely changed mealtime for my cat. It took about a week for him to get used to it (I lightly put his wet food into it, after a week I was able to pack it in). He does take some medication with his food, I just crush the pill up and mix it in, there are no issues with that. And as for the cleaning that I was so worried about? It's so much easier than I was afraid of. If I grab it right when he is done, left over bits of food just wash right out. If I forget about it, and the food dries, I just soak it for a bit, then it washes out.I got the Caspar first, which I like the best, and bought the Felix as a back up. He can eat faster in the Felix, and I worry it might be too fast, so that one is back up only.

My little idiot is going on 9 years old now, and for the longest time, really since the day I adopted her, she has been the absolute best at the ol' scarf'n barf. It was such a problem I had to give her breakfast and dinner servings of wet food in three different portions for each meal so she wouldn't overeat and throw it all up, complete with waiting 30mins between each portion. Needless to say, meal times were a production.Ever since we started using this mat, she hasn't thrown up a SINGLE time! Not even treats! Hardly any left in the grooves and nooks on the mat either. This thing has been so perfect for her, and it's probably one of the best purchases I've ever made -- aside from my Mr Coffee hot and cold ice maker.