No bowl, no problem

It's no secret that today's typical housecats have life pretty easy-and their waistlines are showing it. In fact, cats are more active when owners don't feed them ad libitum. The more well-fed our domestic cats are, the less enthusiastic they are about hunting and more sedentary they become.

Enter the NoBowl feeding system, developed by Elizabeth Bales, DVM. After years of feeling discouraged knowing that cats needed an alternative to eating from bowls, Dr. Bales-along with a team of feline veterinarians, veterinary nutritionists and veterinary behaviorists-invented a way for cats to "hunt" their dry food.

The tactile, prey-shaped design of the NoBowl stimulates a cat's natural use of its claws and teeth to fulfill the need to grip and play with food. It features a soft "skin" to simulate prey. Its shape is designed to roll and move the way a mouse or bird would, exciting cats without scaring them with unpredictable movement.

Once a cat is trained to use the NoBowl system, owners portion out the day's food between five NoBowls and then hide them around the home. The cat will hunt, play, eat and then rest until hunger drives her to hunt again-just as in nature.

Some of the benefits of the system include:

> No more feline alarm clock-owners can strategically place NoBowls in hiding places for cats to find at night, and sleep easy without being woken up by a hungry cat.

> Bye-bye, "scarf and barf"-cats slowly receive a healthy portion of food from the NoBowl, helping owners maintain a healthy weight in their cats and reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

> Better behavior-cats can redirect their natural instinct to hunt into bad behavior, like scratching or clawing drapes and furniture. By encouraging hunting behavior, cats are stimulated in a positive way.

> Happy hunting and a slimmer cat-indoor cats are often bored and sedentary. With this system, cats can happily hunt the calories away.

NoBowl also has a program called Catvocate Pro, which offers wholesale pricing for veterinarians to carry the  system in their pharmacy or retail area.

Learn more at nobowlcat.com.