How to Measure Your Dog's Bowl for a Splash Guard

You have decided to add a splash guard to your pet's bowl, and there is exactly one thing standing between you and a clean floor: making sure it fits. It takes about a minute, and getting it wrong is the main reason people end up returning one.

How to measure your pet's bowl

Measure straight across the top inside edge of the bowl. Put a ruler or tape measure across the opening — the widest part your pet actually eats from — and read the number where the inside walls meet the rim.

Do not measure the base. Most bowls taper, so the bottom is significantly narrower than the top and will give you a number several inches too small. Do not measure the outside of the rim either, since a thick lip can add half an inch that is not part of the opening.

If the bowl is not perfectly round, measure the narrowest direction. That is the measurement that determines whether a guard will seat properly.

What fits

MessMate splash guards are made for bowls between 7 and 9 inches across the opening, which covers the large majority of standard dog bowls and larger cat bowls sold in the U.S.

Roughly speaking:

• Under 7 inches — usually cat bowls, kitten bowls, or travel bowls. Too small; the guard will not grip.
• 7 to 9 inches — standard dog bowls and larger cat bowls. This is the range.
• Over 9 inches — giant-breed and shared bowls. Too wide; the guard cannot stretch far enough to hold.

Check the rim shape too

Diameter is most of the answer, but not all of it. The guard grips by hooking over the rim, so the shape of that rim matters.

Works well: straight sides, or a gently rolled lip. Standard stainless steel, ceramic and plastic bowls almost all fall here.

Works poorly: very thick rims, sharply flared or scalloped edges, square or oval bowls, and bowls moulded into a raised stand where there is no free edge to hook onto. If your bowl has a decorative lip that sticks out more than about a quarter inch, the guard will sit loose and your dog will dislodge it.

What to do if your bowl does not fit

You have two options, and neither of them is buying a guard and hoping.

If your bowl is close but the rim shape is wrong, replacing the bowl is cheaper than you would think — a plain non-slip stainless steel bowl costs less than most guards do.

If you would rather remove the question entirely, the bowl and splash guard set comes with both pieces sized to each other. No measuring, no rim to assess, and it works from the first meal. That is the reason most people choose the set over the guard on its own.

A note on cats

Most cat bowls sit below the 7-inch minimum, so measure before ordering rather than assuming — a cat bowl that looks standard is often 5 inches across. If your cat's bowl is too small, the bowl and guard set is the simpler route, since it gives your cat a bowl the guard actually fits. Cats also tend to be fussier about their whiskers touching the sides, so going wider and shallower is usually an upgrade for them anyway.

Before you order

Three checks and you are done: the diameter across the top inside edge, whether the rim is thin enough to hook over, and whether your pet can take a mouthful without their face pressing into the sides. Get those right and the guard does the rest.

A portion of every MessMate sale goes to dog rescue organisations, in memory of Spud.