What’s That Slime???

We ALL have perfect doggie parents and they ALWAYS make sure we are cared for with TOPNOTCH care… or do they???  Have your parents ever been rushed to get out the door for an appointment or to get to work and they noticed the water bowl was running a bit low… so they just poured a bit in to just “top it off”???  They would give the bowl a good rinsing when they got back later.  When they got home later, they had dinner to prepare so they just “topped it off again” and reminded themselves to rinse that thing before they went to bed.  When bedtime rolled around, they could barely keep their eyes open so they “topped it off again.”

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The next morning… they were on top of their game and got that water bowl to the sink, but as they were washing it out, they noticed it was a little SLIPPERY in the bottom.  What is that slippery stuff?  That STUFF is called BIOFILM, and it’s actually a thin layer of BACTERIA…some of it is GOOD bacteria but some of it is BAD bacteria that could actually make your little baby SICK!!!  Some of the BAD bacteria that are contained in BIOFILM are Listeria, E. coli and legionella.  If that water bowl isn’t cleaned enough, this bacteria starts to multiply and the water becomes contaminated… and this happens pretty fast too.  The BAD bacteria in BIOFILM has been linked to urinary tract infections, bladder infections and middle ear infections… so if your baby is prone to any of these….or any other unexplained infections…ask yourself how often you have been cleaning that water bowl, and how WELL you have been CLEANING it!!!

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To be honest, that water bowl needs to be cleaned a MINIMUM a once a day… but the BEST thing to do is EVERY TIME you need to top off the water, take it to the sink and clean it out.  This is best done by pouring the remaining water out and wiping it out with a dry paper towel to BREAK UP the BIOFILM.  You can’t just rinse it out… it must be physically broken down.  Use very hot soapy water to then rinse out the bowl.  At least once a week, run it through the dishwasher.  If you are handwashing your bowls, then once a week they should be soaked for 10 minutes in a 1:50 bleach rinse… this is 1 cap of bleach to one gallon of water.  Rinse the bowl well and let it air dry.  I am sure everyone has a supply of doggie bowls so it is easy to swap out a dirty water bowl for a fresh one.

****  A word of caution here:  If you have a baby, an elderly person or anyone with a compromised immune system living in your home, it is advised to wash your pet bowls SEPARATELY from the rest of your family’s dishes due to the bacteria that will most certainly be in them and could possibly transfer onto the dishes that are being used by these individuals.  I know this is a far stretch, but in these circumstances, it might be worth this added effort to err on the side of caution.

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Another thing to know is that you should really be using stainless steel or ceramic water bowls versus plastic bowls.  This is because plastic can get scratched easily, which allows bacteria, algae and mold to get into those little crevices… and it is very difficult to get it out.  If you do use plastic bowls, keep an eye out for deep scratches and replace them when they begin to look worn.  These scratches can also allow chemicals from the plastic itself to leech into the water and food since it has now gone through the protective coating, so just be aware of this.

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So now that you have the SLIMY FACTS…. I know that everyone is going to run and check the bottom of your water bowls to see if they are clean.  This does not need to be a monumental task.  A quick rinse in hot soapy water a few times a day, especially if you have numerous doggies drinking from the same bowl, should take care of this SLIMY problem… and give the bowl a deep clean once a week.  CHEERS!

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