Do you use a separate sponge to wash the cat/dog dishes from the human dishes?
Do you throw the kongs, bowls, and bits in with the people dishes in the dishwasher?
Do the dogs lick the saute pan?
One friend’s dog licks the pots and pans and the kongs go in the dishwasher. Another hand washes -though she has a dishwasher- the dog food bowls immediately after use; I don’t know if she then uses the same sponge on the dinner plates. If she does, is that gross?
My dog eats out of her own dishes and I have one sink for dog stuff, with it’s own brushes.
Then, once in a while, she may lick a small bowl clean, rather than go get her dish and put whatever was left in it or a small paper plate.
Then that bowl is washed by hand, with hot water and soap, in the regular people’s sink.
Psst, don’t tell anyone about that.
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7776413]
Do you use a separate sponge to wash the cat/dog dishes from the human dishes? [/QUOTE] Yes
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7776413]Do you throw the kongs, bowls, and bits in with the people dishes in the dishwasher? [/QUOTE] Bowls, yes, kongs, no
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7776413]Do the dogs lick the saute pan? [/QUOTE] no
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7776413]One friend’s dog licks the pots and pans and the kongs go in the dishwasher. Another hand washes -though she has a dishwasher- the dog food bowls immediately after use; I don’t know if she then uses the same sponge on the dinner plates. If she does, is that gross? [/QUOTE] yes, sponges harbor bacteria
Cat eats off of stoneware. For the most part it is separate because it’s my old pattern, but one of them is my husband’s favorite salsa bowl so it does dual duty.
Wet cat food is one of the most disgusting substances on earth! :disgust:
My cat eats on paper plates that I throw away because I can’t stand the thought of that stuff in my dishwasher. :no:
(I do rinse and put them in the recycling however - so no flaming!)
My mom has separate old plates that her cats eat off of, but she uses the same forks that she and my dad eat with every day. Blech!! And they all go in the dishwasher together. :eek:
I KNOW that I am being stupid/weird about it, but I have very few other quirks, so I just humor myself. I would rather touch horse crap that wet cat food! True story! :lol:
no, why would you separate them? unless you’re an irrational germ-a-phobe or something. Hot water and soap kill germs.
Also keep firmly in mind that dogs carry practically no diseases that can be passed on to humans, but other humans carry MANY diseases that can be passed on to other humans. It’s much more hygenic to share your dishes with your dog than to share them with another person.
There is an old-fashioned cultural belief some cling to that animals are “dirty” in some way, but it’s not true.
I don’t separate. Gave up on that idea a long time ago.
I grew up on a ranch. I could survive on dirt if I had to. Hope that answers your questions.
P.S. - I’m never sick, either.
Dogs and cats have their own bowls that I occasionally stick in the dishwasher when they get gross.
Very occasionally I’ll put something down for them to lick (tuna juice spread between 3 plates for the 9 cats, most often) and then those go in the dishwasher.
I soak Kongs first in hot water in the sink to loosen any stuck on bits, then give 'm a good sloshing and put them in the dishwasher (sensing a theme yet?)
When I had no DW I’d just use hot soapy water and the regular sponge. Sponge was/is never left to sit damp in the sink, it’s always in a basket to drain and dry, and it gets doused/soaked in boiling water at least once a week.
I agree with Wendy. There’s less risk with sharing dishes with the dogs than with your spouse. I do puppy prewash on just about everything. (The left over oils/grease/gravey are better for the dog than the septic)! I will wash the dog bowls last but that’s due to the hair not the germs.
I don’t get crazy about germs. For all I know, the dog licking my face just ate a rabbit in the yard! I’m healthier than my friends and co-workers too. Wonder if there is a correlation…
One of my dogs eats raw so after every meal I scrub out his bowl with hot water and a scrubber that is for his bowl only.
Sometimes they lick plates, pans, etc. After they go in the dishwasher.
I always put dog bowls in the dishwasher with everything else.
Separate them -why?
Paula
I feed my animals a mostly raw diet and use the same plates and (red) cutting boards we use to prepare human RAW meat. If those are good enough for my children to use again after a run through the dishwasher, why not after a pet used it???
No sponges here and I give everything a good rinse or scrub with a brush (that can be sanitized!) before the DW. With two dogs that love to eat and one that will spend an hour going around the house to lick all 4 dishes clean, they pretty much never need to be scrubbed. :lol:
ETA - I am a germ-a-phobe but it applies to people issues as well. Raw or cooked meat that I’m going to feed my family is barely different than what I feed the animals, and I’m just as concerned about the humans contaminating everything.
No, I don’t bother keeping dishes separate. Even though the dogs do have there own dishes, they eat of ours all the time.
I hate sponges, so we use anti-bacterial clothes that are washable. Fresh ones each day.
I have teenage boys that are 100% grosser than my animals. I will not share towels with them - lol!
No separating here, either.
And I kiss my dogs on the lips. 
I feed raw, so the dogs eat out of heavy stainless steel dishes. They get washed after every use, but sometimes I don’t think the housekeeper uses the separate sponge. Everything for my dogs is colour coded, and their sponge is different from the people sponge, but I’m very suspicious that she doesn’t switch, so I just throw them out after she’s been in.
The cat eats off his Hello Kitty plate and the dog has his own green bowl. Kitty plate gets washed after each wet cat food feeding 2X a day and I wash the dog’s bowl once a week. The pet’s have their own sponge.
When they get raw as a treat, the bowls are washed right after use. If I had a dishwasher everything would go in that, but I don’t so it all goes in the same sink and drying rack. (The cat’s dish goes off to the side, because if he hears it, he thinks its time to eat)
My dogs clean their own metal bowls !
My dogs have their own bowls, but we use the same sponge to wash their and our dishes (no dishwasher here). We also let our dogs lick out our bowls (especially ice cream bowl) and sometimes we even share an ice cream cone with them (darn dogs want to bite it and take a bigger portion!)… I am healthy and rarely even get a cold!!!:winkgrin:
Pet food dishes are their own, but I wash them with the regular sponge. I mean, I’m not feeding them poison, not sure what the difference would be. I would let them lick the plates before I wash them too but my DH would prefer I didn’t.
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