Eating off the floor makes a cat or a small dog crane their neck down and to the side, and for an older animal with a stiff spine that is genuinely uncomfortable, enough that some of them eat less than they should rather than persist with it. Raising the dish to chest height removes the crouch and lets them swallow with the throat in a straight line, which is why raised feeders are so often suggested for senior pets.

This is a pair of ceramic bowls, each 13 centimetres across and 5.7 deep, dropped into a frame on angled wooden legs. Ceramic is the right material for a food dish: dishwasher safe, it does not scratch into the network of fine grooves that hold bacteria the way plastic eventually does, and it gives water none of that plastic taste. Both bowls lift out of the stand, so cleaning means two dishes rather than one awkward unit.

• Two removable ceramic bowls, 13cm across and 5.7cm deep
• Stand measures 37.5cm wide
• Short-leg version stands 16cm high, long-leg version 20cm
• 11cm high without the legs fitted
• Angled wooden legs
• Weighs around 821g to 850g depending on version
• Dishwasher-safe ceramic

Who it's for: Cats and small dogs, particularly older ones who find floor-level bowls uncomfortable, in homes where the feeding station is on show.