The five minutes a pet spends working paste out of a textured surface are worth far more than the food in it. Licking is self-soothing behaviour, which is why a mat like this earns its keep at bath time, during a nail trim, or when the fireworks start, rather than only at meals. Spread something sticky across the swirl and a thirty-second snack becomes several minutes of settled concentration.

The pattern here is a single continuous swirl, 15.2 cm across and 2.6 cm deep, which gives paste a channel to sit in instead of a flat face it slides off. A suction cup underneath grips smooth floor, tile or the side of a bath so the mat does not travel across the room as your pet pushes at it. That matters more than it sounds: a mat that slides gets chased, and a chased mat has stopped being calming.

• 15.2 cm diameter, 2.6 cm thick
• Flexible food-grade silicone that peels clean
• Suction cup base for smooth floors, tiles or a bath side
• Three colours: light blue, cyan and rubber pink
• Weighs 180 g; hand or dishwasher washable
• Suits cats and dogs of any size

On what you put on it. Kibble does not work here. Dry food sits on top and is hoovered up in seconds, which defeats the point completely. Use wet food, meat paste, yoghurt or a thin smear of peanut butter, and check any peanut butter is free from xylitol, which is toxic to dogs. Freezing a filled mat stretches the same portion out considerably further.

Who it's for: Owners of a fast eater or an anxious pet who want a small, grippy mat for grooming, bath time and noisy evenings.