A dog that empties a bowl in twenty seconds swallows a good deal of air with it, and the bloating, hiccups and occasional bring-back that follow are the usual reason people go looking for something like this. The ridged silicone centre breaks the food into small pockets your dog has to work around, which stretches a thirty-second meal into a few minutes of steady licking and nosing.

Everything here is soft silicone rather than hard plastic, so it flexes when it is shoved about and does not clatter across a tiled floor. The bowl sits inside a raised tray mat that catches whatever gets flicked over the edge, which matters far more with wet food and water than it does with dry kibble. One version adds a suction base to hold it still. The silicone has no seams for old food to hide in.

• Bowl measures 165mm across and 57mm high
• Round lick mat 300mm across
• Square lick mat 300mm x 300mm
• Rectangular lick mat 440mm x 240mm
• Food-grade silicone throughout, soft and non-slip
• Raised mat edge catches spills and splashes
• Weights range from 440g to 805g depending on the option

Choose the option carefully. They are not all the same item, so check the variant name against the measurements above before you order. Silicone is dishwasher-friendly in principle, but the ridges hold grease, so a proper hand wash now and then does a better job.

Who it's for: Fast eaters who gulp their dinner down whole, and households where mealtime mess on the kitchen floor has quietly become a daily chore.