Wet food left in a dish for an hour in a warm kitchen is not something to feed back to a cat, which means the dish gets washed at least twice a day. That is the real test of a pet saucer. Not whether it survives a drop, but whether it still looks like itself after six hundred trips through a dishwasher, and melamine passes that test in a way most printed ceramics do not.

The pattern is a Moroccan-inspired geometric, the kind of thing that looks chosen rather than issued, which is more than can be said for most pet bowls. Underneath the decoration it is standard Tarhong melamine: BPA-free, food safe, resistant to chips and scratches, non-slip on the base and in no danger of shattering if it goes off the counter onto a hard floor. At 90 g it is light to lift, and at 13.2 cm across it is sized for a cat's portion rather than a dog's dinner.

• Moroccan-inspired geometric pattern
• 13.2 cm diameter, 90 g
• BPA-free, food-safe melamine
• Resistant to chips, scratches and breakage
• Non-slip base
• Dishwasher safe for daily washing
• Suitable for indoor and outdoor use

On the dishwasher. It is dishwasher safe, but give it the lower basket rather than the top shelf beside the heating element. Melamine takes a very hot drying cycle less kindly than glass does, and years of it will dull a printed surface. Never the microwave. Those two habits are the difference between a saucer that lasts and one that looks tired by spring.

Who it's for: Cats of any size, from Persians and Siamese to everyday domestic shorthairs, in homes where the feeding spot is somewhere visitors can see.