Make a Sleek Raised Pet Feeder

Hey everyone!

I’ve really been on a kick with projects for my cats (did you see my DIY cat tree using real tree branches?!), and I have another to add to that list today: a raised feeder for their food bowls! I’m starting to wonder if the babies are really appreciating all the hard work I put into things for them…

I wanted my feeder to be simple and sleek, so I started nosing around the Internet for some inspiration. Here are some of my favorites: Pawfect Pets, Pet Fusion, Vivipet, and KMG Designs.

For my feeder, I used a piece of scrap oak. It isn’t as fancy as my inspiration pics, but it was a ton cheaper…as in, it was free! I already had the wood and all other supplies I needed.

Here’s what I used:

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• A piece of wood big enough for the bowls.
• A hole saw with an attachment size that matches the bowl diameter.
• Two bowls with lips on the top—this is necessary because it will allow the bowls to sit in the holes without falling through!
• Legs. I chose to use two pieces that we cut off of the bigger piece when we cut it down to size.
• Stain and finish. I used Minwax Wood Finish in Espresso and Minwax Polyurethane in Semi-Gloss.
• Liquid Nails Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive
• Assorted sandpaper—I used 150 and 220 grit

And here’s how I did it!

(Remember to wear a mask and eye protection while sanding and working with wood, and wear an appropriate mask while working with paints, stains, and finishes. Follow the directions and warnings from your particular brand. Do not use any tools without proper training, precautions, and supervision from a professional. Read my full disclaimer here.)

Step 1: First I prepped the main piece of wood. I used a piece of oak from the wood scrap pile. I needed a piece that was big enough to hold the diameter of the bowls. Since my two bowls are roughly 4 inches in diameter, we cut out piece down to 16″ x 5.5″. Once it was cut to size, we measured and marked where we needed to drill the bowl holes.

Step 2: Next we drilled the holes. We clamped our piece in place because sawing the hole saw through oak was a b! My dad actually did this part because he is experienced (he is a licensed contractor), and I do not work well with the hole saw. Our roughly 4-inch bowls fit perfectly into the holes made by a 4-inch hole saw. The lip on the bowls kept them from falling through.

Step 3: For the legs, we wanted something that we could make using the scraps we created when we cut the main piece down to size. I cut a longer scrap piece in half and was lucky that it created legs exactly the length I needed!

Before I started this project, I’d experimenting with different heights by putting their food bowls up on something. I found that girlie wouldn’t really touch the food if it were higher than 2 inches off the ground, so I kept my legs very short.

Step 4: Polish and stain. I used 150-grit sandpaper to clean up the main piece and two legs, rounding the edges and buffing away rougher spots. Then I used 220 grit to polish the entire piece.

When I was happy with how smooth it was, I wiped all three pieces down and stained them using Minwax Wood Finish in Espresso.

Step 5: Glue and finish. When the stain had dried, I positioned the legs and glued them on using Gorilla Glue. Disclaimer! I think I kind of hate Gorilla Glue for projects like this and would suggest using Liquid Nails instead, but I didn’t have any on hand. I just hate how Gorilla Glue expands so unpredictably as it dries. I ended up having to clean up the edges around the glued area as the glue expanded.

Here’s my very advanced setup for applying pressure while the glue dries:

When the glue was dry enough, I gave the pieces two coats of Minwax Polyurethane in Semi-Gloss, sanding lightly with 220-grit sandpaper between the first and second coats.

Here are two closeups of the finished feeder:

And here it is completely finished with their bowls in place…perfect fit. 🙂

King Henry giving it a test run for dinner.

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