My DIY raised cat bowls project will help you create a beautiful feeder for your spoiled kitties!

DIY elevated cat feeder plans

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. This makes a great scrap wood project since it doesn’t require much wood.

Supplies 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. (Optional: If you don’t have a hole saw attachment or you don’t have a drill powerful enough to drive a hole saw through wood, you can use a jigsaw instead.)
• 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. (Optional: Nailgun or hammer and small nails for extra reinforcement.)
• Assorted sandpaper—I used 150 and 220 grit.

(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 terms of use here.)

Step 1: Prep the wood

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. If you can use a softer wood like pine, that’s probably the best option. Oak is really hard, and it can be difficult to cut through. Working with scraps is always my favorite option, though 🙂

Step 2: Drill the cat bowl holes

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.

If you don’t want to buy a hole saw attachment or don’t have a drill strong enough to drive a hole saw attachment through wood, you can use a jigsaw. This will just take a pretty steady hand, and the circles probably won’t be super perfect. But the cut areas will largely be hidden by the bowls, so it’s not a huge deal.

Step 3: Cut the legs

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 the pieces

I used 150-grit sandpaper to clean up the main piece and two legs, rounding the edges and buffing away rougher spots. I ran the sandpaper in a circular motion around the inside of the two circular cuts. 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. You can stain and finish yours as desired—or you can leave it unfinished. I do recommend a sealant coat, though, to make it easy to clean. Something like a few coats of polyurethane or polycrylic.

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. You can obviously use bar clamps. That’d be preferable. But this had to do in my apartment without a workshop!

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. Polyurethane or polycrylic is a necessary step to seal the wood. If the wood is seals, you can easily wipe down the raised feeder to keep it clean.

And here’s the raised feeder!

Here are a few closeups of my finished DIY raised cat feeder, the bowls fitting perfectly in the holes, and my sweet Henry giving the elevated feeder a test run! (You can also check out my DIY raised dog bowls feeder if you have a pup.)

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