...maze bowl, all of ours were metal, too.

We've had metal for years, but I had to buy a new, really large, metal bowl. Krypto's other bowls didn't hold enough food, or water.

Then, I began worrying about GSD's being prone to bloat, and got the maze bowl. It's the same here, in that it doesn't slow him as much as I'd hoped, but I'm sticking with it for now, hoping that it helps a little.

Yes, the no-skid bottoms are important, and much more convenient than having to use a mat beneath a dish.

I also like the metal because they are easy to get nice and clean, and while not lighter than plastic, are lighter than crock material.

Now I can see that, if I had crock material for Krypto, it would weigh a ton because of the size that it would have to be!

The cats, on the other hand, have all kinds of bowls from metal and porcelain, to crocks and plastic that doesn't affect them negatively.