A cats tongue has barbs and moves food very well. When this physical characteristic is combined with canned food and a smooth sided bowl, the result is waste and mess. Cat's also occasionally pick up, partially chew, then drop food just outside of the bowl. Cats will rarely eat what is spilled so the remaining mess is usually thrown away. The humane society estimates that there are about 93 million cats owned in the USA. Even if only a small percentage of that number were fed canned food, the waste is significant. This is a feeding bowl specifically designed to prevent the kind of waste and mess produced by feeding felines canned or wet food.