Hi,

I've been washing my pets' bowls in the dishwasher (with the high-intensity wash, set at 75° C, or 167° F) and never thought much about it. For context, my pets are 3 cats and they're all in good health.

Recently my friend found this out and she called me disgusting, saying that I must not wash pets' bowls in the dishwasher: they can only be handwashed. She used to have a dog, and she says she always handwashed the dog's bowls, so that they would not contaminate humans' dishes and cutlery.

I was flabbergasted that someone took issue with the cats' bowls being washed in the dishwasher, since in my opinion whatever germs go in are destroyed in the wash cycle. I pointed out to my friend that the hottest temperature tap water can achieve is 65° C, or 149° F, although in most houses the limit is set even lower (for instance, tap water doesn't go any hotter than 50° C, or 122° F, in my house) so it's actually *more* hygienic to wash the pets' bowls in the dishwasher (where the water is considerably hotter) rather than handwash them.

My friend was adamant that what I'm doing is disgusting and unsanitary.

What do you think? Am I the only one who's ever put a pet's bowl in the dishwasher or is my friend overreacting?

Thanks in advance for enlightening me.