Freedom
11-10-2006, 08:40 PM
Maybe I just need to be more in control and not let the cats run things.
Right now, this is when they Ask For It and eat:
7 AM; 12 noon; 4, 6, AND 8 PM. And before I put the lights out for bed.
The first feeding of the day, well someone got it in another thread - there is NO snooze button on this alarm clock!
Noon - they start whining, meowing, sidling up to me, rubbing my legs and basically being pests at about 11:15, which is when I usually start preparing our lunch. (Dad and me) No, they do NOT get our food.
4, 6 and 8 all the antics are performed again. Until i can't stand it and I feed them.
When I go to bed, I usually sit and read for a time. Then I have to get up to feed them before I can put out the light. If I don't? Forget trying to sleep anywhere in the HOUSE!
Vet says they should eat twice a day. All I can say is, they haven't read that book!
This has been going on for over a year now. If I am out and it gets to be feeding time, so what? Nothing happens. None of them bother Dad. (Dad is the typical grandfather to my cats. He plays with them, spoils them, brushes them. Does not feed them, empty litter boxes, clip nails, give baths, give meds when needed; none of the "chores." But don't get me wrong - if I am sick with a winter cold, he does fill in, no problem.)
I have tried ignoring them to the point that even Dad can't stand the uproar and commotion they create. Sparkle will start clearing things - the dining table, the kitchen counters (she only goes up there when she is REALLY upset), my dresser, the coffee table, the top of the refrigerator (we are so busy with the others we don't even see her get up there to stop her; she has been up there 3 times in 6 months, so this is a last resort with her.) What with things crashing down, Chestnut whining, and all the rest, we give in and they get fed.
Needless to say, none of them can try out for the part of Twiggy! (if you are too young to get that, just ignore it and keep reading.)
I need to try and get a more established routine.
Now there has to be exceptions to the routine.
Ruffles. Age 15; most of her teeth removed before she came to live with me. She eats about every half hour, around the clock. Five to 8 pieces of kibble. She has been like that for 2 of the 3 years she lived here. At night, she sleeps in a bedroom alone with the door closed and a dish full of food. She is at a good weight, the vet said she does not need to lose or gain. If she goes too long with no food, her stomach acid gets too much and she vomits, but there is only stomach juices coming up.
Chestnut. He does not chew his kibble, he just inhales it. As a result, if he gets over hungry, he inhales and within 5 minutes it all comes up again. Which is how I know it doesn't get chewed going down. So if he misses a meal time, I have to lock him in a room and give him 5 pieces. Wait 15 minutes (with him whining and crying and pounding on the door) then go in and give him the rest of his portion. He is overweight and I am having no luck getting his weight down with this feeding 6 times a day routine!
Ebony. She has lived here about 4 months. She is on a different time zone, I guess. She only came from Warwick, 15 minutes down the highway, but she is on Pacific time or something. She eats twice a day, except when she eats once a day, and on rare occassions she eats three times a day. She tells me when she wants to eat. She ignores what the rest of them are doing. If I am feeding the others and call her, she doesn't even bother to come see what for anymore, she knows she isn't hungry and she is NOT going to interrupt her nap! In spite of this, she has filled out a little since she arrived 4 months ago, and she really didn't need to do that.
When I see those photos of the Abys partaking of one dish of food (is Gary the one who posts those? I am not sure of everyone's names yet) I just stare in disbelief! Chestnut runs around from dish to dish swallowing all he can get, and saves his dish for last. He even settled at one dish with his feet in Vita's dish last night. lol. He is in such a muddle for food! Crystal will finish her dish first, then move on to whatever is left in other dishes. Cuddles sometimes doesn't get enough, Crystal moves her out of her own dish!, and then Cuddles has to let me know she is hungry a short time later.
So. In other muti cat households, how do you handle feeding?
For reasons I can't go into now (this is way too long already), I need to get them on a better routine, even when I am here. Or maybe especially when I am here!
Right now, this is when they Ask For It and eat:
7 AM; 12 noon; 4, 6, AND 8 PM. And before I put the lights out for bed.
The first feeding of the day, well someone got it in another thread - there is NO snooze button on this alarm clock!
Noon - they start whining, meowing, sidling up to me, rubbing my legs and basically being pests at about 11:15, which is when I usually start preparing our lunch. (Dad and me) No, they do NOT get our food.
4, 6 and 8 all the antics are performed again. Until i can't stand it and I feed them.
When I go to bed, I usually sit and read for a time. Then I have to get up to feed them before I can put out the light. If I don't? Forget trying to sleep anywhere in the HOUSE!
Vet says they should eat twice a day. All I can say is, they haven't read that book!
This has been going on for over a year now. If I am out and it gets to be feeding time, so what? Nothing happens. None of them bother Dad. (Dad is the typical grandfather to my cats. He plays with them, spoils them, brushes them. Does not feed them, empty litter boxes, clip nails, give baths, give meds when needed; none of the "chores." But don't get me wrong - if I am sick with a winter cold, he does fill in, no problem.)
I have tried ignoring them to the point that even Dad can't stand the uproar and commotion they create. Sparkle will start clearing things - the dining table, the kitchen counters (she only goes up there when she is REALLY upset), my dresser, the coffee table, the top of the refrigerator (we are so busy with the others we don't even see her get up there to stop her; she has been up there 3 times in 6 months, so this is a last resort with her.) What with things crashing down, Chestnut whining, and all the rest, we give in and they get fed.
Needless to say, none of them can try out for the part of Twiggy! (if you are too young to get that, just ignore it and keep reading.)
I need to try and get a more established routine.
Now there has to be exceptions to the routine.
Ruffles. Age 15; most of her teeth removed before she came to live with me. She eats about every half hour, around the clock. Five to 8 pieces of kibble. She has been like that for 2 of the 3 years she lived here. At night, she sleeps in a bedroom alone with the door closed and a dish full of food. She is at a good weight, the vet said she does not need to lose or gain. If she goes too long with no food, her stomach acid gets too much and she vomits, but there is only stomach juices coming up.
Chestnut. He does not chew his kibble, he just inhales it. As a result, if he gets over hungry, he inhales and within 5 minutes it all comes up again. Which is how I know it doesn't get chewed going down. So if he misses a meal time, I have to lock him in a room and give him 5 pieces. Wait 15 minutes (with him whining and crying and pounding on the door) then go in and give him the rest of his portion. He is overweight and I am having no luck getting his weight down with this feeding 6 times a day routine!
Ebony. She has lived here about 4 months. She is on a different time zone, I guess. She only came from Warwick, 15 minutes down the highway, but she is on Pacific time or something. She eats twice a day, except when she eats once a day, and on rare occassions she eats three times a day. She tells me when she wants to eat. She ignores what the rest of them are doing. If I am feeding the others and call her, she doesn't even bother to come see what for anymore, she knows she isn't hungry and she is NOT going to interrupt her nap! In spite of this, she has filled out a little since she arrived 4 months ago, and she really didn't need to do that.
When I see those photos of the Abys partaking of one dish of food (is Gary the one who posts those? I am not sure of everyone's names yet) I just stare in disbelief! Chestnut runs around from dish to dish swallowing all he can get, and saves his dish for last. He even settled at one dish with his feet in Vita's dish last night. lol. He is in such a muddle for food! Crystal will finish her dish first, then move on to whatever is left in other dishes. Cuddles sometimes doesn't get enough, Crystal moves her out of her own dish!, and then Cuddles has to let me know she is hungry a short time later.
So. In other muti cat households, how do you handle feeding?
For reasons I can't go into now (this is way too long already), I need to get them on a better routine, even when I am here. Or maybe especially when I am here!