Anal gland question

[coco-bean]

I also wonder about this feeding ritual. IMO it would be best if they each had a bowl that was definitively theirs and they ate from "it" exactly what you feed them. This would seem to be the only way you could accurately and totally feed each "what you wanted" and in the exact proportions, time, etc..

even though it apparently works, perhaps you could better control their eating habits and exactly pinpoint any problems they may have.

i try to get them to each have their own bowl...corona's in pink and smaller then the others and coco and cainan have the same ones but they "use" to know which one was theirs and they did really well, but corona eats a little then wanders around the house, comes back eats a little more and does it all over again probably about 4 or 5 times. By that time cainan has already eaten all of his and coco's eats his fill(she normally leaves a little in the bowl) and whatever she doesnt eat corona eats for her...unless cainan gets to it first. How do i get corona to eat out of just her bowl so i can try and make this work? I think the different rooms may work...but we only have 3 rooms and a bathroom in our house two of which have carpet...i dont know how well that would work! It probably would but corona thinks we're playing with her everytime we tell her no! it was easy with two...but since theirs three it gets a little more difficult! thanks!

[Love That Collie]

i try to get them to each have their own bowl...corona's in pink and smaller then the others and coco and cainan have the same ones but they "use" to know which one was theirs and they did really well, but corona eats a little then wanders around the house, comes back eats a little more and does it all over again probably about 4 or 5 times. By that time cainan has already eaten all of his and coco's eats his fill(she normally leaves a little in the bowl) and whatever she doesnt eat corona eats for her...unless cainan gets to it first. How do i get corona to eat out of just her bowl so i can try and make this work? I think the different rooms may work...but we only have 3 rooms and a bathroom in our house two of which have carpet...i dont know how well that would work! It probably would but corona thinks we're playing with her everytime we tell her no! it was easy with two...but since theirs three it gets a little more difficult! thanks!

Just don't allow them to eat out of each other's bowl, at all.
I don't allow Chloe to eat out of Bailey's dish. Chloe is now 6 months old and she's a growing puppy and she would eat till she burst if I allowed her, she's always been a ravenous eater.

Bailey on the otherhand is a "diner", he eats slowly, small mouthfuls and he has to investigate the food before eating. I don't know why, but he does, it's the same food he has eaten for a long time. Chloe eats the same food. Chloe finishes first and then eyes Bailey's dish with food still in it as he's not done yet. Except now she doesn't DIVE right in there like she did when I first got her because I shoo'd her away from him while he was eating and now she just sits and waits till he is finished then she licks his bowl.

I don't allow them to free feed in any form or fashion. I feed them twice a day, morning and early evening and if they (well, Bailey that is) do not eat then he has to wait for a full meal the next time it is served since he is such a picky eater. I don't let Bailey walk from his dish then come back and eat a little, then walk around then come back and eat a little....etc. He either finishes or he doesn't. If he doesn't, then he has to wait till next time. This is how I gauge exactly how much they eat.

Give it a try, feeding them in 3 different rooms. If you are worried about the carpeting put something under the bowls in the rooms with the carpeting. Then in time, with them eating in different rooms, out of their own bowls then a sometime maybe they all will be able to eat in the same room out of their own bowls. I just happen to feed mine in the same room and taught Chloe to stay away from Bailey's until he is finished.

[coco-bean]

i feed my twice a day also, once when i get up in the morning and then the second when it is about supper time, or if i work late, then usually around 8. but corona doesnt like eat then walk away for 15 minutes then come back...she eats then she takes a lap around the bedroom see's what everyone is doing, then heads back to her bowl! Her bowl is never left alone longer then 3 minutes! i think coco doesnt feel as dominate as she use too! She use to tell cainan who was boss, but now he's about an inch shorter then her, she kinda bows down to him and watches them all eat and then she heads in to eat! I coax her to eat but she refuses to eat when they are eating too! she waits till everyone is done with their bowls and has left the room before she heads in to eat! but by that time, cainan and corona both have eaten their share of her bowl!
But my problem when i tell whichever one is eating out of the wrong bowl to not do it and show them the right bowl, they think im telling them they cant eat at all! so they leave the room wait till i walk out and head back in there and eat where they left off! I dont say it mean, i say is a calm voice "cainan no, or coco no" and so on! but corona is so small i say corona no, and lift her to her dish which is on the other side of the room and then she eats out of hers. then slowly scoots her butt backwards towards the other two and eats next to them....then finally just gets in there bowls! it's kinda cute, the scooting...but it just ends up causing a problem once she gets there!
thanks!

[Catlady711]

I know dogs have a whole different hiarchey with food/dominance things than cats do, however I have played the food bowl game for quite some time now. lol

Here's my daily feeding routine for 5 cats

Morning:
Get 5 bowls from cupboard
Trip over 3 cats Dusty & Cami sit quietly by their eating places patiently waiting. (I just knew the girls were smarter!)


Fill 2 bowls with senior wet food
Add Glucosamine to one bowl, and pumpkin to the other
Fill 3 Bowls with adult wet food
They only get about 2 tsp of wet food (morning only) for medicine for oldest two, others just get regular wet food to keep them occupied.

Gather 2 bowls in one hand, 3 bowls in the other hand.
Dodge 3 cats while walking.
Announce 'sort it out guys', they semi-obey

Put 3 bowls down on one side of the archway
Keep Jack away from that side of archway

Put two bowls down on other side of archway

Wait a couple minutes
Pick up Dusty & Cami's bowls

Wait a few seconds
Pick up Bear & Pooky's bowls
Defend Jacks bowl for him

Wait a couple minutes
Pick up Jacks bowl

Crunchies (1/2 hour later)

Get 5 bowls out from highest cupboard(Cami & Dusty can open lower cupboards and help themselves and the rest follow suit)


Fill 2 bowls with Senior food
Fill 2 bowls with Adult Hairball Control food
Fill 1 bowl with Diet food
(I used to measure now I just eyeball it lol)

Gather two bowls up in one hand and 3 in the other hand
Dodge 3 cats while walking
Dusty & Cami sit quietly by their eating places patiently waiting.

Set the 3 bowls down on one side of the archway
Shove Bear out of Cami's bowl
Nudge Pooky into his bowl
Keep Jack away from that side of the archway

Put other two bowls on other side of archway
Put Pooky back over into his bowl

Stand there for a few minutes
Put Pooky & Jack back into their own bowls (they keep swapping)

Stand there for a few more minutes
Swap back Pooky & Jack again
Pick up Dusty's bowl (she buries hers when she's finished)

Stand there a few more minutes
Pick up Bear's bowl and keep him out of everyone else's

Stand there a few more minutes
Pick up Cami's bowl, keep close eye on her, she eats everyones leftovers.

Stand there a few more minutes
Pick up Jack's bowl before Cami gets to it
Guard Pooky's bowl for him

Wait a few seconds and pick up Pooky's bowl

(This process takes about 15-20 minutes total)

Go upstairs to retrieve kittens' bowls
Fill those while Cami waits at my feet to see if I'll drop anything.
Go upstairs with food bowls.
Hold food bowls at arms length so I don't trip over kittens (they follow the bowl, not me)
Set bowl down

Repeat entire crunchies process 4 times a day!!!


*If any cat has just woke up from a nap at feeding time they don't eat much if at all, so it's a matter of keeping them from loving all over the ones that are eating*

The 3 kittens are in a separate room and share a bowl yet, so no problems there....yet lol