Sammy update

On 12/13/2015 12:56 PM, MaryL wrote:
On 12/13/2015 2:06 PM, Joy wrote:
On 12/13/2015 12:56 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 12/12/2015 5:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:


And, this is not a query directed towards you, Cheryl, just a question
in general. I don't understand how people with multiple cats can
regulate feeding different types of food. Without segregating the
cats,
I mean.

When I used to cat sit for my neighbor she'd tell me this cat gets this
much of this food, the other cat gets that food. But they both ate in
the same room. How was I supposed to know whether or not they were
nipping into each others food bowls? "Cat sitting" didn't mean I was
there watching them all day long. It has always been a mystery to me:
how do you keep the other cats from eating the other food?

Jill

Quite honestly, I have always found that impossible. I have 3 cats, and
none of them finish a meal at one "sitting." They will eat part of
their food and then return later. So, I could segregate one (as you
said) on a temporary basis, but otherwise find it impossible to use
different food for individual cats. I can medicate individual cats, but
it isn't practical (for me) to put out different food for one cat.

MaryL


I think the only way you could do it would be to feed them all at a
specific time, shutting each in a separate room until they were through
eating. This wouldn't work for a grazer, of course.

joy

This definitely would not work for me. I have a lot of back pain and
also have vertigo (most of the time), so it is already difficult for me
to feed the three cats and clean their litter boxes. I have to take a
great deal of care when bending down for those tasks, so carrying their
food to separate rooms (and back to clean the bowls) would be almost
impossible. In addition, none of the cats finish eating on a schedule.

MaryL


I fully understand.

Joy

On 12/13/2015 3:06 PM, Joy wrote:
On 12/13/2015 12:56 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 12/12/2015 5:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:

how do you keep the other cats from eating the other food?

Jill

Quite honestly, I have always found that impossible. I have 3 cats, and
none of them finish a meal at one "sitting." They will eat part of
their food and then return later. So, I could segregate one (as you
said) on a temporary basis, but otherwise find it impossible to use
different food for individual cats. I can medicate individual cats, but
it isn't practical (for me) to put out different food for one cat.

MaryL


I think the only way you could do it would be to feed them all at a
specific time, shutting each in a separate room until they were through
eating. This wouldn't work for a grazer, of course.

joy

That could would work if a person is retired. But if someone has to go
to work...? The cat with the special diet would wind up stuck in a room
alone all day.

Jill

Joy wrote:

On 12/13/2015 12:56 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 12/12/2015 5:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:


And, this is not a query directed towards you, Cheryl, just a question
in general. I don't understand how people with multiple cats can
regulate feeding different types of food. Without segregating the cats,
I mean.

When I used to cat sit for my neighbor she'd tell me this cat gets this
much of this food, the other cat gets that food. But they both ate in
the same room. How was I supposed to know whether or not they were
nipping into each others food bowls? "Cat sitting" didn't mean I was
there watching them all day long. It has always been a mystery to me:
how do you keep the other cats from eating the other food?

Jill

Quite honestly, I have always found that impossible. I have 3 cats, and
none of them finish a meal at one "sitting." They will eat part of
their food and then return later. So, I could segregate one (as you
said) on a temporary basis, but otherwise find it impossible to use
different food for individual cats. I can medicate individual cats, but
it isn't practical (for me) to put out different food for one cat.

MaryL


I think the only way you could do it would be to feed them all at a
specific time, shutting each in a separate room until they were through
eating. This wouldn't work for a grazer, of course.

Or for someone who has to leave to go to work. I can easily keep them
segregated in the evening. Licky goes into my bedroom with the door
closed, and Roxy eats in the kitchen. She's the grazer, so I have to
allow her to eat, then go do something else for a while, then go back
and eat some more. I'm usually on the computer during this time, so one
of the things she does when not eating is curl up with me on the desk.
Then she goes back to chomp some more.

Eventually I open the door to let Licky out, and by then both plates
are clean or nearly clean. It's not a terrible thing if they each get
the remaining bite of each other's food. Nobody has a deathlly allergy
to anything.

When I was feeding Roxy the prescription food, my solution to that was
to feed it to both of them. It's not bad for a cat who doesn't need it,
and that way, Roxy wouldn't eat any of the non-prescription food, which
was a concern when she was really sick. She's a lot better now, and they're
both back on premium kitty health food, so it doesn't matter. I still
keep Licky in the bedroom for a while, though, because if I don't, he'll
gobble up his food and then eats Roxy's. She still needs to put on weight!

--
Joyce

No one should try to hit another's bumper. But bumper bumpage is a part of
life. Yawn and get on with it. -- Gene Weingarten

On 12/14/2015 8:32 PM, Bastette wrote:

Or for someone who has to leave to go to work. I can easily keep them
segregated in the evening. Licky goes into my bedroom with the door
closed, and Roxy eats in the kitchen. She's the grazer, so I have to
allow her to eat, then go do something else for a while, then go back
and eat some more. I'm usually on the computer during this time, so one
of the things she does when not eating is curl up with me on the desk.
Then she goes back to chomp some more.

Eventually I open the door to let Licky out, and by then both plates
are clean or nearly clean. It's not a terrible thing if they each get
the remaining bite of each other's food. Nobody has a deathlly allergy
to anything.

When I was feeding Roxy the prescription food, my solution to that was
to feed it to both of them. It's not bad for a cat who doesn't need it,
and that way, Roxy wouldn't eat any of the non-prescription food, which
was a concern when she was really sick. She's a lot better now, and they're
both back on premium kitty health food, so it doesn't matter. I still
keep Licky in the bedroom for a while, though, because if I don't, he'll
gobble up his food and then eats Roxy's. She still needs to put on weight!

I'm happy to read that you have it worked out for them. I've been very
depressed today thinking I need to rehome Sammy. With 5 cats it is just
too hard.

--
ღ.¸¸.✫*¨`*✶
Cheryl

On Sat, 12 Dec 2015 18:41:15 -0500, jmcquown
wrote:



And, this is not a query directed towards you, Cheryl, just a question
in general. I don't understand how people with multiple cats can
regulate feeding different types of food. Without segregating the cats,
I mean.


It's very tough but my cats have collars with RF tracking devices on
them (the Loc8tor). So something like that could be used to create a
feeding station that only one cat could open. And here it is:

http://www.smarthome.com/gatefeeder-...-for-cats.html


The price is pretty steep though, but it is a good idea and I assume
they will come down in price as other folks start making them.

There are so many households facing this issue that a cheaper solution
would sell a lot of units.