After meal questions

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Draco

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Welcome Pam!!

There's no real issues here, but my questions are mostly curiousity as to why!

I have two DSH cats. Monet, male, neutered, 3 years old. Picasso (Cassie), female, spayed, 1 year old. I feed them frankenprey raw (and occasional grain-free Trader Joe's canned if I forget to take the raw out of the freezer!). They both are of healthy weight according to vet visits and healthy. Both are active as well, always wrestling and playing with each other.

The scene:

Within minutes of eating their breakfast and dinner.. Monet goes into the "Crazies" mode. He'd 'mrow' and 'eerrr', and dart back and forth in my apartment, often crashing into things. He'd also jump on my wall (where he has a perfectly nice post to jump on!). Cassie would often join in, pouncing on him as he comes out of the bedroom in spurts. This goes on for at least half an hour. Sometimes he entices me in the game of Cat and Mouse (with me chasing him!) or I'd take da Bird out to play with him. It's the only time he goes into this 'Crazies' mode.. never at night or any other times.

The questions:

• Why does he do this? Is he showing he's happy with his food? Does eating give him energy that soon after?

• How can one tell if a cat is truly still hungry after eating? Sometimes I feel like I never give enough even though my feeding is recommended by lots (vet and experts here). they never beg for more food after.

---------------------------------

The scene:

When I take out da Bird or the Cat Dancer.. Cassie goes on in full-blown play. She LOVES these toys and gets very excited. She can be pretty rough with the toys. Monet also enjoys these toys, but he's intimidated by Cassie's full play. He tries to join in, but Cassie would interfere, getting the toy before he does, or jump too close to him (on accident, trying to get the toy), and he'd back off and watch. 

After I play Cassie down to the point of panting, I put her in the other room to give Monet a chance to play without distractions from Cassie. After he's done, I let Cassie out and play with her for a few more minutes as not to let her think putting her away is punishment.

The question:

• How can I encourage Monet to join more with Cassie?

• Any chance I can get Cassie to slow down more to let Monet play too?

• What do you suggest here, aside from what I've mentioned in my scene?

Thank you for taking the time to answer this, Pam :)
 

johnson-bennett

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Your cat may be reacting to the raw food in that it truly triggers his prey-drive or makes him exceptionally happy. What you might want to try is to conduct an interactive play session with him before meals so that it's a more natural progression (hunt and then the feast).

As for getting the cats to play more cooperatively, if one intimidates the other or their cooperative play isn't balanced then you should do individual play sessions so each cat can totally focus on the game without worrying about the other kitty pouncing. If there's another person in the home you can do parallel play where you each have a toy.

Sometimes, using one toy and asking two cats with different energy levels or pecking order issues to play together can actually create more stress.

Pam Johnson-Bennett, CCBC

www.catbehaviorassociates.com
 
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Draco

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thanks Pam! I will try to play before feeding--It'll be changing up their routine a bit. maybe I'll introduce playtime before meal slowly since Cassie is a food-aholic and she'd probably rather eat than play!

There's no one else but me and the kitties in my apartment. I'll continue to play with them individually since that seems to work here.

Thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions and concerns!
 
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