I remember it being a guideline for "average prey." :dk:
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Bottomless Pit
- Thread starter harleydiva
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #142
Foo (The Pit) is making me crazy again! Has has been eating very well for over a month now. He still scrounges for bread, and begs for people food..lol....but has been eating 2-3 raw meals a day. On Friday, he had ground raw for breakfast...ate it all. In the afternoon, I gave them each 4 long strips of chicken thigh. I had a whole package of thighs, and Foo and Gideon finished their food and came to the kitchen to "help" me cut up the rest of the thighs. I gave them both a couple more strips......and Foo was still begging. I wanted to see how much he would actually eat....so gave him several more. He ended up eating at least 10 strips of chicken. He didn't eat dinner that night....but I just figured he was full.
Yesterday, and again this morning....he has refused his food. He usually races to his spot on top of the cat tower and screams for me to hurry up with the food. He hasn't even bothered to go to the tower. He is, however, still scrounging for people food. He knocked a bowl of potatoes off the counter this morning...but the dogs got them before he could. Last night, he was trying to open the nuwave oven to get to the chicken I had cooked. I'm getting worried that he hasn't eaten....although I think he is scrounging pellets and cereal under the parrot cage. He doesn't act like he feels bad...acting totally normal, and playing like he always does. I just put out a bowl of the chicken strips with a freeze dried chicken topper....and carried him to the tower...and he ate it all. My roommate is convinced that he thinks he is eating "people food" because it came out of the same kind of package as our food.
I kind of feel like I gave in and reinforced him.......but was freaking because he hadn't eaten. The weird thing....I've given him the same chicken strips before, and he wouldn't eat them.
Yesterday, and again this morning....he has refused his food. He usually races to his spot on top of the cat tower and screams for me to hurry up with the food. He hasn't even bothered to go to the tower. He is, however, still scrounging for people food. He knocked a bowl of potatoes off the counter this morning...but the dogs got them before he could. Last night, he was trying to open the nuwave oven to get to the chicken I had cooked. I'm getting worried that he hasn't eaten....although I think he is scrounging pellets and cereal under the parrot cage. He doesn't act like he feels bad...acting totally normal, and playing like he always does. I just put out a bowl of the chicken strips with a freeze dried chicken topper....and carried him to the tower...and he ate it all. My roommate is convinced that he thinks he is eating "people food" because it came out of the same kind of package as our food.
I kind of feel like I gave in and reinforced him.......but was freaking because he hadn't eaten. The weird thing....I've given him the same chicken strips before, and he wouldn't eat them.
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What I am reading from the post is the Pit has no routine.
He eats sometimes 2 meals, sometimes 3 meals, sometimes huge meals, sometimes small meals, in different places, at different times.
IMHO that is confusing for a cat.
One of the things that IMHO will help you the most is routine.
Same feeding place every meal. Three meals a day, for the same amount.
if he eats 4.5oz a day, feed 3 meals of 1.5oz per meal. On the same place every time.
He will know what breakfast, lunch and dinner is, and he will know what HIS food is.
And lock food up - no matter what, not matter how tempted you are, do not give him food. Clean up, clean up, clean up.
Cats thrive on routine. It has helped me a lot - in fact, this has been the most important advice, I think, I received when I transitioned my cats - I don't think I would be able to do it without it.
Hope it gets better
He eats sometimes 2 meals, sometimes 3 meals, sometimes huge meals, sometimes small meals, in different places, at different times.
IMHO that is confusing for a cat.
One of the things that IMHO will help you the most is routine.
Same feeding place every meal. Three meals a day, for the same amount.
if he eats 4.5oz a day, feed 3 meals of 1.5oz per meal. On the same place every time.
He will know what breakfast, lunch and dinner is, and he will know what HIS food is.
And lock food up - no matter what, not matter how tempted you are, do not give him food. Clean up, clean up, clean up.
Cats thrive on routine. It has helped me a lot - in fact, this has been the most important advice, I think, I received when I transitioned my cats - I don't think I would be able to do it without it.
Hope it gets better
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #144
I understand what you are saying......but he really does have a set routine. The cats always eat in the same place....on the big tower (they can't eat on the floor or the dogs will get it). They each have a specific spot on the tower where they always eat. They are on a set schedule, with the same amount of food (always weighed). When I come out of the kitchen with the food, they all run to the tower, and take their preferred positions. I do rotate the protein every day, with ground raw AM and PM, and either strips or freeze dried at lunch time. At bedtime, everyone gets 2-3 freeze dried treats on the bed.What I am reading from the post is the Pit has no routine.
He eats sometimes 2 meals, sometimes 3 meals, sometimes huge meals, sometimes small meals, in different places, at different times.
IMHO that is confusing for a cat.
One of the things that IMHO will help you the most is routine.
Same feeding place every meal. Three meals a day, for the same amount.
if he eats 4.5oz a day, feed 3 meals of 1.5oz per meal. On the same place every time.
He will know what breakfast, lunch and dinner is, and he will know what HIS food is.
And lock food up - no matter what, not matter how tempted you are, do not give him food. Clean up, clean up, clean up.
Cats thrive on routine. It has helped me a lot - in fact, this has been the most important advice, I think, I received when I transitioned my cats - I don't think I would be able to do it without it.
Hope it gets better
When I let him eat the chicken strips on the counter on Friday....that was totally not normal. Will one variation from routine make that much difference? It was nothing different in terms of food....just a different location and more than usual. He normally eats 6-7 ounces a day......and I give him enough that he doesn't eat it all to make sure he has enough. He has always gone after "people food". He particularly loves bread....we have to keep everything in the oven or the microwave to keep him out of it.
Great that he has a routine! :bigthumb:
The only thing then..... I would never ever feed him on the counter
That is not about breaking the routine. It is about setting the grounds - once he eats, there, it is his territory to eat too. You can't feed him there one day and "explain" to him that it is not alright to him to not eat food from the counter another time :dk:
He should eat only at the tower - only at his place to eat.
Your place to eat is your place - your food is your food. Counters are off limit for feeding, otherwise you are going to be in trouble :nod:
The only thing then..... I would never ever feed him on the counter
That is not about breaking the routine. It is about setting the grounds - once he eats, there, it is his territory to eat too. You can't feed him there one day and "explain" to him that it is not alright to him to not eat food from the counter another time :dk:
He should eat only at the tower - only at his place to eat.
Your place to eat is your place - your food is your food. Counters are off limit for feeding, otherwise you are going to be in trouble :nod:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #146
Well....last night and this morning, Foo decided he will eat his normal meals in the normal place again. He just seems to have these episodes...lol.....like the rotten kid who only wants to eat pizza.
