Cat is A Messy Eater Need Advice

[catlover73]

I am hoping someone on here has dealt with this and has found something that works.

We adopted Sonny in September and I love him dearly but he is the messiest eater I have ever seen. Sonny is a male cat and he almost a year old. When he eats he drops food all over my floor. I am having to vaacum my floor multiple times a day. He seems to prefer to eat with his paw. However he also just drops food on the floor. Would an elvated feeding station do anything to help with this problem? Anyone have any other ideas? His food also keeps winding up in my fountain. I do not have anywhere else I could move the fountain since he also spills water.

 

[ldg]

The fountain you can move by putting a rubber mat under it wherever you want it. We had to move ours away from the foods.

I'm going to be very interested in the ideas! Our Ming Loy picks up a mouthful of food, walks a few feet away from the dish, and drops the mouthful on the floor and picks up the individual pieces to eat, leaving a bunch behind and lots of little crumbs. I always forget in the middle of the night and wander into the kitchen and then step on her leftovers.

We keep a handvac handy. That's been our solution.

 

[catlover73]

Thanks for your reply. I feel the same way when I walk in to my kitchen after Sonny eats. I have moved the fountain farther away from the food but it has not helped. I swear he drops in in there on purpose. I do not really have another room I can move the fountain to though because it needs to be plugged in. I do not have another room in my house that is not carpeted and has outlets near the floor to put the fountain. Putting the fountain in a carpeted area would mess up my rugs because two of my cats also make a mess playing in my fountain.

 

[larussa]

My problem with Autumn's messy eating is with her canned food. She constantly walks away from her bowl and drops the wet food all over the floor and that is not easy to clean up when it sticks there. Her dry food is a lot easier to clean up than the wet food. I don't know how to fix this problem either.

 

[nurseangel]

They have a cute mat (kind of like a placemat) at my local grocery store for around $2.99. It's a pretty good size and made especially for cats or dogs. I just noticed them last week and already they are almost sold out, so it must be a hot item. Speck is a messy eater, too. He picks the food up in big pieces and drops it...then gets more food out of plate. Oh, well...whatever makes him happy.

But it is a mess to clean up.

 

[ldg]

Yeah, we tried large plastic/rubber mats. No matter the size, Ming Loy intentionally walks OFF of the area to drop her food.

As to the fountain... I'd use a mat underneath it and an extension cord. Or maybe it can be put inside something like a milk crate on its side? They have holes the cord could go through - and maybe having "walls" around it would discourage him from dropping food in there?

 

[white cat lover]

I quit feeding Ophelia from a bowl because I was tired of the mess. She gets her 2x/day wet food glopped out on a placemat, and her dry is free fed on a different placemat.

 

[ldg]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I quit feeding Ophelia from a bowl because I was tired of the mess. She gets her 2x/day wet food glopped out on a placemat, and her dry is free fed on a different placemat.

I wonder if putting the food out "flat" would stop Ming Loy from moving it to eat it? Worth a try! Thanks for the suggestion, Nat!

 

[carolpetunia]

Originally Posted by LDG

I wonder if putting the food out "flat" would stop Ming Loy from moving it to eat it? Worth a try! Thanks for the suggestion, Nat!

Hey, that does sound like a good method! And if the food were scattered a little bit, it might slow down my superfast eaters, too... thanks for that idea!

 

[milk maid]

I sugest you all get a dog

my pepper is a very messy eater, wet food all over the place, but then the dogs just come along and hoover it all up

 

[catlover73]

Well I spoke with a friend on the phone tonight who also happens to be Sonny's former foster mom. She reminded me that she keeps all of her food and water dishes on trays. She recommended I find some sort of tray or cookie sheet to put the food dish on. She said he was a messy eater as a baby too but that the mess stayed on the tray. So I am going to look into this. Hope this will help some other people too.

 

[ldg]

Well, the plate thing didn't work for Ming Loy. She just picks em up one by one and walks away to drop them. She still leaves her messy little crunches behind.

BUT - it makes her work more for her food, so maybe she'll loose some weight.

 

[white cat lover]

Just thought I'd share this picture I just took. Silly human thought she would outsmart the cat who messes with her water by getting her a fountain, thinking "oh she can't drag that around"! WRONG!

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by catlover73

She recommended I find some sort of tray or cookie sheet to put the food dish on.

Cookie sheets would actually be better than plastic trays. Some cats can get acne issues just from mats or trays under their food. Metal would be easier to sterilize.

For those with cats that don't like bowls, try a regular sized plate.

And yes, fountains can be drug around. I'm curious as to whether the 360 would stop Tomas...

 

[nekoha]

I LOVE that picture!! Classic cat-is-smarter-than-human!!

My cats don't spread the food (for which I am eternally grateful), but Piccalo loves to paw all the water out of her bowl/fountain.

I was using a nice cloth mat under the food and water dishes until I noticed that my wood floor was sopping wet...

Now I am using this big plastic lid that is supposed to cover the cat's stuff. I can't find anything better yet, but we will be going shopping for something better soon.

 

[mysterycat]

Mine is messy eater too, he always take the food out of his bowl. Raw foods are messier than ever!

 

[ummm]

One of our cats is a messy eater, when she uses a normal bowl. So I tried using a shallow bowl instead (similar to this,) she doesn't make a mess anymore!

My in-law has a messy eater too, so I gave her the same plate to try, and it helped her too!

 

[subconsciousme]

Both my kids have this problem as well, but one mostly.

We switched to feeding them on tile and it is easier to just scoop on and put back in the bowl. Our floor is clean and she's ok with it. They have 2 different locations -- both on tile -- and it works well enough.

I used to care a lot and kept scooping it up after each time they eat, but it got tiring fast and I am not usually home to do it after each time they eat.

With wet food... we used to give it solely wet and now it is mixed with dry which makes it a bit less messy/easier