Question of the Day, Friday, February 26

Winchester

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Good morning!

I was watching the girls eat their breakfast this morning. And it's interesting to see how they approach their food. They mill around me while I'm preparing their breakfast, talking to me and yelling if I'm not fast enough....and I am never fast enough to suit them. Muffin gets her food first, followed by Mollipop and Tabby, and then finally Amber Louise. Molli is like Garfield with lasagna. Varoom and done! I swear it's one gulp. She's always the first to finish. Tabby takes her time, but when she's really hungry, she does gobble. Amber cleans her plate so carefully, you'd swear it was run through the dishwasher. And Muffin? Well, she's very methodical. She eats slowly, but makes sure she gets everything. She'll actually walk around her plate, taking a bite here and there. She's usually the last one done. Then they sit by their plates and wait for their dry "dessert" which is a couple pieces of dry kibble. Once they're finished, off they go into the living room to bathe.

How do your cats approach their food? Do they run over and gobble? Do they eat slowly and carefully, taking some from this side of the plate, then moving around to the other side? Are they complete plate cleaners? How do they eat?
 

rubysmama

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When I first adopted Ruby she had stray cat food obsession, and would eat every morsel of food I put in her dish, without taking break, till the dish was licked clean.

Eventually she learned food would always be available and she started grazing.

Now she gets a mix of a few dry kibble pieces, and canned food. She'll look at both dishes, then eat a little from each.

Recently I bought her some Party Mix treats, which I put a few in with the kibble. I had to laugh one time, as when she walked away, the treats were all gone, and kibble was still there. :winkcat:
 

di and bob

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My three all eat differently too. I have separate little plates for each, because my gobbler, big Dutch, bolts his food like he is starved and then pushes his way into theirs. He will never be accused of looking starved! Yammy is completely spoiled since his health is the most fragile, and gets the portion with mostly gravy, which he prefers. He eats slowly and often leaves some which Dutch quickly takes over. He also slides most of the food over the side with his preference for gravy. Dutch considers the floor his too. Sweet, shy Molly, their mother, always stands back and sees if they get food first, if the food doesn't get separated, she goes without. It must be her mothering instinct. She eats faster than Yammy, always polishing her plate, mostly because, I think, she knows Dutch will be over there if she isn't finished. She never fights though, allowing him to butt in. I always watch them to make sure they eat, and when I give their morning DMG and LifeGold mixed in a shared lickable treat, I have to be close in case Dutch tries to eat theirs too!
 
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sivyaleah

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Luna will act interested initially, but then take a few bites, leave, come back, leave come back, etc. She's more of a grazer and it can take 2-3 hours before she finishes a meal. I don't think I've ever seen her finish in one sitting. I've learned she also seems to prefer eating when alone and sometimes, high up. Sometimes she snorts just as she's about to dig in for those first bites which is amusing. She also is somewhat messy, I always find food on the placemat under the bowls.

Cocoabean, will scarf breakfast in one sitting but other meals she's weird. She'll approach her bowl very slow and cautiously, sniff, debate internally if the food is to her liking and eventually settle in (or not) but rarely will finish those meals and won't typically come back later to eat the rest of it. If it isn't fresh she's not having it. She's also a poacher on Luna's food if she thinks it's to her liking. She will only eat at her "place", nowhere else in the house.
 

betsygee

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We had three cat bowls in a row in the laundry room. The cats would line up in a row--always Ozzy on the left, Rico in the middle, and Zoe on the right side. But then Rico would realize there was nasty medicine hidden in his food so he'd push his way over to Ozzy's dish, Ozzy would circle around to Zoe's, and Zoe would end up with the middle dish and pick around Rico's medicine. :cringe:

They got into such a routine doing that, that even when there was no medicine in Rico's food, they'd do the bowl dance. Now Rico is gone and we have two food bowls. There's no medicine in the bowls and Rico isn't pushing Ozzy out of the way but it's such a habit for them--they'll both eat for a minute, and then Ozzy will move over to Zoe's dish and she'll move to his. Cute.
 

Maria Bayote

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My cats surround me when I prepare their food. Graham yells the most. Actually, she is the only one who is like that. By order of serving, I give food to Bourbon first. Even when she is not in the kitchen I look for her and serve her wherever she is. My husband has accused me of being ridiculously spoiling Bourbon to the max. I know, but I can’t help it.

The one who eats last is the one who yells the most - Graham. Casper finishes his food first and is the vacuum cleaner. Barley mostly only consumes the gel or the gravy. He is more to dry food.
 

susanm9006

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Willow doesn’t get a lot to eat because she is overweight. She get 2.6 ounces of wet food in the morning. Most of the time she leaves a little and finishes it in a couple hours. Her next meal at 3:00 pm is just 1.3 ounces and she usually wolfs that down. At night she gets six temptations type treats hidden in the living room and about a tablespoon of dry food in her treat bottle. She finds and eats the treats immediately but leaves the treat bottle until some time during the night when I can hear her knocking it around to get out kibble.
 
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muffy

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Tommy is a grazer but sometimes he will wolf it down. Sometimes he will act like he is trying to cover his bowl with dirt. I understand cats do that in the wild to hide their food. Both Buddy and Tommy did that. They were both born feral.
 

BellaGooch

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Pants is a very fast and aggressive eater. He eats as fast as he can and takes huge bites :lol: He almost always completely cleans the bowl and leaves nothing behind.
Willow and Eden are very dainty and ladylike when they eat (although you wouldn’t guess it by the way he meow at me for food! :lol:)They do like to graze, too.
 

verna davies

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Both of mine nag for food, Buzz actually dances on his hind legs. Once the food is down they just pick at it unless I sit on the floor and talk to them but they are incredibly slow eaters. I have created these two monsters.
 

aliceneko

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Toffee and Fudge love their food, they'd eat all day if they could! They do a little "dance", and have a funny routine of running back and forth until they have their food. With lots of meowing too, of course.
 

MonaLyssa33

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I feed them twice a day and generally, Maisie eats her food right away, but will, in rare circumstances, have some left over that she'll eat later. The other two are slower eaters and what happens most often is Maisie finishes her food and then goes on to the other two's food.
 

maggiedemi

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Maggie usually grazes. Demi sometimes gobbles all his food down at once. Sometimes he will eat half, then come back later for the other half. Kibble is his favorite, so he scarfs that down faster.
 

Silver Crazy

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Blue doesn't ask or beg for food by meowing or making a fuss, just sits close and watches me with big eyes..he is so polite until I ask ..Are you hungry...and all hell breaks out.
I feed his dinner in 2 halves because when I first got him he would wolf it down so quick he would throw up, now I do it just to make him ask politely for the second half as part of his socialization. I say..do you want some more... and get a little mew back and i grab his tail and he drags me back to his bowl. Its all a routine now.
I have learned now what to do so I feed him chunky raw so he has to chew and he cant wolf it down and make himself sick but if I feed him canned food it just gets inhaled.
 

EmersonandEvie

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Dexter spins in a circle as he runs to his mat :lol: :lol: :lol:

Evie and Emerson just scream at me until I put their bowls down.

Everyone eats immediately, with Dexter always finishing first (read: absolutely hoovering his food down) and searching for more food. Evie makes a mess and pushes her bowl all around the floor. Emerson eats slowly and deliberately.
 
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