Teaching cats how to share an automatic feeder

[BeccaT]

So yesterday, our new automatic feeder arrived. It's one that has two separate bowls and distributes the portions well. They're still getting used to it but I think they're adjusting well, to a degree.

We've set it to release several small meals a day (it's enough grams/calories and not too many, this will help a lot with them losing weight hopefully as they do need to lose at least 2lbs according to our vet) but the problem is that they're struggling to grasp the concept that there's two separate bowls, at least I think that's the problem. In the past when I've fed them manually, I've caught both of them on multiple occasions stealing from the other's bowl when they've finished their own and are still not full and the other is still eating, so I know they're capable of eating near each other without issue. But since getting this feeder, I've noticed one will be eating from a single bowl after it dispenses and the other will watch from afar as if they think the one eating gets both bowls, which they eventually do end up eating from both if I'm not there to stop them, then when the initial eating cat is done, the other will come and eat the scraps if any are left.

I sometimes resort to taking the bowl out and giving it to the other cat just to make sure that they're eating, but I can't do this all the time as they need to learn. I'm really worried that they're not going to grasp this concept and while they'd still be getting their required calories a day if they alternate which one eats all the food per feeding, it's not how we intended it do be used and I can't depend on them doing that each time. I've tried putting the other one in front of the other bowl when one is eating but they simply sniff it and walk away. Is there anything I can do to help them adjust to eating directly next to each other?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
I don't have a solution other than to perhaps put out another bowl, but are you weighing them regularly? You don't want them losing weight too fast, and be wary of that "lose 2 lbs" recommendation.

This may be helpful;
Overweight Cat - Risks and Treatments

 

[FeebysOwner]

I would say probably not. I am sure the feeders aren't cheap, but your best bet is to buy another one and have two side by side. Or, sell that one as barely used and get two feeders that just have one bowl. It would seem to me that the two bowls are just a tad bit too close together for their comfort. That is not to say something similar couldn't happen with two separate feeders, but chances are when one cat has already starting eating from one, the other cat would likely just go to the other one to eat.

That would kind of like having a split dish and asking two kids to eat at the same time from the split dish - the odds are not in your favor!!!

 

[BeccaT]

Hi
I don't have a solution other than to perhaps put out another bowl, but are you weighing them regularly? You don't want them losing weight too fast, and be wary of that "lose 2 lbs" recommendation.

This may be helpful;
Overweight Cat - Risks and Treatments

I believe I've worked everything out and the amount that they're getting with the new feeder (if they eat it properly) is enough for them to lose weight but not too fast. Thank you for linking that though, I'll be sure to take a look! One of our cats is 12lbs, the other 13lbs and we were told both should be 10lbs and to keep an eye on their weight to make sure they don't gain any more, and I thought the feeder would help a lot with reducing their calorie intake in a maintained way.

I would say probably not. I am sure the feeders aren't cheap, but your best bet is to buy another one and have two side by side. Or, sell that one as barely used and get two feeders that just have one bowl. It would seem to me that the two bowls are just a tad bit too close together for their comfort. That is not to say something similar couldn't happen with two separate feeders, but chances are when one cat has already starting eating from one, the other cat would likely just go to the other one to eat.

That would kind of like having a split dish and asking two kids to eat at the same time from the split dish - the odds are not in your favor!!!

I was afraid this would be the answer. The problem is that we don't know if we can return this as we threw out most of the packaging, it'd be a pain to sell as used where we live and I personally really like that it has a camera (I've always wanted a camera to keep an eye on our cats so this was perfect as my husband doesn't like the idea of an individual camera that could be hacked into). It was more affordable for us to buy one of these than two individual ones. I understand why they're being picky but I was just really hoping they'd adjust considering I know they're capable of sharing from the same bowl when they really want to!

 

[BeccaT]

We had partial success last night where they each ate from their individual bowls at the same time, but only with my supervision. That following night when we were in bed, I witnessed one cat eating both feedings and the other cat got nothing until I woke up and gave her a manual feeding.

Stuff like this worries me, and I'm concerned that even if we did get two individual feeders that are far enough away from each other that they still won't go to each because they're more conditioned to equivalating feeding time with when I stand up and start to scoop out of their tub of food instead of when the kibble dispenses from the feeders.

 

[Furballsmom]

I wanted to mention that cats typically will lose weight more naturally and at a slow rate when they're shifted to a wet diet. There are feeders that can handle canned food and it might be enough to change their mental perspective about the method of food delivery.

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food – TheCatSite Articles

I don't know, but this might help as well;
Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals – TheCatSite Articles

 

[BeccaT]

I wanted to mention that cats typically will lose weight more naturally and at a slow rate when they're shifted to a wet diet. There are feeders that can handle canned food and it might be enough to change their mental perspective about the method of food delivery.

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food – TheCatSite Articles

I don't know, but this might help as well;
Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals – TheCatSite Articles

Sadly wet food isn't much of an option for us right now. It's not really affordable, and I used to give them a wet meal in the middle of the day but had to stop since the newest batch of wet food from a different shop (the only brand of wet food they'll eat) seemed to be a "bad batch" (by their standards) as they refused to eat any of it despite the fact it was the same brand and flavors that they're used to and the original one we used to buy that they'd eat, we can no longer buy. I'm open to the idea of buying a healthier dry food though if it's somewhat affordable considering we won't be buying the wet food anymore in case it goes to waste, I really do want to try my best to get their weight under control before it gets bad. But one of our cats also has a history of getting diarrhea from certain dry foods and it took us forever to find one that agreed with her little stomach. (We did the transitions properly, her stomach is just very sensitive to something in the foods we tried but we don't know what.)

They weren't free-fed before so they're used to schedules, I guess just not this type of schedule. I am considering eliminating 1 or 2 of the feeds during the hours when they're usually asleep as I've noticed the odd scheduled feed go unattended by at least one of them because they're happily snoozing away nearby.

On another note, one of their feeds just went off and the both of them went to their individual bowls without my intervention! I just hope they can keep this up.

 

[Furballsmom]

!!

 

[maggie101]

Sadly wet food isn't much of an option for us right now. It's not really affordable, and I used to give them a wet meal in the middle of the day but had to stop since the newest batch of wet food from a different shop (the only brand of wet food they'll eat) seemed to be a "bad batch" (by their standards) as they refused to eat any of it despite the fact it was the same brand and flavors that they're used to and the original one we used to buy that they'd eat, we can no longer buy. I'm open to the idea of buying a healthier dry food though if it's somewhat affordable considering we won't be buying the wet food anymore in case it goes to waste, I really do want to try my best to get their weight under control before it gets bad. But one of our cats also has a history of getting diarrhea from certain dry foods and it took us forever to find one that agreed with her little stomach. (We did the transitions properly, her stomach is just very sensitive to something in the foods we tried but we don't know what.)

They weren't free-fed before so they're used to schedules, I guess just not this type of schedule. I am considering eliminating 1 or 2 of the feeds during the hours when they're usually asleep as I've noticed the odd scheduled feed go unattended by at least one of them because they're happily snoozing away nearby.

On another note, one of their feeds just went off and the both of them went to their individual bowls without my intervention! I just hope they can keep this up.

Did you watch them finish? Peaches steals food,Maggie steps aside and let's peaches eat her food. When feeding,I lock Peaches in my small bathroom. She doesn't mind. She will follow the food any where and knows to always go in my bathroom

 

[ladytimedramon]

For my girls, I wound up with microchip feeders. They were NOT cheap, but there are holiday sales coming up. Delilah was OK on her own, but when I adopted Fancy, I noticed that anything Fancy left, Delilah would instantly eat it. If I set up a timed feeder and put it out of Delilah's area, she'd still find it. So I invested in 2 microchip feeders (and splurged on the connected models to track their eating). Delilah can only eat what's in her bowl and Fancy gets what's in her bowl at whatever pace she wants to eat. After a few weeks, it turned out that Fancy has food allergies and can't have poultry. So now I can feed Delilah her chicken without worrying that Fancy gets into it. Doesn't mean they won't go to each other's bowls, but the lids won't open unless the correct kitty is present.