What would you do?

[Furballsmom]

lol

 

[MissClouseau]

• 8AM – fed approx. 1.5 oz canned food
• 10AM – given a bite of my breakfast/brunch
• 11 AM – squawks* for food
• 1 PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz
• 3PM – given hairball treat and Glyco Flex
• 5PM – squawks* for food
• 6PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz
• 8PM – given a bite of protein from our dinner
• 10PM – occasionally acts like she wants food, but doesn’t squawk* so much
• 11PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz

Does she drink water? It looks like she squawks either after tablescraps or hairball treat -- maybe she gets thirsty?

One of my cousins had a period of never/rarely drinking water. She had replaced water with coca cola and food with some hydration, without being aware. Every time she got thirsty she either drank coca cola or ate something.

 

[Maria Bayote]

I thought I would create another thread on this issue with Feeby, as I don’t think it is necessarily related to my ongoing thread (I Don't Know What To Do - 15+yo Cat about her. Sorry about the length…but, here goes…

It seems that Feeby now wants to be fed more often than her current 4 meals a day. Here is what has been going on recently - all times are approximate:

• 8AM – fed approx. 1.5 oz canned food
• 10AM – given a bite of my breakfast/brunch
• 11 AM – squawks* for food
• 1 PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz
• 3PM – given hairball treat and Glyco Flex
• 5PM – squawks* for food
• 6PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz
• 8PM – given a bite of protein from our dinner
• 10PM – occasionally acts like she wants food, but doesn’t squawk* so much
• 11PM – fed approx. 1.5 oz

* NOT meowing – literally squawking (but that is kind of her norm for most all communication)

Other factors:

• She has never eaten more than 1.5 oz in a single meal, so I can’t increase the amount per meal and cut back the number per day.
• She will only eat from a dish that has a certain amount of food in it, so when I have given in to her squawking, I prepare a full meal. Then, she might eat a bite or three, or she might eat more. I refrigerate whatever is left for her next scheduled meal.
• She requires her food to be scooped and re-scooped up to 6 times per feeding, depending on whether she is eating a ‘mini-meal’ or a full meal. She flattens out the food and doesn't seem to be able to eat it once it is flattened out. If I scoop it up into a pile again, then she starts eating again.
• Each full meal takes anywhere from ½ to 1 hour from beginning to completion.
• She no longer wants to eat dry food, although I do leave some out for her just in case.
• Last Thyroid tests (April and July last year) within normal range. No other health issues identified (other than old age and arthritis!).
• She weighs just under 16 pounds, and appears to be able to maintain this weight on her current food intake.

Does anyone else’s cat do this???? Do I give into her and possibly be feeding her some amount of food at least 6 times a day (not to mention the other ‘snacks’ she gets)? Or, should I just assume what she really is doing is trying to get attention? I have tried to play with her or just pet her and talk to her, but she is not a ‘player’, and the petting/talking only works for 5 or so minutes after I stop.

If I sound frustrated, exasperated, and a bit aggravated, it is because I am!

Thanks!

I can fully understand your "exasperation", as all of my cats do the same:

5am - Wet food, half a pouch each (if I feed 1 pouch each they won't be able to eat all of what's in their individual bowls)
7am - Wet food, Full pouch each (then I leave one huge bowl of dry and another medium bowl of wet for them to eat while I am at the office)
5pm, 7pm, 9pm- Wet food, half pouch each cat each time (still with a bowl of dry)
3am - Wet food, same amount again (then I wake up at 5am again to feed them and prepare for work)

In between when I am at the house, there would be meows, squawks, yowls, thrills, swats and sometimes redirected aggression.
And yelling (from my end, when there is a fight).

The older ones used to not be like this, but when the two much younger ones came (Graham and Oreo), they started to demand to be fed the same frequency as the kittens.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Does she drink water?

Feeby is actually very good at drinking water - thankfully, she always has been. She even sometimes stops in the middle of eating to drink a bit before going back to eating. She has 3 water dishes and uses them all at varying points in time of the day. She pees about 3-4 times a day and they are pretty good sized!

 

[Furballsmom]

I've been thinking about you all morning...

She's still restless and wandering about the house talking? Would you be interested in trying Mamanyt1953 's chamomile tea, for her and for you, too ?

 

[FeebysOwner]

I've been thinking about you all morning... She's still restless and wandering about the house talking? Would you be interested in trying Mamanyt1953 's chamomile tea, for her and for you, too ?

Hmmm. Maybe I should try it just to see. I won't syringe her though, so she would have to drink it on her own. I didn't post more yesterday, but she continued the squawking mid-way between each snack/meal session. She even did a mini-squawk before her 11PM meal, but ate only a little bit and then headed off to our bed - by herself!

And, here we are today - she finished her 'breakfast' at about 9AM, and starting squawking again about 15 minutes ago. She ate less at 'breakfast', but then I noticed she had eaten about 1/16 cup of dry food before I got up, which she hasn't been doing for a while. And, it dawned on me - if she is truly hungry in between her meals/snacks, I am surprised that she hasn't resorted to eating her dry before today. Last time I recorded her eating dry was 1/20.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Gave into her squawking just a tad early and fed her at 1PM. She ate some, waited for a re-scooping and ate a bit more, then quit. I hate leaving canned food out for too long, but did this time. Now, here we are at 2:30PM and she is eating some more. So, depending on how long I am willing to leave out the food, knowing full well I will have to watch it like a hawk for re-scooping, it would seem she wants to treat this canned food they way she used to do when she ate dry only - eat a bit here and a bit there ALL day long.

And, I thought just scooping it was a pain - she just found a way to make it even more painful to feed her, for me anyway.

 

[Furballsmom]

I personally leave my Big Guys wet food out for about 12 hours, then whatever's left gets removed and a fresh plate with fresh food gets put down.

You could try an arrangement of an ice pack under the food dish.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I personally leave my Big Guys wet food out for about 12 hours, then whatever's left gets removed and a fresh plate with fresh food gets put down. You could try an arrangement of an ice pack under the food dish.

I am sure I can leave it out longer than I have, but the re-scooping will be the issue. I know if I am going this route, the food dish will STAY in the kitchen, where I can better monitor it, and she will have to learn to come there to eat. Maybe over time, she will learn to eat without scooping... ...… ... sorry, I had to take a break to laugh hysterically over that one!!!

 

[daftcat75]

Could you try a flat plate instead of the shallow bowls?

Krista eats off a plate like this. I bought two at the thrift store so I could always deploy one for a long time and wash the other. But since she started pred, she cleans plates almost in one go now.

This is her with her flat plate and her feeders (so I can get six hours apart from her or get a fair chunk of sleep at night.)

And this is her treat plate. I put her raw portions on it and she makes those disappear nearly instantaneously! (Beam me up, Krista!)

The glob in the corner is her canned that I smear her pill in before pilling and she can have the rest.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Unfortunately, Feeby laps the food right off the side of a flat plate. I have a shallower dish that I use when she gets her food down to a smaller amount that what she is willing to eat from a dish (pic above in Post #10) and she manages to lap that out over the edge.

 

[daftcat75]

Unfortunately, Feeby laps the food right off the side of a flat plate. I have a shallower dish that I use when she gets her food down to a smaller amount that what she is willing to eat from a dish (pic above in Post #10) and she manages to lap that out over the edge.

I guess Krista is more of a chewer even without teeth these days. I do get crumbs because she picks up the chewier bits off the plate and tries to process them over the carpet. Significantly more still makes it into the cat than on the carpet, though. As you can see, she still does a pretty good job clearing a plate.

Cats! Whatcha gonna do?

 

[She's a witch]

I also leave the wet food for many hours and I'm not worried about this. But one of my cats would never eat one out for more than 15minutes until we got them sealed bowls that close automatically, making sure the food is still fresh after few hours. My place is naturally cold so I'm not worried about this temp wise. It could be a good option for Feeby but given she's 15, I wonder if it's not too challenging to train her to use it, it's tricky... Anyway, that's the one I'm using. It's not perfect but it does the work, I bought it for $30 but I don't think I'd paid more. This thing is rather noisy so it's not for every cat.


My boy required food scooping when I first got him as a kitten (he was dry addict and only ate wet food if it was mountain shaped). I managed to change it with deep, rounded at the bottom bowl. It sort of created reverse mountain but it worked for him for some reason? Luckily this sensor activated bowls have similar shape. But well, he was 6mo not 15yo.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I also leave the wet food for many hours and I'm not worried about this. But one of my cats would never eat one out for more than 15minutes until we got them sealed bowls that close automatically, making sure the food is still fresh after few hours. My place is naturally cold so I'm not worried about this temp wise. It could be a good option for Feeby but given she's 15, I wonder if it's not too challenging to train her to use it, it's tricky... Anyway, that's the one I'm using. It's not perfect but it does the work, I bought it for $30 but I don't think I'd paid more. This thing is rather noisy so it's not for every cat.

My boy required food scooping when I first got him as a kitten (he was dry addict and only ate wet food if it was mountain shaped). I managed to change it with deep, rounded at the bottom bowl. It sort of created reverse mountain but it worked for him for some reason? Luckily this sensor activated bowls have similar shape. But well, he was 6mo not 15yo.

Thanks! Does it really keep the food moist? The noise concerns me though. She has never liked any kind of motorized toy. I was feeling pretty optimistic about this you mentioned the noise factor.

 

[She's a witch]

Thanks! Does it really keep the food moist? The noise concerns me though. She has never liked any kind of motorized toy. I was feeling pretty optimistic about this you mentioned the noise factor.

It keeps the food moist. I always add some water to their meal but they generally eat most of the watery stuff at the beginning, and the leftover are "drier", but they do stay moist and fresh. If my girl eats it with pleasure after 2h, then it means the seal does the job well

Yeah, it closes in a noisy way. My girl doesn't care about this at all, but my boy had to get used to it. At the beginning he was jumping every time he heard the bowl closing, now he got used to it. The other problem with his bowl is that it must be approached from the front only to be opened, but my cats learned that with no problem. Definitely not for skittish cats.

So I can recommend the solution, but I'm still not sure if this particular product. We had to exchange one bowl as the sensor broke. Basically I only decided to keep it because they have 1 year guarantee. If you have Prime, I'd buy it if I were you just to see and return it if it's not something for Feeby.
There's allegedly better product, SureFeed, but it's bigger, and has plastic bowl (which I think can be exchanged for around $15). It's more expensive though and I know my cats would not like the shape of the bowl. :

 

[FeebysOwner]

4:15PM and she wanted to eat again. I had left her dish out in the kitchen feeding station with the remaining food and she went to it to eat - left some but there was very little left - so added some more, just to see what she would do. And, she was back to eating the added amount … but, still left some... which I am going to leave out as is.

I also elevated her dish in case that helps any. I am thinking that she might need the elevation and that is why she moves about after eating a bit - she tends to go to places where she can lie down to eat.

Although this new approach caused her to ignore her hairball/Glyco Flex treat that was sitting next to her dish.

Back to her food bowl just a few minutes ago (5:30)...

One baby step at a time...

 

[Furballsmom]

One baby step at a time...

Progress is progress