The Training of Cats

[deird1]

Dilemma: Smudge is getting way too dominant, and making Elf's life a misery. Elf, being a big wuss, is not going to stand up for himself to change this.

Our solution: When we feed the cats, feed Elf first, and insist that Smudge wait his turn - thus asserting Elf's dominance in the food-getting department, and levelling the playing field slightly.

(This is not such a random solution as it sounds: part of the problem was that Smudge was jumping in front of Elf to eat food, and Elf would just sit there and let him, looking sad and confused.)



New dilemma: Because we are now feeding the cats in order, they've each ended up with their "own" bowl.
Elf has figured out that he eats food out of his bowl, and shouldn't touch Smudge's. Smudge has not figured this out. I keep on being woken up by frantic requests from Elf, who is starving - because Smudge has calmly eaten half the food from Elf's bowl, and has saved his own bowl for later. Elf is too polite to touch Smudge's, no matter how hungry he is.
No kidding: the last three mornings, I've gone out to feed them, and found Elf's bowl licked clean and Smudge's STILL FULL. And Smudge looking extremely smug.

Our solution: Um...

Comments

[velvetwhip]

I sure hope you find an answer. Elf seems like such a sweet cat.


Gabrielle

[watchingtheaeroplanes.blogspot.com]

I once made the mistake of putting Smudge's bowl down first (Elf wasn't around). He sat there looking very confused — like, "I know I'm supposed to eat from the left-hand bowl, but I'm also supposed to eat from the second bowl you put down. CONFUSE! Which bowl will makes you not be mad at me?" Fortunately, simply pointing to his bowl sufficed to deconfuse and reassure him.

[menomegirl]

Hmmm. Perhaps you should give them different feeding areas? Or..only fill Smudge's bowl half-full and feed Elf an extra time?

[fenchurch]

That was going to be my suggestion too. It's a bit of a pain, but it might actually work in this case.

We had to feed our last cats in separate areas of the house (not because of food bullying, exactly, but because they just didn't get along) and it worked pretty well - especially after we moved into this house and were able to feed them on separate floors. We did generally give the less aggressive cat her food near where we spent most of our time so that we could keep an eye out for the other one trying to sneak in and eat it.

I must say that even after all these years, it still hits me how wonderful it is to have cats who get along as our two current ones do.

[swellen.livejournal.com]

Feed Elf FIRST, and in a separate room. Don't feed Smudge until Elf has finished his dinner. You need to show Smudge (and Elf) that Elf is still the top cat. When you get up in the morning, and when you come home from work, make sure you pat Elf first, before Smudge. It's not about favouring one over the other, it's about making the pecking order clear. Otherwise you'll end up with fights for dominance and that's not pretty.

[deird1]

When you get up in the morning, and when you come home from work, make sure you pat Elf first, before Smudge.

The only problem with that is that Smudge is my housemate's cat. I tend to pat Elf first; she pats Smudge first.

[swellen.livejournal.com]

Ah. Tricky. Of course they both think they're top cat because... they are. Okay, in that case I have no suggestions. (And given that, after 6 months, my older cat STILL hisses and growls when the younger one comes too close to her, you might not want to listen to any of my suggestions anyway!)

[nimthiriel]

Well, I'm going to make en effort to pat Elf first as well. I'll also be taking their food bowls away after 20min, so that there's no "grazing" happening, which is when the problem of Smudge taking Elf's food occurs.

Hopefully these two measures will soon fix the problem!

[1c2k3p4p5c.livejournal.com]

I take it Elf is still on a special diet and Smudge no longer needs to build up his weight. May I suggest you designate a specific supervised "dinner time", after which all food will be removed. They will soon adapt. You may recall having to stand back lest you be bowled over by the animals when the timer sounded at 5.45pm every day. One reason for that was Ko-Ko's tendency to be demanding food at all hours of day and night. He soon adapted to the new regime - as will your two cats.

[deird1]

You may recall having to stand back lest you be bowled over by the animals when the timer sounded at 5.45pm every day.

Yes, I remember. That's why the cats are well aware that I won't get up and feed them until my alarm goes off - and normally they don't ask in the mornings. But the last few nights, Elf's been really hungry...

[zeborah]

I used to feed my cat when my alarm went off in the morning. It only led to her picking up my cell phone (which I used as the alarm) and dropping it, repeatedly, in an attempt to make the alarm go off. Nowadays I don't feed her until I've had my shower, and I can generally sleep in until 10 or 11 without her complaining.

[padawanspider.livejournal.com]

Times like these, an upside-down laundry basket is just the thing...

[slaymesoftly]

Feed them in separate rooms?