In a previous post, I wrote about ways to feed cats in a multi-cat household. Inevitably, it seems one cat always eats more than his/her fair share. We’ve been struggling with this issue for as long as we’ve had more than one cat.
Liv (Left), Wayne (Middle) and Lucian (Right)
Our latest attempt at feeding seems to be working so far. It’s a bit unconventional and requires some handy-man/crafter skills. The basic premise is to create narrow feeding corrals so that the cats are guided into areas where they will ignore the other cats and just eat their own food. This is the prototype using soymilk cartons from Costco lined with contact paper and taped together.
Liv took to it immediately. We had already been feeding her in something similar, so it was familiar. Wayne hates it! He will eat, but only if he’s really hungry. He tends to leave as soon as he’s satiated instead of hoovering up whatever the other’s have left behind. Lucian eats well and is less apt to go smack Liv to get her out-of-the-way so he can finish hers.
The permanent version will need higher walls so that they don’t climb over to get to the other dishes. It also seems to be self-regulating for Wayne. He’s overweight and large, so it’s not comfortable for him to eat. Yet, he’s already losing weight which makes it easier. As he gains, it will again become uncomfortable and hopefully dissuade him from eating too much. Liv is finally getting enough to eat and is gaining weight and seems much happier. Overall, it’s a win-win. We’ll see how things go long-term, but so far so good.
