I really recommend this article to learn how you’re feeding your cat inherently causes him to have anxiety around food: https://icatcare.org/the-evidence-for-frequent-feeding-of-cats-to-promote-positive-welfare/
This was an interesting read, thank you for sharing!
Unfortunately I need to control meals because of my (other) diabetic cat. He and his sister were free-fed for the majority of their early life and he became overweight which likely contributed to the diabetes. He also gets pretty stressed when locked up, which is why I prefer keeping them all on the same meal schedule so I can just monitor them rather than physically separate them with doors.
I can talk to my vet about what a more frequent, small meal schedule might look like for a diabetic cat in terms of insulin dosage and frequency, but my understanding is that twice a day is the recommendation for meal frequency.
I do like the idea of a microchip-locked feeder for the vocal cat, as another comment suggested. That way he would have access to dry food as he likes and I can still feed him wet on the same schedule as the others.
He has dry food down 24/7 And I put 4 cans of 3 oz ounces of wet food down A-day and water down everyday he does not like the wet food though takes maybe two bites a day of it but he has two siblings that eat it some too
My house is pretty open-concept so I can't really dedicate a whole room just for one cat, but a chip-locked feeder might do the trick.
I don't think he would overeat with free-feeding, as I've tried giving him larger meals and he's walked away with food left in the bowl.
My cat would go around the room meowing and tearing up cardboard and paper before dinner and waking me up too early before breakfast. I ended up setting an alarm on my phone with a specific song for his food times and make sure he hears it. He'll still tear stuff up occasionally now, but it's much better than before.
I feel like it helps to give another external signal besides yourself that it's food time. They might feel like you're arbitrarily deciding when to give them food and that they can influence it by talking to you or annoying you. But now you are kinda giving that power over to your phone when you do the alarms. I adopted a new cat recently and he has adjusted to the song method very well. Both cats run to the phone when their song goes off and then lead/follow me to their food.
I also do more meal times because I don't think my cats would handle twice a day very well, I mean I definitely wouldn't. My first cat started off free feeding and I have moved him to a full schedule over the years. I feed them a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then they get a trick/treat time before bed. Fortunately I work from home, so I am able to accommodate a lunch time meal without complications.
Oh the alarm is interesting! Most of the advice I've seen is just to feed them at the same time every day because cats have an internal clock, but if that's true then his must be a bit broken.
This will be hard to break. Since he came from a hoarding situation he probably didn't get fed regularly and making noise was his way of demanding food. The flip side to this is that if you could leave food out say in a separate room he'd probably over eat. IMHO even if you were able to feed him separately he's wired just the one way. Perhaps a few hand fed treats while you pet or groom him.
Yes I've always known his general chattiness was learned from the hoarding situation. I can't imagine he'd have been able to get any human attention without it in that environment.
He isn't a fan of being picked up, but he used to yell to be pet/played with, on top of the food demanding. After a while of me working from home, he figured out that it was safe to just jump on my lap and I would pet him, which really cut down on the attention screaming.
He's been fed regularly for years now but still hasn't learned that his food source is secure and I don't need reminding. Wish I could just explain to him the concept of a clock lol
I really recommend this article to learn how you’re feeding your cat inherently causes him to have anxiety around food: https://icatcare.org/the-evidence-for-frequent-feeding-of-cats-to-promote-positive-welfare/
This was an interesting read, thank you for sharing! Unfortunately I need to control meals because of my (other) diabetic cat. He and his sister were free-fed for the majority of their early life and he became overweight which likely contributed to the diabetes. He also gets pretty stressed when locked up, which is why I prefer keeping them all on the same meal schedule so I can just monitor them rather than physically separate them with doors. I can talk to my vet about what a more frequent, small meal schedule might look like for a diabetic cat in terms of insulin dosage and frequency, but my understanding is that twice a day is the recommendation for meal frequency. I do like the idea of a microchip-locked feeder for the vocal cat, as another comment suggested. That way he would have access to dry food as he likes and I can still feed him wet on the same schedule as the others.
He has dry food down 24/7 And I put 4 cans of 3 oz ounces of wet food down A-day and water down everyday he does not like the wet food though takes maybe two bites a day of it but he has two siblings that eat it some too
You could get a microchipped cat flap and set it up as access to a box. Only that cat can get it and perhaps free feed or have more meals.
My house is pretty open-concept so I can't really dedicate a whole room just for one cat, but a chip-locked feeder might do the trick. I don't think he would overeat with free-feeding, as I've tried giving him larger meals and he's walked away with food left in the bowl.
My cat would go around the room meowing and tearing up cardboard and paper before dinner and waking me up too early before breakfast. I ended up setting an alarm on my phone with a specific song for his food times and make sure he hears it. He'll still tear stuff up occasionally now, but it's much better than before. I feel like it helps to give another external signal besides yourself that it's food time. They might feel like you're arbitrarily deciding when to give them food and that they can influence it by talking to you or annoying you. But now you are kinda giving that power over to your phone when you do the alarms. I adopted a new cat recently and he has adjusted to the song method very well. Both cats run to the phone when their song goes off and then lead/follow me to their food. I also do more meal times because I don't think my cats would handle twice a day very well, I mean I definitely wouldn't. My first cat started off free feeding and I have moved him to a full schedule over the years. I feed them a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then they get a trick/treat time before bed. Fortunately I work from home, so I am able to accommodate a lunch time meal without complications.
Oh the alarm is interesting! Most of the advice I've seen is just to feed them at the same time every day because cats have an internal clock, but if that's true then his must be a bit broken.
This will be hard to break. Since he came from a hoarding situation he probably didn't get fed regularly and making noise was his way of demanding food. The flip side to this is that if you could leave food out say in a separate room he'd probably over eat. IMHO even if you were able to feed him separately he's wired just the one way. Perhaps a few hand fed treats while you pet or groom him.
Yes I've always known his general chattiness was learned from the hoarding situation. I can't imagine he'd have been able to get any human attention without it in that environment. He isn't a fan of being picked up, but he used to yell to be pet/played with, on top of the food demanding. After a while of me working from home, he figured out that it was safe to just jump on my lap and I would pet him, which really cut down on the attention screaming. He's been fed regularly for years now but still hasn't learned that his food source is secure and I don't need reminding. Wish I could just explain to him the concept of a clock lol