- Joined
- May 11, 2006
- Messages
- 8,028
- Purraise
- 22
Disclaimer: This is not a request for advice. I am merely telling a tale about current dinnertime dynamics. I hope you'll enjoy!
The story:
It happened gradually, but one day I noticed that Ferris wouldn't come to dinner anymore.
He was still eating and drinking, and hadn't lost any weight, but when the kit's wet suppers were ready, I would call and call and call - and no Ferris. This was odd - Ferris is COMPLETELY food motivated, and for him not to come to dinner means something is really wrong.
I started to pay better attention to what was happening - tried carrying Ferris into the kitchen and put him in front of his food dish, but noticed that if he tried to eat, Max would literally shoulder Ferris out of the way and eat from Ferris' dish.
Ok, I thought, THIS cannot continue for very long.
I made Ferris a solid promise when I adopted him: That he would NEVER go hungry again, and that he would never have to scavenge for food. So to see that he was being forced to scavenge for food by eating the leftover wet from the other kit's bowls only after they were finished eating, well, that was completely unacceptable.
So about 4 days ago, I started a new dinnertime ritual. After preparing all four food dishes, I pick up Max's, and calling him, I head into the bathroom, where I put his dish down on the floor next to the sink on a little petmate half-moon mat, just for him.
The first night I had to carry him in and put him down, and although I gave him lots of praise, he did a lot of confused meowing after I shut the door on him. But shutting the door allowed me to feed the other kits in peace, without the alpha bully eating their food out from under them.
Ferris ate a tiny bit of his dinner, but was very wary, on alert for Max to come and take his food. After he'd eaten all he was going to, which wasn't much, I them let Max out, praising him for being such a good boy.
But part of me felt really bad, because I didn't want Max to think he was being punished for just being himself. I talked at length about this with a friend of mine, and she assured me that this wasn't punishment, it was TRAINING, and not to be manipulated by the little clownfaced alpha.
Evening #2, Max was really unsure about going into the bathroom to eat, but it's a room he does associate with good things, like watching the toilet flush and jamming his paw down the sink drain.
So I had to go pick him up and bring him in, but as I put him down in front of his bowl, I gave him TONS of praise, continuing as I shut the door behind me and went to feed the others.
Again, Ferris wouldn't come to the call so I brought his dish to him. He ate some, a little bit more than the night before, and when he was done, again, I let Max out, heaping excited praise upon him with extra scritches.
Last night was night #3, and this time Max came running into the bathroom with me as I brought his dish in - this is working so far, at least for him. Lots of praise, and NO meowing, although I heard him scratch at the door when HE was done eating.
This time, again, no Ferris coming to the call, so I sought him out and found him under my bed, and gave him his dish there. He shrank away from it, so I backed off and left him alone, and after a bit I peeked in to see he was actually eating.
I waited a while until he came out of my room licking his chops, and that's when I let Max out of the bathroom, again, with a ton of "good boy!" praise.
I am hoping that Ferris will start coming back to the kitchen soon, and that eventually I won't have to shut Max in, that he will learn that his bowl is HIS bowl, and that they'll all eat where and when they are supposed to without the little piggy bully shoving his way into Ferris' dinner.
Here's hoping this is the right solution!
Oh - and on a side note, Penny tends to sit in front of the closed bathroom door, facing it, when Max is in there. She just sits there, looking at it. I think it's kind of funny!
The story:
It happened gradually, but one day I noticed that Ferris wouldn't come to dinner anymore.
He was still eating and drinking, and hadn't lost any weight, but when the kit's wet suppers were ready, I would call and call and call - and no Ferris. This was odd - Ferris is COMPLETELY food motivated, and for him not to come to dinner means something is really wrong.
I started to pay better attention to what was happening - tried carrying Ferris into the kitchen and put him in front of his food dish, but noticed that if he tried to eat, Max would literally shoulder Ferris out of the way and eat from Ferris' dish.
Ok, I thought, THIS cannot continue for very long.
I made Ferris a solid promise when I adopted him: That he would NEVER go hungry again, and that he would never have to scavenge for food. So to see that he was being forced to scavenge for food by eating the leftover wet from the other kit's bowls only after they were finished eating, well, that was completely unacceptable.
So about 4 days ago, I started a new dinnertime ritual. After preparing all four food dishes, I pick up Max's, and calling him, I head into the bathroom, where I put his dish down on the floor next to the sink on a little petmate half-moon mat, just for him.
The first night I had to carry him in and put him down, and although I gave him lots of praise, he did a lot of confused meowing after I shut the door on him. But shutting the door allowed me to feed the other kits in peace, without the alpha bully eating their food out from under them.
Ferris ate a tiny bit of his dinner, but was very wary, on alert for Max to come and take his food. After he'd eaten all he was going to, which wasn't much, I them let Max out, praising him for being such a good boy.
But part of me felt really bad, because I didn't want Max to think he was being punished for just being himself. I talked at length about this with a friend of mine, and she assured me that this wasn't punishment, it was TRAINING, and not to be manipulated by the little clownfaced alpha.
Evening #2, Max was really unsure about going into the bathroom to eat, but it's a room he does associate with good things, like watching the toilet flush and jamming his paw down the sink drain.
So I had to go pick him up and bring him in, but as I put him down in front of his bowl, I gave him TONS of praise, continuing as I shut the door behind me and went to feed the others.
Again, Ferris wouldn't come to the call so I brought his dish to him. He ate some, a little bit more than the night before, and when he was done, again, I let Max out, heaping excited praise upon him with extra scritches.
Last night was night #3, and this time Max came running into the bathroom with me as I brought his dish in - this is working so far, at least for him. Lots of praise, and NO meowing, although I heard him scratch at the door when HE was done eating.
This time, again, no Ferris coming to the call, so I sought him out and found him under my bed, and gave him his dish there. He shrank away from it, so I backed off and left him alone, and after a bit I peeked in to see he was actually eating.
I waited a while until he came out of my room licking his chops, and that's when I let Max out of the bathroom, again, with a ton of "good boy!" praise.
I am hoping that Ferris will start coming back to the kitchen soon, and that eventually I won't have to shut Max in, that he will learn that his bowl is HIS bowl, and that they'll all eat where and when they are supposed to without the little piggy bully shoving his way into Ferris' dinner.
Here's hoping this is the right solution!
Oh - and on a side note, Penny tends to sit in front of the closed bathroom door, facing it, when Max is in there. She just sits there, looking at it. I think it's kind of funny!
