Hey, most of you know about my never ending saga with Cassie and Napoleon. LOL Well, now that things are getting more *manageable* between them there is something else (isn't there?) that hasn't stopped with time.
Basically, Napoleon (we think) was neglected in his previous household. He is a very needy, sweet and loving boy, but he CONSTANTLY needs attention. Now, that means both positive AND negative attention. "No Napoleon!" or "Good boy Napoleon!" are all the same to him...
In any case, back when we first introduced the cats, we had their food bowls in separate rooms but one had to walk past the other when eating. Cassie would get annoyed and walk away from her bowl is Napoleon came into the kitchen...Napoleon would just eat Cassie's food LOL.
We separated their food bowls and for the most part, he sticks to his own food. But now...his obsession with her food is getting WORSE! He is ALWAYS in her bowl...and when her food bowl is empty *he* starts to cry, even though his food bowl is still relatively full.
Believe me, she eats...but she eats in installments, b/c she knows her food will be there. So when she leaves, it's a free-for-all for him!
They are fed the same thing, so it's not like she has some different kind of yummy food that he absolutely loves. I think his mentality is that if he doesn't eat it *now*, he never knows when he next meal is going to be (even though we keep him well-fed, it's kind of sad
)
I've enlisted therapy for him, and he suggested that I keep Cassie's food bowl away out of sight when I'm not at home. I don't like that idea, b/c I know she does eat periodically throughout the day. But I don't know -- I always say "NO NAPOLEON" when he goes to eat her food. I clap my hands, rattle his food bowl, try to distract him from eating her food. But I don't know, I don't feel like I do *enough* to get him disinterested in her food bowl and make him interested in his own! (which he is, for about 10 minutes every morning and 10- minutes after feeding time at night LOL)
OK sorry for the long drawn-out story. What do you guys think?
Basically, Napoleon (we think) was neglected in his previous household. He is a very needy, sweet and loving boy, but he CONSTANTLY needs attention. Now, that means both positive AND negative attention. "No Napoleon!" or "Good boy Napoleon!" are all the same to him...
In any case, back when we first introduced the cats, we had their food bowls in separate rooms but one had to walk past the other when eating. Cassie would get annoyed and walk away from her bowl is Napoleon came into the kitchen...Napoleon would just eat Cassie's food LOL.
We separated their food bowls and for the most part, he sticks to his own food. But now...his obsession with her food is getting WORSE! He is ALWAYS in her bowl...and when her food bowl is empty *he* starts to cry, even though his food bowl is still relatively full.
Believe me, she eats...but she eats in installments, b/c she knows her food will be there. So when she leaves, it's a free-for-all for him!
They are fed the same thing, so it's not like she has some different kind of yummy food that he absolutely loves. I think his mentality is that if he doesn't eat it *now*, he never knows when he next meal is going to be (even though we keep him well-fed, it's kind of sad
I've enlisted therapy for him, and he suggested that I keep Cassie's food bowl away out of sight when I'm not at home. I don't like that idea, b/c I know she does eat periodically throughout the day. But I don't know -- I always say "NO NAPOLEON" when he goes to eat her food. I clap my hands, rattle his food bowl, try to distract him from eating her food. But I don't know, I don't feel like I do *enough* to get him disinterested in her food bowl and make him interested in his own! (which he is, for about 10 minutes every morning and 10- minutes after feeding time at night LOL)
OK sorry for the long drawn-out story. What do you guys think?
