I wasn't sure whether to post this under behavior, or nutrition but here goes...
Background: I have two 1.75 year old cats (brothers), I also have two three month old Petsmart Lebistro automatic pet feeders which dispense food in 1/4 cup increments.
Problem: The pet feeders have been great, until about a month ago, one (and only one) of my cats has figured out that he can stick his paw up the feeding mechanism and slowly get the food out. Now, I wouldn't be so concerned with this except that only one of the cats does this, so it gets to the point that he eats all the food before it comes out, and then when its feeding time, nothing comes out for the other cat to eat. I would also like them to be on some sort of regular feeding schedule which is why I like these feeders so much. Anyone have any advice? Or anyone have similar problems or possible solutions?
I have tried endlessly to modify the feeders in some way so that he can't get his paw up there but that doesn't seem to work. I have also recently switched from science diet to wellness core. I was thinking that he wasn't getting full from the SD and the higher protein content in WC would keep him fuller longer. I have also shortened the time between feedings from 12hrs in between, to about 8, feeding them during the day, since they sleep with me for most of the night. He has been doing this less since the food switch but he still does it way to much. At this point I am not sure if he is doing because he is actually hungry, or if its because he wants attention (negative attention at that). Another issue on top of this is that when my cats where kittens, they did fine on an open feeding schedule, at about a year old they began to gain weight (eating 3/4 of a cup of food a day). The vet told me to cut there food intake by about 1/4 (now eating 1/2 cup a day) due to the fact that I live in a smaller apt (and will be in one for awhile). Any help would be great, sorry this is so long.
I also wanted to say I really appreciate everything this site does, I don't post a lot, but often search the forums and find answers to my questions there. THis site is a gold mine of information. Thanks everyone!
Background: I have two 1.75 year old cats (brothers), I also have two three month old Petsmart Lebistro automatic pet feeders which dispense food in 1/4 cup increments.
Problem: The pet feeders have been great, until about a month ago, one (and only one) of my cats has figured out that he can stick his paw up the feeding mechanism and slowly get the food out. Now, I wouldn't be so concerned with this except that only one of the cats does this, so it gets to the point that he eats all the food before it comes out, and then when its feeding time, nothing comes out for the other cat to eat. I would also like them to be on some sort of regular feeding schedule which is why I like these feeders so much. Anyone have any advice? Or anyone have similar problems or possible solutions?
I have tried endlessly to modify the feeders in some way so that he can't get his paw up there but that doesn't seem to work. I have also recently switched from science diet to wellness core. I was thinking that he wasn't getting full from the SD and the higher protein content in WC would keep him fuller longer. I have also shortened the time between feedings from 12hrs in between, to about 8, feeding them during the day, since they sleep with me for most of the night. He has been doing this less since the food switch but he still does it way to much. At this point I am not sure if he is doing because he is actually hungry, or if its because he wants attention (negative attention at that). Another issue on top of this is that when my cats where kittens, they did fine on an open feeding schedule, at about a year old they began to gain weight (eating 3/4 of a cup of food a day). The vet told me to cut there food intake by about 1/4 (now eating 1/2 cup a day) due to the fact that I live in a smaller apt (and will be in one for awhile). Any help would be great, sorry this is so long.
I also wanted to say I really appreciate everything this site does, I don't post a lot, but often search the forums and find answers to my questions there. THis site is a gold mine of information. Thanks everyone!
