I mentioned last week that we are on a journey to find the True Nature of our Cats. The program is 4 weeks in length and we were sent a bunch of goodies to use in our journey. There is still time to enter to win the same prize!!! Enter HERE! Entries will end Sunday, April 21st at 11:59pm CST. Find out what happened during Week 1 before joining in with Week 2.
So, during Week Two, we go further with what we started. Here is what we have done and how Lucy has adjusted.
Nutrition:
1. We moved Lucy from a different brand of food last week. This week we changed some of her dry portion to Purina ONE wet food.
- FACT: The moisture in wet foods can help promote healthy hydration. By giving Lucy wet food, it gives her the “water” she wants without having to drink the water given. This is a huge thing for me. I have a cat that doesn’t seem to like water all that much and she needs the hydration due to urinary issues. Knowing that by giving her Purina ONE wet food she is getting hydration in other ways lets me relax a bit about her hydration.
2. We introduced a puzzle feeder. In our kit we received, we had a choice between two puzzle feeders. Upstairs with my lazy cat, I have the Pioneer Pets Tiger Diner. Giving her some fun while doing her favorite thing (eating) has been a fun experience for her and me. For Lucy, we introduced the KONG Cat Wobbler. She hasn’t taken to it yet but I’ll give her some more time to get used to it.
- FACT: An exercise or puzzle feeder can bring some of the fulfillment of hunting and playing to feeding time. Cats like to use their paws during the play drive, a behavior that they inherited from their ancestors.
A few things to keep in mind when using puzzle feeders…
- Make sure your cat doesn’t find the puzzle feeder too difficult or they may just give up.
- Cats need to be motivated to eat, otherwise they aren’t going to use the puzzle feeders. This is very true for the lazy cat I mentioned. She has food out all the time so she had no need to work with the puzzle feeder for her food. But, we had a day that the dog went and ate her food. All of the sudden she was interested in the puzzle feeder. Basically, if you think your cat is full because they have food all the time, gradually move the food to the puzzle feeders so that they have the “drive” to eat from it.
- You can also serve dry food in the feeder before serving wet food.
- In your puzzle feeder, serve a treat or food that your cat REALLY likes. Put it right inside the Tiger Diner so that it is enticing and fairly easy for your cat to access. Once your kitty becomes accustomed to this, gradually add food deeper into the puzzle feeder each time you feed her.
- When using the Stimulo Feeding Station, start with the more shallow cylinders and include many pieces of dry food/treats. Gradually introduce the deeper cylinders and reduce the amount of food.
- When using the KONG Cat Wobbler, make sure the feather teaser is attached to encourage your cat to instinctively bat at the toy.
My hope is that by using the puzzle feeder with my lazy cat, she will also eat slower and therefore eliminate the last of the vomiting issue. We have had very little problems since moving to feeding the cats on plates but sometimes she eats too fast and vomits afterward. Her issue is simply that she doesn’t want to share and eats as fast as she can when the food comes out.
It is possible that by using puzzle feeders, a cat that is nosey and gets into things may even change her behavior. We don’t have this issue but I thought it worth mentioning if you have a kitty that is a trouble maker!
You can even make a puzzle feeder yourself! Here’s how:
What you need:
- A round food container, like for margarine or sour cream (preferably with a screw-on lid). Don’t use PVC-based containers.
- A strong, non-toxic glue
- An X-ACTO or utility knife (be careful!)
How to do it:
- Clean and sanitize your container
- Use utility knife to cut a few small holes in the sides of the container that are large enough for a piece of food/treat to pass through.
- You can also glue an additional lid to the bottom of the container that is slightly larger in diameter. It will alter the way the feeder rolls and add variety to the experience for your cat.
Things to remember:
- Don’t leave kitty unsupervised.
- It can be considered a success if your kitty uses your feeder for a week. They like variety, so if it falls apart or they don’t show interest, just make a new one.
- Be creative!
Bonus Activity this week
As a bonus activity this week, we were encouraged to further acclimate our kitty to a harness by placing the harness on kitty a couple times a day for about 15 minutes at a time. Lucy wanted nothing to do with this so I didn’t push it. This will be something we do very gradually.
Disclosure: Purina ONE provided us with all the necessary products and food to complete this journey plus the information needed to facilitate it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Christina says
I had one cat (he passed last year due to cancer and renal failure) that just absolutely LOVED the harness… we’d take him on short walks with the dog from time to time, it was SO funny. We’d bring it out and he’d run to us and sit at our feet like the dog so we could put it on lol.
I really love those puzzle feeders, I need to call and talk to our vet about them… our new kitten has a plastic allergies (she seems to have quite a few allergies and odd issues.. and yes she finds trouble, our vet staff calls her problem child). I wonder if she’d have issues with the Kong brand, I just hate to spend the money and find out we can’t use it.