It’s possible you’ll already remember that I share my dwelling with a number of cats. 5 to be precise. Every one with their very own personalities, eccentricities, and quirks. In addition they have differing ranges of greed, however, except for squidgy Cyril, all of them keep fairly an excellent physique situation for indoor cats, and there’s by no means any combating over meals.
One concern about holding indoor cats is ensuring they’re entertained, enriched, and appropriately fed. It’s not at all times simple to train a cat, so one of many methods I attempt to make feeding time somewhat extra attention-grabbing, and on the identical time scale back the probabilities of Cyril consuming everybody’s share, is by scatter feeding.
What Is Scatter Feeding?
Properly, it’s precisely what it feels like. In terms of feeding my cats their dry meals, I don’t use bowls. As an alternative, I measure the quantity of meals required for all 5 cats, and scatter this throughout the ground, on chairs, or on their scratching platforms. Not solely does this encourage them to discover and seek for their meals, it additionally turns feeding time from a five-minute frenzy right into a leisurely half-hour feast.
Scatter feeding offers everybody an opportunity to eat their fill, it additionally massively reduces the quantity of regurgitation I used to see once they would eat their meals rapidly. And, if there are ever any leftovers, Ned the Chihuahua is at all times pleased to assist out.
What About Moist Meals?
So clearly scatter feeding moist meals is a bit trickier, particularly when carpets are concerned! It makes me consider a carpet advert from many eons in the past in Australia. But it surely doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t adapt the identical precept.
My cats primarily eat dry meals – I take advantage of Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hairball – good for Clutch’s delicate tummy, and Zelda’s lengthy coat. It additionally retains their litter field deposits small with minimal odor, which is right when their toilet doubles as my workplace! For a little bit of a deal with, they often get some Gastrointestinal moist meals, and my different to scattering is to unfold this meals over a big baking tray.
No, I’m not simply making an attempt to get out of washing cat dishes – that simply occurs to be a pleasant little bonus!
Why Scatter Feed?
This technique is especially helpful when you might have a number of cats, much more so you probably have grasping cats. Regurgitation is a extremely frequent criticism in cats, and the vast majority of the time it’s the results of consuming too quick. When cats really feel like they’re competing for meals, they’re extra more likely to eat rapidly, making them extra more likely to convey that meals straight again up.
Though domestication might have softened their instincts, our cats are nonetheless the descendants of among the most adept hunters on the planet, so having their meals served twice every day in a bowl can get a bit tedious. By spreading their meals throughout a wider space, we’re partaking their looking instincts, in addition to bodily stopping them from consuming too rapidly.
It Can Additionally Assist Forestall Weight problems
One of the crucial frequent issues I see with my sufferers is cats which have meals left down all day turning into obese. I name this “the cheesecake within the fridge” phenomenon**.
Let’s say I’ve a slice of cheesecake. Okay, it could be a giant slice of cheesecake, however that’s my serving; no extra cheesecake for me. However I do know there’s extra cheesecake within the fridge. So I’ve one other small slice a few hours later. And one other earlier than dinner. Then there’s dessert…you see the place I’m going with this. If there wasn’t any extra cheesecake within the fridge, then I wouldn’t eat any extra, which is sweet – I actually don’t want it!
The identical applies to cats with bowls stuffed with meals. We must be measuring out the suitable quantity for every meal, and something that’s left after 20 minutes must be taken up – don’t fear, your cat will quickly be taught to eat their fill at mealtimes! But when we fill their bowl and go away it down, they are going to graze all through the day and eat much more than they need to.
After I scatter feed, I keep on with a measured quantity, nevertheless it takes the cats for much longer to seek out and eat all of the meals, that means that they really feel fuller for longer. And for essentially the most half, they don’t come asking for extra meals till it’s time for his or her subsequent meal.
**Do every other Catsters on the market consider this once they hear the phrase phenomenon?
Are There Different Methods To Hold Mealtimes Attention-grabbing?
Completely. There are a complete slew of meals puzzles for cats (and canine) that present a tougher method to ship their kibble, partaking their mind and lengthening feeding time. Again within the days that it was simply me and Clutch, I used a number of various kinds of puzzles to maintain him occupied whereas I used to be at work.
The problem with utilizing these in a multi-cat family is that I discovered that some cats had been extra motivated than others to work for his or her meals, whereas others had been both not so , or couldn’t work them out!
So if you happen to’re in search of methods to maintain your cats occupied whilst you’re out, cease the grasping cats from hogging the meals bowls, and decelerate those that wish to inhale their meals, you’ll be able to at all times attempt scatter feeding – simply watch out to not scatter it underneath low furnishings, and I don’t advocate throwing moist cat meals round the home!
