Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
well, they are cats... 
hm, that reminds me of something i was wondering about : how do you make sure everybody eats ? i have only two : one of them was rescued (pregnant) and i'm pretty sure she was very hungry for most of her life before i got her (apart from her giant pregnant belly, she was really skinny), so she is a glutton now and she always eats as fast as she can and then wants to eat the bug's food too. the bug, who was born with me, has never been hungry, so she's very casual about food and when her mother comes and tries to push her away she doesn't peep, just goes away. also she likes to eat 3 or 4 bites and then save some for later (like half an hour later), only if she leaves it, it will be gone... so i have to feed the bug next to me so i can keep an eye on her and make sure bast doesn't finish both portions. with 18 cats, especially rescued ones who might not have had enough food before, aren't there any who are like that ? do they all share nicely ? |
The dry bins are gravity fed, so there are always four very large bowls of dry food available at all times. I put about 40 pounds of dry food in the feeders each week (10 pounds per feeder).
The cats, even the starving and/or feral cats, figure out pretty quickly that the dry food is just always there. I have some cats who prefer the dry food, and that's all they eat. They don't show up for the buffet. There are about 4 of my cats that are that way.
The rest of them, well, there are always more bowls at the buffet than there are cats in the room. That means there is always a spot at an open bowl. In fact, there are always a few left overs for about an hour after breakfast and dinner. I wait until all the bowls are empty before I pick them up and stick them in the washer.
All of the cats seem to have a weight at which they are happy and healthy. I have one or two "chunky" cats (but, oddly, they are not the wet food eaters), and a few that are more sleek. The only ones I have that don't eat all that much are cats like my Morgan, who was always very small (I don't think she's ever weighed more than 5 pounds), and is now approaching age 20. So, she nibbles the wet food she wants, and then just curls up and naps. I put her bowl down for the rest of the gang to finish off after she is done.
There are never any squabbles over food. About the only time there are any thing approaching snit fits are when one cat wants to play and another cat wants to be left alone. All those take is a simple loud "Knock it OFF!! Don't make me come in there!!" and quiet immediately ensues.