It’s possible you’ll already bear in mind that I share my house with a number of cats. 5 to be actual. Each with their very own personalities, eccentricities, and quirks. Additionally they have differing ranges of greed, however, excluding squidgy Cyril, all of them keep fairly a very good physique situation for indoor cats, and there’s by no means any combating over meals.
One concern about preserving 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 a bit extra attention-grabbing, and on the identical time cut back the possibilities of Cyril consuming everybody’s share, is by scatter feeding.
What Is Scatter Feeding?
Nicely, it’s precisely what it seems like. In terms of feeding my cats their dry meals, I don’t use bowls. As a substitute, 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 after they would eat their meals shortly. 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 ad from many eons in the past in Australia. Nevertheless it doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t adapt the identical precept.
My cats primarily eat dry meals – I exploit 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 wet food, 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 methodology is especially helpful when you could have a number of cats, much more so when you’ve got grasping cats. Regurgitation is a very widespread grievance in cats, and nearly all 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 shortly, making them extra more likely to carry 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 shortly.
It Can Additionally Assist Stop Weight problems
One of the crucial widespread 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 an enormous 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 nice – I definitely 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 depart 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, but it surely takes the cats for much longer to search out and eat all of the meals, that means that they really feel fuller for longer. And for probably the most half, they don’t come asking for extra meals till it’s time for his or her subsequent meal.
**Do some other Catsters on the market consider this after they hear the phrase phenomenon?
Are There Different Methods To Preserve Mealtimes Attention-grabbing?
Completely. There are a whole slew of food puzzles for cats (and canine) that present a tougher option to ship their kibble, partaking their mind and increasing feeding time. Again within the days that it was simply me and Clutch, I used a number of several types of puzzles to keep him occupied while I was at work.
The problem with utilizing these in a multi-cat family is that I discovered that some cats have been extra motivated than others to work for his or her meals, whereas others have been both not so , or couldn’t work them out!
So in the event you’re searching for methods to maintain your cats occupied whilst you’re out, cease the grasping cats from hogging the meals bowls, and decelerate those that prefer to inhale their meals, you’ll be able to at all times strive scatter feeding – simply watch out to not scatter it underneath low furnishings, and I don’t advocate throwing moist cat meals round the home!
