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It\u2019s second nature in our household to feed our two cats two different diets. I was asked again this week, \u201cHow do you do that? How do you keep them out of the other one\u2019s food?\u201d<\/p>\nIt\u2019s second nature in our household to feed our two cats two different diets. I was asked again this week, \u201cHow do you do that? How do you keep them out of the other one\u2019s food?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure, it was a problem at first, especially when Lily wasn\u2019t all that taken with the special kidney health diet we\u2019d sprung on her. She wanted what Sophie was eating, and I\u2019m not sure that was because of what it was as much as she just wanted whatever it was Sophie had. You know how little sisters can be.<\/p>\n
It took us a while to make a believer out of Lily: \u201cThis is ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LilyEating1-e1563191816941-225x300.jpg\")
your breakfast and you\u2019re not getting Sophie\u2019s breakfast. So eat this or lose out.\u201d Sophie didn\u2019t really care one way or the other. If Lily managed to approach her meal, she\u2019d walk away and let her have it.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward nearly ten years. Each cat has her food station. They cannot see each other. But I can see Lily. I feed her where I am so I can watch her. Sometimes, still, she\u2019ll glance in the direction where Sophie is eating, then look at me, and go back to eating her own food. Occasionally, she\u2019ll try to sneak away\u2014to visit Sophie, of course. And it isn\u2019t that she doesn\u2019t like her own food. If she does make her way to Sophie\u2019s dish, she\u2019ll eat it and come back to her meal and finish it off too. She\u2019s a relentlessly self-centered cat. It\u2019s all about \u201cme\u2014me\u2014me!\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sometimes, when I see her start to leave her dish, I\u2019ll call her name. Know what I get? A tail swish. Does your cat ever swish her tail at you when you say her name in a scolding manner? Cracks me up!!!<\/p>\n
If Lily leaves her dish too soon, I\u2019ll sometimes get down on the floor near her dish and attempt to entice her back. Most of the time she will return and, for as long as I\u2019m kneeling alongside her, she\u2019ll eat. I don\u2019t know if she thinks I\u2019m going to eat her food\u2014she thinks it\u2019s a competition, if she likes the company, or if she\u2019s actually shamed into leaving Sophie alone.<\/p>\n
Anyway, Lily does make mealtime in our home interesting. And I\u2019m pleased to have discovered a way to successfully (most of the time) feed two cats two different diets.<\/p>\n
I think the key is that we put Lily\u2019s food down first since she\u2019s the hoggiest of the two, and that the cats can\u2019t see one another as they eat.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m open to any additional ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s second nature in our household to feed our two cats two different diets. I was asked again this week, \u201cHow do you do that? How do you keep them out of the other one\u2019s food?\u201d Sure, it was a … Continue reading