stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2021-03-13 08:49 am
stevenpiziks) wrote2021-03-13 08:49 am
Entry tags:
The Politics of Cat Food
Although Dinah's mouth has healed, I've continued the practice of giving her a meal of canned food in the morning. She'd come to expect it and gets more and more agitated over the morning if I don't feed her, and she's still on the light side. Canned food to the rescue!
But this turned into kitty politics. Dora, the meatloaf cat, doesn't need more food. She can barely jump up to the bed, and when she jumps down, she lands with an audible grunt. She doesn't understand the idea of "Dinah gets special food and you don't," though. She simply FREAKS. "Wheresminewheresminesheresminesheresmine???"
So I put a dab of food on a saucer for Dora while Dinah gets the rest. At first, this quieted Dora. After a while, she began to notice that Dinah took a lot longer to eat. She never tried to steal Dinah's portion or chase her away from it, but she'd hover and pace and stare while Dinah finished.
One day, I set the empty food container on the floor next to Dora's dab. She didn't know what to do! TWO bits of food to choose from? This is both heaven and hell! Finally she went for the dab, and after it was done, she dove into the container. She worked her kitty buns off to lick every morsel and drop from the inside. It was made more difficult by the way the container scooted across the floor. It took her a good twenty minutes of work to satisfy her that it's clean. She was clearly frustrated by this, but hey--it gives her something to do. Now I do it every day.
Meanwhile, Dinah can eat in peace.
But this turned into kitty politics. Dora, the meatloaf cat, doesn't need more food. She can barely jump up to the bed, and when she jumps down, she lands with an audible grunt. She doesn't understand the idea of "Dinah gets special food and you don't," though. She simply FREAKS. "Wheresminewheresminesheresminesheresmine???"
So I put a dab of food on a saucer for Dora while Dinah gets the rest. At first, this quieted Dora. After a while, she began to notice that Dinah took a lot longer to eat. She never tried to steal Dinah's portion or chase her away from it, but she'd hover and pace and stare while Dinah finished.
One day, I set the empty food container on the floor next to Dora's dab. She didn't know what to do! TWO bits of food to choose from? This is both heaven and hell! Finally she went for the dab, and after it was done, she dove into the container. She worked her kitty buns off to lick every morsel and drop from the inside. It was made more difficult by the way the container scooted across the floor. It took her a good twenty minutes of work to satisfy her that it's clean. She was clearly frustrated by this, but hey--it gives her something to do. Now I do it every day.
Meanwhile, Dinah can eat in peace.