As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
Cat knocking over water(and food!) bowls while at work
cj iwakura
The Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
The Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
Yeah, Artemis is at it again.
This started with just water, but today he knocked over his food too.
He's still eating when I'm here, but it's like he's rebelling when I'm not.
Is this anything to be concerned about, or is it normal? It never happens when I'm at home, but this is a recent thing, like in the last month since I got back from EVO.
(Could be a correlation there, since I was in Vegas for a week and someone was watching him.)
This started with just water, but today he knocked over his food too.
He's still eating when I'm here, but it's like he's rebelling when I'm not.
Is this anything to be concerned about, or is it normal? It never happens when I'm at home, but this is a recent thing, like in the last month since I got back from EVO.
(Could be a correlation there, since I was in Vegas for a week and someone was watching him.)
0
Posts
I can has cheezburger, yes?
I just wish i could convince one of my cats to go back to waking me up by licking my arm until ive lost a few layers of skin instead of scratching my matress. One is cute, the other is annoying but apparently the matress works to wake me up faster and she has learned this.
I'd have preferred to link amazon, but didn't want to wade through 12 millions pet bowls. Also my dog is a boor and my cat is an asshole, so we've been a through a number of bowls and feeding mats.
But yeah, wide bottomed pet bowls will solve that.
If the bowls are narrow or deep, even breeds without this trait will splash the water to not have to stick their faces inside as many breeds of cat do not see well up close and can't tell where the water starts without putting their faces up to the bowl. As this makes their whiskers go heywire as they are touching the side of a bowl, imagine that every time you had to drink you couldn't tell how far away the liquid in your cup was, and that the cup also had to press against your cheeks and forehead every time you tried to take a sip.
Wide cat bowls will help for some breeds, but batting water is a constant amongst most cat types and won't really be unlearned behavior.
If the bowl is flimsy and your cat grazes all day on their food, the knocked over bowl could be an attempt to "bury" the food for later as an instinctive protection mechanism most cats retain (foodbowls placed on towels will have the towel dug up and tossed over it, etc.). Heavier bowls can help with this, but your cat likely already scrapes the floor around the bowl after eating his fill anyhow, even if there is nothing to bury it with.
If you have changed behavior, such as being out all night or other deals that are limiting the amount of attention your cat has, tossing over food and water can easily be that as well.
Heavier bowls with shallow lips are one way to stop it for water, but you'll always have spilled water so you may want to water your cat in a tiled area or on a towel. Feeding just enough food for their meal at multiple times per day will stop the food problems and also ensure you cat is a healthy weight.
Who owns who, indeed.
We have a big ceramic dog bowl that our cat likes to put his feet on and then bounce on the edge of. Sends the water everywhere. Or he just drags it around, and the water sloshes out of the bowl anyway.
Maybe try moving the bowl to another location? Stop leaving food out for him, and only feed him at set times? Unless he's a scarf and barfer, that shouldn't be too bad a change.
For the food, you can solve it by getting a heavier bowl. But a heavier bowl will prevent the cat from tipping the food, not address why the cat is tipping the food.
Have you tried putting his food out in a placemat, rather than in a bowl? Maybe he prefers a large expanse of shallow food to a deep bowl?
Image of the feeder we use:
His bowl is pretty thin, it's a two-section one. His water bowl is deeper though.
(That is one spoiled kitten.)
I've been keeping it on the ground, so he's not done anything yet, but I bet he'll find a way.
Temp solution:
Erm... turn off all the lights? That's the temp solution?
Intentional? I don't think my gamma setting is all out of whack.