Why won't she eat from her dish?????

[Tina]

Hi All

We feed our cats a diet of wet food twice a day and dry food "for nibbling" throughout the day. However, wee Mousie doesn't eat alot of the wet food, and she won't eat the dry food from any kind of dish!!! She'll only eat the dry if we put a small handful on the dining room table, nowhere else, when she wants it.......she tells us when she wants it. I'm worried about her not eating anything all day when I'm at work if no one's here to "serve her at table" as she seems to expect LOL! How can I entice her to eat from the dry food dish like our other cat does. They have separate dishes, she won't even eat the dry out of the other cat's dish, whereas she has no qualms about eating from the other cat's wet food dish.

Thanks

Tina

[dandysmom]

Have you tried putting a small bowl of the dry food on the dining room table where she expects it? Or even just a handful minus the bowl? Cats can be so eccentric in their eating habits, can't they? Poor Mousie!

[Tina]

Originally Posted by dandysmom

Have you tried putting a small bowl of the dry food on the dining room table where she expects it? Or even just a handful minus the bowl? Cats can be so eccentric in their eating habits, can't they? Poor Mousie!

Hi DM

I have tried a dish on the table, she won't touch it. A handful on the table she'll eat, but I can't just leave it there all day for her to find because Miw will find it first, and thinking it's special because it's on the table, she'll eat it LOL!

This hasn't been an issue till now as I quit my job when Mouse got so ill in April so I have always been here to give her a handful whenever she asked for it. But now that she's doing better (touch wood), I'll be returning to work full-time on Monday and no one will be here all day to give in to her demands of "fresh table service" LOL.

I don't expect she'd let herself starve all day.....but I just can't be sure, and I don't want to take any chances with wee Mousie after everything she's been through. I'm sure we'll figure something out LOL!

Tina

[yola]

Will she eat it from your hand? My daft old Balie used to have to be fed by hand at times because he simply forgot to eat. He'd just sit for hours by the bowls and not do anything until I fed him biscuit-by-biscuit!! He's come to his senses now I hasten to add

[Tina]

Originally Posted by yola

Will she eat it from your hand? My daft old Balie used to have to be fed by hand at times because he simply forgot to eat. He'd just sit for hours by the bowls and not do anything until I fed him biscuit-by-biscuit!! He's come to his senses now I hasten to add

She'll eat from my hand, and often does....because I admit she has been rather spoiled and catered to LOL! However, if I'm at work 8 hours a day, I can't hand-feed her LOL!

[dandysmom]

Oh dear, I forgot about Miw, of course she'd be delighted at "found food"!! I hope you can work it out.......

[Tina]

Originally Posted by dandysmom

Oh dear, I forgot about Miw, of course she'd be delighted at "found food"!! I hope you can work it out.......

LOL Miw is even more delighted at "found food" when she figures it's meant for Mouse!

[dandysmom]

My Sultan, when he was an only cat,used to leave part of his breakfast for elevenses. When I got Misty the little stray who remembered the days of no food he had to stop; Misty's theory was, "if you see food, eat it! Miw sounds like her sister....

[Tina]

Originally Posted by dandysmom

My Sultan, when he was an only cat,used to leave part of his breakfast for elevenses. When I got Misty the little stray who remembered the days of no food he had to stop; Misty's theory was, "if you see food, eat it! Miw sounds like her sister....

Actually it was Mouse who was very much like that when we first got her as a kitten.....I don't think she was well fed before coming to us....she'd eat everything in sight and Miw often went looking for her food to find it was already gone. Miw usually eats small amounts frequently.....she'll have a few bites and then go back for the rest later. UNLESS she thinks it's Mouse's food, then she'll scoff the lot all at once LOL!

[dandysmom]

Leia, who has never been hungry a day in her life used to eat all her breakfast/lunch, etc. as soon as it appeared; since her two housemates went to the Bridge she prefers 4 small meals a day.....so of course that's what she gets.....