This is a very short and rather poor-quality video (sorry) that I made of my cat using an interactive feeder. I think that it is worth showing because I was very sceptical about interactive feeders. I wasn’t sure if they were that useful or even if they worked. But I was given one so I filled it up with Hill’s Oral Care food and left it around the kitchen floor. It wasn’t used for a long time until a neighbouring cat came into the kitchen one day and used it. This cat has climbed a ladder to the top story of scaffolding around the house opposite me. She is clearly adventurous as is my cat.
THERE ARE SOME MORE ARTICLES ON EATING AT THE BASE OF THE PAGE.
About a week later my cat started to use it and I think he learned how to use it from the visitor. The upshot is that he now uses it regularly which pleases me hugely! It is just another little added piece to the jigsaw of trying to make a cat fully stimulated so that he enjoys life as much as possible.
In case you are unaware of interactive feeders (which is highly unlikely) they are designed to present a challenge to a domestic cat, particularly full-time indoor cats who need challenging more than indoor/outdoor cats. It’s a way of trying to normalise their lives so they effectively hunt for their food. It is a poor substitute to genuine hunting but it’s better than being spoon fed.
At the moment he is eating all his dry cat food from this interactive feeder. Please note that I only feeding dry cat food at night, normally, and I give him high quality wet cat food whenever I can. The only dry cat food that he eats is Hill’s Oral Care and I was given a sample of Hills Dental Care by a vet which is a modern version. They are larger pellets.
I think it helps a little bit to prevent periodontal disease (gum disease). My cat has no periodontal disease at six plus years of age. He does have a buildup of tartar but is not too bad so I will wait for about a year before I take him for dental cleaning. Dental cleaning should be delayed as long as possible in my opinion because of a reason that you are also probably aware of, namely the risk of injury or even death in the extreme by the general anaesthetic that is required when carrying out this procedure.
The best course of action is to train your cat to accept teeth cleaning when a kitten. I missed that opportunity which was stupid of me.
SOME MORE ON EATING
Michael, I really appreciate this article very much.
King Arthur, my red tabby, since Shrimptaro passed is very content with eating his chicken and brown rice kibble. He is a mystery and I am told that he originally was a feral. He is missing his left fang, and I would love to put him up on Shrimpster’s page, if that’s ok?
Caroline that’s fine. Can you upload a photo or email me the photo: mjbmeister@gmail.com ?
Hope you are well and take care.