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Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)/wierd cat
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Question
our six month old kitten digs the food out of the dish which is a self feeder we have two adult cats also why does he do this ? it it extremely messy and wastes alot of food.he was nuetured @ 2 weeks old we got him from a rescue when he was 7 weeks old .thanks
Tim,
It a weird quirk that some cats have. It's harmless and he should grow out of it. I have one too that only eats her 'crunchies' off the floor. She will scoop them out of the dish to the floor then eat them. She's good about it though, she doesn't scoop out more than she can eat!
Try putting a placemat under the feeder, or get a low-sided container that you can set the feeder in. Or at Petco/PetSmart, etc. they have raised holders for cat food dishes and those sometimes help.
The problem with the self feeders is that the cat food gets stuck and backs up and the cats have to try to dig it out. Your kitten may have watched the older cats un-sticking the food and copied them, but to excess. Try using a dish (not plastic though) and see if the kitten still plays in her food.
Tabbi
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Dear Tabbi
Expertise
My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too. Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again. Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.
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Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).
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