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any animal ppl here?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
need a bit of advise on cats (mischief and mayhem). i've had them from about 8wks. their nearly 2yrs now.

Mischief has always been the boss of the two (and the fatter), but i noticed the other day that shes lost a lot of weight, and seeing that she doesn't do much apart from sleep i wondered why.

I've now found out that whenever she goes to the food bowl, Mayhem is butting her out the way then eating most of the food. I've tried feed them on their own but doesn't work as mischief only eats when she wants to not when i put the bowl down (like her sister).

Their both house cats and dont go outside. any ideas??

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    is there a way you can put the bowl for mischief in another room, then put one of those magnetic catflaps in the door, and put the release magnet on her collar only?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thats a good idea, i'll have a look into it (if the doors will take it). i'll go buy a normal collar to see how she acts with one on.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Maybe you should start feeding them both in a different room and only leave the food down for a set amount of time. Like 15 minutes. Do this twice a day and the cats will soon learn that they need to eat when the food is there or it will get taken away.

    letting mischief eat ad lib isnt really doing her any good because mayhem keeps nicking it, so if you do this it should be rectified
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i dont think you should disturb the natural hierarchy, but obviously you have to make sure that mischeif gets fed. Still feed the other one first as hes the boss and to do otherwise might cause more conflict, but feed mischeif on her own with the door closed afterwards.
    Tbh though she wont let herself starve to death, but shes obviously letting the other one get away with it and its not good for him to eat twice the amount either.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i have a question actually...

    when you say mischief is the boss what do you mean by this? What makes you think this one is boss? what is the body language/body posture etc?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you are having problems with conflict you can get a plug in smelly thing (only cats can smell it) which helps. It is synthetic lactating cat smell, this is the most relaxing and comforting smell to a cat. Ask your vet.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my cats can be little buggers at dinner time. Ours are fed twice a day same time and two have to be fed in a different room coz the other four fatties steal their food. If I'm feeding a couple later coz they're not about at dinner I just watch over them and bat the greedy buggers away.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Both are girls by the way. Mischief was the runt of the litter, but soon after i got them she put on weight, and came out of her shell. The reason i say she's the boss as mayhem always backs down from any fight they have. If shes playing with a toy and mischief wants it she gets adifferent one.
    SuzyCreamcheese wrote:
    i dont think you should disturb the natural hierarchy.
    I'm wondering if she lost one of there fights and things have been switched between them. I also found out that one of my lodgers have been feeding her of his dinner plate (that will stop), when i've asked them not to - the cats are fussy enough already, plus they cant eat alot of human foods.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The product Bongbudda was talking about is called Feliway it's usually used for cats that are nervous because it contains ingrediants that are used to calm cats. We often use it at the rescue centre where i work, it may not cause the cats to stop fighting as such but it may cause them to be more relaxed with eachother. With all animals when there is more then one there is always a hierarchy, a good indication of who is "top dog" or in your case top cat is who eats first. When you have a pack of dogs the leader of the pack will always eat first and then the rest will follow after he has finished. So from the way mayhem is behaving she is telling mischief that she is boss. I can only give you some general advice as I don't know much about them but if they are not neutered I would advise that you get them done, this will stop them from being territorial as once they are spayed the hormones subside and they will be less likely to want to fight or one bully the other. If they are all ready done then i advise that there is always a source of food down, ideally dry food i.e Hills Science Plan or James Well Beloved is a good dry food to give to your cats, If you feed them tinned food as a regular thing try to encourage them to eat dry.Wet food is 70% water and doens't give them everything they need for a balanced diet plus in the long run it's not great for their teeth.If you can it would be ideal for each cat to have their own eating place and over time encourage them to eat in their separate places even bribe them with a bit of chicken or something untill they learn where they are supposed to eat and when they do go to their own bowls give them lots of praise, for now feed them seprately but still let Mayhem eat first as she has clearly become the new boss and if her nose if put out of place she might take it out on mischief. I know it's not an ideal situation but when you see that Mayhem is busy eating then close the door and then take mischief to her new place to eat wait untill she's done then let mayhem out. But as i said the best solution is if they can't eat together is that they learn where they are supposed to eat at the own little eating station :) but that will take time and you have to percervere. If you see mayhem in mischiefs eating place you have to remove her and tell her no and the same with mischeif. Eventually they will get the message. When there good and eat in the right place they should get a treat this should reinforce the message you are tyring to give them. Also encourage the people who live with you to do the same if the cats are given mixed messages this won't work everybody needs to be doing the same thing. All you need to do is make sure there is a handful of dry food down as cats often like to pick at their food rather then have regular meals and that way you can monitor how much their eating, and make sure they dont become over weight etc.
    hope my advice helps.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks Melissa.
    At the moment the Mayhem has been spayed but not Mischief (was going to get her done next payday). Yeah i've been trying the feeding them in different places, but the problem i've had with this is that mayham eats straight away, and mischief picks at it through out the day.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    She probably doesn't want to eat any more. One of ours eats much less than the other two.

    Sometimes you have to feed them in seperate places. One of your cats may treat the entire feeding area as her territory.
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