For about a year, Aloof, the mean ole cat of the house, and I have been embroiled in an embittered battle of wills.
The vet told me that both cats needed to lose about 2 lbs. and instructed me to feed them 1/3 cup of kibble twice a day or one 3oz can of cat food twice a day. No, that’s not each cat. He said that I should put that amount in their one shared bowl.
Well, my cats don’t like canned food. Though I did try switching to it last Spring…about a week before the news media announced that canned food was mysteriously killing cats and dogs nationwide. That put an end to that.
So, we went with the kibble. I’m a little bit of a health nut too. Since my cats won’t eat home-cooked meals and I am horrified about what goes into most grocery store pet foods — meat by-products that won’t pass meat inspections for humans and carbohydrate fillers — I buy organic kibble at non-chain pet supply stores. We’ve been going through a bit of brand sampling trying to find one that works for everyone. (For example, it turns out that the highly recommended high protein low carb Innova Evo diet gives my pets diarrhea. 
) Right now everyone seems to be enjoying the Wellness selections. The cats are sampling the “Indoor Health” selection.
Anyway, apparently, Aloof didn’t think he was getting enough food. He could see the bottom of his food bowl and this was a problem, a frequent problem. In fact, he wanted me to know that it was my problem and he wanted me to fix the problem immediately or suffer the agony he was suffering.
So, it began. Every morning at 4am, he would begin knocking things off of my dresser and my nightstand. He would find ways to make horrible noises to wake me and wake me repeatedly, a kind of cat version of Chinese water torture. Shut him out of the room and the otherwise silent cat would begin meowing at the top of his 9 pound lungs.
And then the torture moved to the waking hours.
Several months ago, he began knocking things off of the breakfast bar, the kitchen counters, the end tables, and the coffee table while I am awake and sitting in the living room. If caught attempting to do so, he will run off and return a minute or two later and pick up where he left off. So I spend every waking moment fussing at him, an unpleasant task, and and hour or two every night trying to sleep through his shenanigans.
So, last night, I gave in. He wins. I don’t care what the vet says. After a year, only one cat has lost a half a pound. They aren’t getting used to eating less. Starting last night, I went back to giving them what the bag recommends — 1/4c + 1/3c twice a day.
Last night, nothing got knocked off of my coffee table or kitchen counters. There was still food in the bowl when I went to bed. In fact, when I got up to walk the dog this morning…it was 5:30am! I didn’t see the cats until I went into the kitchen to feed them!
Maybe we’ve found a solution. Just that little bit of extra food, may have been enough.
We shall see.
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