Tuesday, September 1, 2009

My Yoghurt Container

Mum has written before about her mild obsession with her idol , the cat behaviour counsellor from the U.K.

One of the things Vicky discusses in is feeding time for kitties. A feral cat would spend about 6 hours a day hunting and scavenging for food. A house cat, on the other hand, can be licking their dinner bowl clean in five minutes. She describes some ways that people can make feeding time more interesting for kitties, and uses these ways in treatment plans for a range of different behaviours and personalities. She says they can build confidence in a shy or clingy cat, can stimulate a bored or destructive cat, can challenge a clever cat, and can help de-stress a cat who is on edge.

This is one of those ways. It is cheap and easy, and I love it!
Mum got a yoghurt container, and cut a hole about the size of a 20 cent piece in the lid. She also cut two small holes in the base, which she threaded a piece of elastic through. Then she put some of our breakfast crunchies in the container, put the lid back on, and hung it on a cupboard knob over our eating spot. While I was watching, she wiggled it and jiggled it a bit to get some crunchies to fall out.
I spent some time having a good sniff of the container, figuring out how to get the food out.
I soon learned that I needed to wiggle and jiggle the container to shake some food out.
This morning, my breakfast took about an hour for me to finish! Mum thought I looked quite pleased with myself as I made the container bounce around on the elastic to shake food out.
After reading that Vicky believes making feeding times more challenging is a good way of helping out a stressed cat, mum has been keen to try all the ideas she puts forward. The vet thought my cystitis was probably a delayed reaction to the stressful events of this year, so mum is trying to be more proactive. So in the coming days, I will also be posting about my carton, my bottle, and my pyramid, and which ones seem to be a success with me.
(While getting the link for Cat Counsellor, mum saw a book she hadn't seen before, . We know what is going on her birthday list! MOL!).

20 comments:

Forever Dad said...

Little Miss Clever!

Cheyenne -Millie said...

That is a very smart idea! OH NO! My mom thinks I need more exercise!!

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

That looks like a lot of fun!

#1 just got her first Vicky Halls book, on your recommendation. She hasn't yet had time to read it as it has gone into a queue of about 359 books that are waiting to be read...

Your Friends,
Tommy, Tama-Chan and Sei-Chan

Poppy Q said...

What an interesting idea. We might have to try that too.

Nellie and Neo said...

Suey Sunshine-Sausage this is a wonderful invention. I must try and create one for Neo as she eats her food too quickly, then wants more!

xx

borisandgracie said...

What a clever idea. Mom says she might try it with us, as we could definitely use more exercise during the day.

- Gracie

Parker said...

What a great idea!

Teddy Westlife said...

I hope my mum isn't reading this. I want my food in a bowl.

Huffle Mawson

Ariel said...

This is a great idea and your such a clever kitty :)

Cory said...

Mom is laughing at the thought of 8 yogurt containers hanging all over the house with all of us batting away at them! I think my food will be safely in a bowl (or on my mom's plate)!

Angel, Kirby and Max said...

That looks like fun. We eat side by side so Mom would have t figure out how to Keep Kirby from eating it all!

jenianddean said...

Thanks for sharing that. I think that is very interesting and we might try something similar. We have the challenge of having two "right weight" cats and two "bigger" cats in the house, so how do we regulate the food. This might help some. We'll be watching to see how the other trials go.
--Jasper

Reese =^..^= said...

That was very interesting!

The Island Cats said...

Wow! We'll hafta get our mom to do that for us. She got us one of those treat balls...a round plastic ball that has a hole in it. She puts some of our dry food in it and then we roll it around trying to get the food out. We have fun with that! (An animal behaviorist recommended this to our mom for us...)

Daisy said...

That is a great idea! My Mommeh is always looking ways to enrich our environment!

Quill and Greyson said...

What a cool idea!

The WriggleButts said...

What a brilliant idea! Mom use the bottle, as you know, and I also have the Nina Ottosson Dog Pyramid. Plus she'll put kibble inside tp cones and just push the ends in to close it up. You'd think I was still an annoying puppy at times...

Bajas

The WriggleButts said...

And have your mother thought of stuffing a small kong with canned foods or treats? I love stealing the yummies when Bajas gets a stuffed Kong! Mom thinks the kitty kongs may have been discontinued, but the small puppy ones should do the job just fine. (as would anything else with a cavity to fill)

Virus

Cat with a Garden said...

What a great advice! Mom sometimes tries to come up with stimulating offers too. She will try to get hold of one of Vicky Hally books for sure. A fun game is to put crunchies in a bowl filled with other stuff. In this post mom used chestnuts which have the plus that they are fun to play with should they fall out of the bowl. And they will... : )
We are looking forward to seeing your other thibgs, Suey!
Siena & Chilli

Amy & the house of cats said...

Wow that is a great idea - we give the kitties wet food for breakfast and dinner but they get crunchies through the day - that might be fun to try for their snacks!