In some multiple-cat households, it's not unusual to find
one cat who insists on trying to keep the others away from the food bowl. If
you have a potential bowl bully in your home, here are some tips to help make
mealtime more peaceful:
- If all the cats share one community bowl, change the routine so everyone gets their own bowl.
- If you free-feed, set up more than one feeding station so that the cat who is concerned with guarding the food can't be in all places at once.
- If the behavior at the food bowl is actually aggressive or if other cats are becoming frightened, feeding stations need to be set up in other parts of the house so that the cats don't see each other. You also need to do some behavior modification with the aggressive cat. Clicker training is an effective way to show the cat that good behavior has its rewards.
- If you have an overweight cat on a particular diet but he ants what the other cat is eating, set up feeding stations on various levels. Feed the overweight cat on floor level and the other cat on a higher level, especially if the overweight cat can't jump due to his extra baggage. Fearful cats may do better eating on an elevated surface as well.
- If you schedule-feed, spend time in the kitchen as the cats eat in order to make sure one cat doesn't intimidate another. If your bowl bully gobbles his food too fast and then tries to stick his nose into another cat's dish, consider feeding the little gobbler a few morsels at a time. Spoon out a little food, let him eat, and then spoon out a bit more. This will keep him focused on his own bowl. Here again, clicker training can be effective.
- Make sure that the cat intimidating others during mealtime doesn't have to wait too long between meals. You might be allowing too much time between feedings. Feed smaller, more frequent meals (not increasing the actual portion) so your cat's tummy isn't empty for so long. A cat's stomach is small and he usually does better with small, more frequent feedings.
