Cat Hysteria Update

This is the automatic cat feeder that I bought:

It came yesterday and I got to work. The cat had been eating at 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and before we went to bed at about 9:00 p.m. I figured with the new feeder, I would further cut down his hysteria by feeding him at 6:00 a.m. (to deal with our morning problem), noon, 6:00 p.m. and midnight.

He had his usual 9:00 p.m. meal and I set up his feeder to start at midnight. He would be getting a quarter of can extra, three hours after his last meal but I thought, “no problem.”

Well, big problem. It started out fine. He knew there was food in the feeder but as we had hoped, his lack of street smarts overcame his food-driven motivation and he gave up trying to get the food out. Though he did sit and stare at the feeder with great suspicion. At midnight, we sat with him as it opened. He was both afraid and in awe. And he ate. We went to bed in triumph.

At 4:00 a.m., we woke up the cat projectile vomiting all over our bed and (new) carpet. It hit not only our duvet cover, but soaked through to the goose down duvet underneath, an electric blanket, a regular blanket, a flat sheet and our fitted sheet. The only thing that survived unhurled-upon was our pillows and mattress. For the next hour, Thomas and I rinsed and washed blankets, threw away the duvet and cleaned the carpet. Exhausted and settling down into a clean bed, the cat, feeling MUCH BETTER (thanks for asking) tried to climb under the covers with me.

Which is when I wondered, “Why does he smell like cat food?”

Because he had a good smear of cat vomit across his flank. Back downstairs, locked in the bathroom with an unhappy cat, I cleaned him. Again.

He woke me up at 7:45 this morning and brought him downstairs to show him that there was food, ready and waiting. That really blew his mind. He is still begging at the usual times, even when there is food down. I think it’s just out of habit now. But outside the ruined carpet, duvet and pile of laundry, it looks promising.