Today, there were three pieces of cat food wandering around. One was still in the kitchen – I found it ambling when I went for the bug spray. The other two, however, had made a break for it out of the kitchen and into the livingroom. They were heading for the front door.
Lest you think I must be a terrible housekeeper to attract so many ants, let me point out that the cat food was in the cat food dish, and the cats are grazers. That is, the food is available for them to eat whenever they want.
When you feed a cat at specific times, once a day, for example, you set that cat up for having weight problems. Three times a day isn’t as bad for obesity problems, but it still increases the chances. Cats are, by nature, grazers. They eat a little bit here, a little bit there, and their caloric and nutritional needs are taken care of throughout the day. That’s the best way to maintain cats at a healthy weight.
It doesn’t work too well if you start them on a schedule and then try to move them to grazers. It’s best if they’re grazers from the very start of solid food.
And in my spare time, I’m a Certified Feline Philosopher. 😀
Admittedly, Oberon did have a weight problem for a year or so despite the grazing method. He weighed in at close to 16 pounds. Between 13 and 14 is optimal for him. He had a very noticeable fat pouch hanging from his gut – not the least bit attractive. 😀
Then starting about a year ago, he started losing weight – very gradually, and he was still grazing. I didn’t limit his food intake, nor did I switch him to a formula designed for obese cats. Well, the cat food companies are more diplomatic than that – I think they’re called “Less Active Cats.”
But see, that didn’t fit Oberon at all. He was active. He was always active. He was way way way more active than Tellulah. But he’s a pig.
Oberon has, from the time he was a kitten, eaten at least four times as much as Tellulah. And he still does, even now.
When I pour the cat food out, even if there was still some left, even if he finished eating only minutes before, he’ll still come back to the bowl and eat some more – to christen it, or something like that.
Like I said, he’s a pig.
Oberon has always been a pig.
Anyway, then he started losing weight about a year ago – I’m not sure what caused it, except he was getting older – reaching the end of his teenage years. Perhaps he decided to start lifting weights and getting all buff for the ladies. Whatever. He managed to lose about a pound or so over that year.
And then we came to Sri Lanka, and he’s lost the rest of the fat pouch that remained. Now, he’s got that young male adult “I’m so hot” swagger. He’s probably got a girl on every roof. Too bad he’s shooting blanks. Or not able to shoot at all, to be more accurate.
But I digress.
But I always digress, so this isn’t anything unusual or shocking. What will be shocking is me getting back to the point fairly quickly.
My cats are grazers, they’re healthier that way, and so there’s always food in the cat food dish. It’s not my fault the ants can find their way to crawling into the cat food dish and hauling the cat food out. So they’re agile acrobatic strong sumo wrestling tractor pulling ants.
I still get ’em in the end.
