Miakoda
Cat is being annoying about food. I already have a Home Assistant setup to remind us to feed him on time, and it's proving effective. Yet, 2 hours after a meal, he's demanding more.
I'm looking up what colors he sees best, and I'm going to add a light, at his level.
Hopefully, he'll start associating that light on = time to start whining about food.
I hope it works.
Miakoda
@arti AuDHD... This is basically the same as asking someone in a wheelchair to run in a race. I added the Home Assistant stuff BECAUSE he was going 12, 14, 18 hours before I'd realize I was hyperfocused and he didn't get fed. Note - I didn't eat in those hours either.
arti
@hellomiakoda@pdx.social drop that assistant stuff from the cat loop and give it the attention it deserves.
Miakoda
@arti He figured out that could get him fed 2, 3, 4 times by lying to roommates. Hence why I added the HA. It tracks when he got fed. He screams for food, you can look at the screen and see if he's lying. If he doesn't get fed, I get reminders where I tend to get hyperfocused (Game console, and my computers)
arti
@hellomiakoda@pdx.social why no meow if no nom?
Miakoda
@arti It's a simple system. There's a button right by where he gets fed. Tap it when setting food out. That button updates the timestamp, and deciments the inventory by 1. Display shows time since that time stamp, and how many servings are in stock. When it's been 8 hours, that display has a pulsing red boreder for attention. If still forgotten, it starts firing reminders. If inventory low, it reminds to get more.
Miakoda
@arti He was gaining weight before, now it's stable.
arti
@hellomiakoda@pdx.social is the weight above?
Miakoda
@arti It's a battle of wits and both parties are well armed.
arti
@hellomiakoda@pdx.social he will always find ways to trick humans into feeding him aside.
Miakoda
@arti I ust took his weight to be sure. 8 pounds. Right where he's been for quite a while.
Den of Earth
@hellomiakoda @jstevenyork
Anecdote from someone I know with cats, make of it what you will.
He at first did the usual people food on the table and cat food tin in the bowl routine and the cats were not happy.
Now he prepares the cat food and people food on the same counter (cat food is kept a bit apart for sanitary reasons) and he adds some freshly cooked human food into the bowl for his feline buddies. A bit of chicken pie, a few hot cooked veggies, bit of brown rice, and the rest is cat food. And they watch all the effort he puts in to preparing the food. He says his cats appreciate and are very snuggly after dinner, or at least that's his story.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork We don't have a table to sit at for dinner... Housemate and I just aren't "designated dinner spot" type of people, and eat kinda randomly. Otherwise, I'd have kitty eating dinner with us like I did with a previous cat.
I do sometimes share my food with my catpanion, but only if he doesn't demand.
Though, he recently had the audacity to take a nugget from my plate. [Angry human noises]
I make sure he doesn't get to actually eat something he stole.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork ...and that wasn't a plated I turned my back on either! He took it right in front of me!
He got the same "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" I'd give to a human who just stole my fucking nuggest.
The look of shock on his face was pretty funny. Yeah, STEALING my food makes me pretty pissed. I'm happy to share most the time, but snatching is unacceptable.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork I wish I had caught it on camera.
*pause* "It was at this moment, he knew, he fucked up"
Den of Earth
@hellomiakoda @jstevenyork
I can just imagine the expression on the cat!
"Oopsie, I've gone too far..."
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork Not as funny as that time with my first cat...
He was super attached to me and would hang out in the bathroom while I showered. He didn't look before leaping, tried to jump up on the toilet... but someone had left it open. I laughed so hard I had an asthma attack. Then had to bring kitty in to the shower, which neither of us enjoyed.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork He was an amazing cat. He was a big guy (musclular, not all fat), and used to encourage me to use him as a pillow when watching TV. He also used to let me carry him around like a teddy bear.
I sleep with a stuffed animal. During the night, he'd pull my stuffed animal out of my arms and wriggle his way in. I'd wake up hugging him instead.
I've had amazing feline companions
Den of Earth
@hellomiakoda @jstevenyork
Oh that is adorable! Poor both of you.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork My 2nd cat was going to be put down due to behavior issues (She was violent due to abuse). They wouldn't let me adopt her. I kept visiting her at the shelter after work every day, pleading for them to let me have her, reassuring them I'd work with her. No dice. Then one visit, something happened in the puppy room, staff all went in there to deal with it. ...so I took my cat and walked out.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork 6 months of being bit, scratched, and shat on, she finally realized I was not going to abandon or give up on her. (Humans kept bringing her back to the shelter, hence why they wouldn't let me have her) She became FIERCELY protective of me! When I was mostly in bed for a few months after major surgery, she would not leave my side to eat. I had to have roommates bring her food upstairs else she'd starve herself.
Miakoda
@DenOfEarth @jstevenyork She spent my entire recovery grooming my hair. When nurses visited, I had to pretend their poking and prodding didn't hurt. If I so much as whimpered, she'd bite the nurse!
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