Solving the Mystery of the Messy Bowl: Cats on Camera

Once upon a time, feeding my five cats was quite a straightforward endeavor, with a scattering of dry food in the morning and a large sharing tray of wet food at night. When Clutch developed a case of inflammatory bowel disease, I had to move him onto a sensitive wet food diet, as any dry kibble would make a repeat appearance shortly after mealtimes. I kept the rest of the clowder on their morning dry food, as the extra fiber helps them stay regular. Then Cyril developed something of a weighty issue, so he needs to be fed separately. So I now have five cats in three separate locations at meal times.

Clutch is usually a fairly tidy eater (although his personal grooming habits leave a lot to be desired!), so I was puzzled when I started finding bits of food and gravy smeared on the countertop around his bowl. He didn’t seem to be having any difficulty eating, and I didn’t notice him dropping any food while I watched.

As is often the case when trying to figure out what’s going on with your pets, I decided to employ some stealth tactics. And by stealth tactics, I mean setting my camera up by the food bowls and hiding around the corner. Sure, it’s mildly humiliating, but it gets the job done.

Enter the Ginger Ninja

Enter Alex. Having somehow figured out that while the rest of the crew were chowing down on dry food upstairs, Clutch was indulging in an extra serving of tasty wet food, Alex had started sneaking down to share in the feast. Although Clutch is a pretty easygoing feline, he’s not about to roll over and give his ginger pal free access to his food, so Alex has had to improvise. Every time Clutch lifts his head to swallow a mouthful, a dainty little ginger paw slides into the bowl to retrieve some tender morsels. Clutch isn’t oblivious to this sneaky tactic but has clearly decided that Alex’s tiny tax isn’t worth causing a fuss over. Of course, it does result in some collateral damage in the form of sticky bits of meat and gravy around the bowl.

What Am I Going to Do?

So what am I to do about this perilous situation? This dark turn of events? Well, it turns out that the solution is quite simple: 2 bowls. After all, you can’t blame the lad for trying.

But on second thought, I might just need to learn to close a few doors!