Cat with messy eating problem...

**peanut** · 10-22-2008, 01:18 PM

Okay guys. Not sure this is a frugal thing, but you might have a frugal solution for DD#1. She has a very messy cat. When he eats the food goes flying...all over the dining area where he eats. Any ideas for preventing this? It's a mess. DD#1 just has given up keeping the area cleaned up. I figure someone somewhere must have thought of a solution to this...

Anyone???

Jean

**Darlene** · 10-22-2008, 01:37 PM

Not sure how far the food flies but maybe putting an oversized tray under the food & then tilting the overflow back into the bowl after flinging fun would help.

**vigilant20** · 10-22-2008, 01:46 PM

My cat is a splasher, so I have the same problem but with water. I found a large round plastic serving platter thingie at walmart that I keep under his bowl. It catches it most of the time anyway

**TinyDancer** · 10-22-2008, 01:46 PM

I have a cat that refuses to eat out of her food bowl. She scoops the food onto the floor and eats off the floor. I ended up buy placemats to put under her food and water bowl to catch some of the food. At the end of the day, what ever is on the placemat gets dumped back in the food bowl and whatever's on the floor gets tossed in the trash.

Perhaps I should just get rid of the bowl and put her food on the floor to begin with?

**Spikey1341** · 10-22-2008, 02:09 PM

Every cat I've had shakes their head when eating. It must go back to the natural hunting and tearing instict. I imagine them killing prey that way. The only thing I can suggest is a newspaper with the bowl in the middle at feeding time.

**zakity** · 10-22-2008, 04:13 PM

We have one that takes it out and puts it on the floor before he eats it. He doesn't leave very many out though. I just pick them up and put them back in. I have noticed that he prefers the bowl that goes outside better. When we are leaving for the day or if it is cold and I don't want the cats running in and out of the house, I will put a bowl a food outside. I take it in at night or when we get home. When it is inside, he eats out of that one and doesn't put it on the floor first.

**Starlight9803** · 10-22-2008, 08:15 PM

One of my cats is a "flinger" too when she eats (the others sometimes leave crumbs, but never throw the food), but the cat food is on top of the chest freezer, and my dog is sure to catch anything that flys to the floor, LOL. Maybe get one of those large, inexpensive litter pans to put the bowl in? I just have a cheap plastic placemat under mine, and dump the food back in their bowl whenever I pass by.

**SaucyCranberry** · 10-22-2008, 08:32 PM

Wish I had suggestion. In 17 years of cat ownership I've marveled at how dry food pieces end up on the wall. (!?!) So it must be the head shaking, instinct thing. My dog is the one right now who is the food dragger. He takes it (wet food) mouthful by mouthful to his puppy bed and eats each batch there. I just moved the bed by his food. It was easier. LOL

**Moor** · 10-22-2008, 08:43 PM

My cat likes to eat out of a bag. Not sure why, but he does. So I put his food in the bottom of a brown paper bag and he climbs in and eats. LOL

Now my male dog, slings his water everywhere. He is so sloppy! He loves to drink out of the toilet. I keep the lid down and he has figured out how to lift the lid.

**mikandmari** · 10-22-2008, 11:49 PM

I have one cat, a Persian, with a smooshed little face who has to eat from a flat plate, since he can't get food from the inside edges of a bowl. He has a hard time even with the flat surface, and most of the food ends up on the mat around the plate.

The only solution I've found that works: get a dog to do clean-up duty

**madhen** · 10-22-2008, 11:57 PM

Mari, I'm looking at your avatar, and it doesn't look like a Persian. Which leads me to wonder just exactly who IS that cat in the pic?

**madhen** · 10-22-2008, 11:59 PM

The only two things I can think of are feed him in the bathtub or buy a baby pool.

(Must be why I don't have a cat....)

**jdr250** · 10-23-2008, 07:02 AM

I have one cat that flings his food, but it's not his fault his teeth are bad and when they are more sore the food is flung alot further. He's trying to move the food to his good teeth, I jut put a placemat under and let him go to town. I have another cat who think water must be attacked after he's had his fill so I finally just started keeping the water bowl in the bathtub. I got tired of sliding through a pool of water every day.

**Spikey1341** · 10-23-2008, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by jdr250

I have one cat that flings his food, but it's not his fault his teeth are bad and when they are more sore the food is flung alot further. He's trying to move the food to his good teeth, I jut put a placemat under and let him go to town. I have another cat who think water must be attacked after he's had his fill so I finally just started keeping the water bowl in the bathtub. I got tired of sliding through a pool of water every day.

My cat attacks the water sometimes too. He starts out with dipping his paw and licking it and before I know it he is karate chopping the water and it goes flying all over the floor.

Things that make you go hmmn.....

**mikandmari** · 10-23-2008, 08:24 AM

Madhen, that is Fester, he is my part-Persian. I have a 2nd cat, Frankie, who is pure Persian, he was my big financial indulgence at $400. He's worth every cent! I love Persian cats. They are like part-dogs.

Fester was here first, so his photo remains in the avatar. Maybe someday they will sit still together long enough for Mom to get a new photo.

This is Frankie:

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