this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2025
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Story time on this! Our other two cats are older and have medical issues, so Inky gets different dry food and is fed separately. This started in the May or June, I think. I feed the other two, then pour some of Inky's food into a bowl, take it to the bedroom, and give it to him, then close the door for 20-25 minutes to let him eat uninterrupted.
At first, I had to get down on the floor to see if he was hiding under the bed. A few months back, my wife fed him while I was out of town for a few days, and she tried meowing at him, and if he responds, we know he's in the room. This worked probably 90% of the time, and it was great, I didn't have to get down on the floor and dig out the flashlight...
Then, a few weeks ago, there was a new wrinkle. Now, while I'm pouring Inky's food, he'll almost always be on the landing in the picture, meowing like crazy at me. Then I start heading for the bedroom and he stays ahead of me, but constantly looking back and meowing more, until I put the food down. I, of course, can't resist meowing back at him the whole time.
I have no idea what triggered this new behavior - it just started out of the blue one day. We haven't changed the amount, and he sometimes leaves a few kernels behind (and I've given him a bit extra to be sure), so I know he's not starving. It's like he just decided to be more vocal about his food one day.
Other than the morning where he almost knocked over the Christmas tree (see my comment history), that's how it's been. It's good to see him being more interactive with us.
They are remarkably expensive, but 'microchip reading cat feeders' do exist, that only open for the pet with the correct chip in their back. There's a token for their collars if they're not chipped, too. Made mealtime with our three much less fraught - we'd have ended up with one spherical cat and two rake-thin ones, otherwise. Also make medical treatments easier - you know who's the only one who could have eaten it.
https://www.surepetcare.com/en-gb/pet-feeder/microchip-pet-feeder
Yeah, thanks. He's so skittish that I bet the mechanism would scare him off. :( It really doesn't take much. Plus we'd need three - he can't have the food that the other two eat, it's not approved for young cats.