{"id":12341,"date":"2014-05-17T04:50:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=12341"},"modified":"2014-05-16T22:27:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-17T02:27:06","slug":"whats-it-like-at-feeding-time-in-a-multi-cat-household-the-zee-and-zoey-kitties-tell-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/whats-it-like-at-feeding-time-in-a-multi-cat-household-the-zee-and-zoey-kitties-tell-all\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s it Like at Feeding Time in a Multi-Cat Household? The Zee and Zoey Kitties Share All!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JackDebZZ\"<\/a>

This is what my counter looks like preparing for any holiday dinner – lots of prep work and a big mess! This was from last Christmas when my step-daughter Jackie and I were making homemade cookies!<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know about your house, but in ours, feeding the cats dinner is like preparing a Thanksgiving feast that a mob of hungry guests is anticipating to be served. The prep time can take days and the cooking itself becomes an Olympic event. And then finally, after all that pomp, circumstance, and glory you sit down at 5:00 p.m. to eat that glorious meal. And at promptly 5:07 p.m. you are done eating\u2026<\/p>\n

With last weekend being Mother\u2019s Day, it got me to thinking about that in more detail because just like Thanksgiving, I prepared a nice dinner for a small crowd that took all of us a matter of minutes to eat! With eight cats, this scenario plays out each and every night with set your watch clockwork regularity. On the days that I don\u2019t work, Peanut will promptly come into the office at 4:59 p.m. to remind me with a soft paw tap to my cheek that it is time to get my butt up from the computer to start preparing dinner. How does she know it is 4:59 p.m.? Mostly because she is incredibly smart and also because she hears the closing music from the Ellen DeGeneres Show<\/a> and somehow that triggers a hunger response in her. But regardless of how she knows, she just does and she takes her duly elected role of \u00a0town-crier by the other cats VERY SERIOUSLY.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Peanut-crier\"<\/a>

Thanks for letting me know what time it is Peanut… otherwise I would never know and would probably forget to feed you…<\/p><\/div>\n

I suppose in her mind, there could possibly be that one time in her safe, warm, and secure lifetime that we forget to feed her if she did not remind me it was time to get up and get dinner going. If the paw to the cheek does not instantly get my attention, she will do it again, followed by a loud, long, and pitiful wailing meow of hunger and desperation.<\/p>\n

Once I get up, which usually happens almost instantly, because if I don\u2019t get up by the second paw tap and wailing meow, she will then jump up onto my keyboard in frustration which definitely gets me to move quickly. I then do a tricky weave and maneuver act as I try to skillfully walk in-between 8 screaming cats as I try to walk to the kitchen without tripping over them and falling prey to a severe injury.<\/p>\n

\"Feeding2\"<\/a>

And so it begins as I try to find my way to the counter as I am followed by eight crazy and hungry cats!<\/p><\/div>\n

On the days I work, the only difference to this routine is that the cats wait for me at the door to come home and once I walk into the house, I go through the walk and weave technique, but I walk from the door to the kitchen, as opposed to from the office to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, the real fun begins as Dan and I do our best to prepare dinner for 8 cats with a variety of eating needs. This task involves an enormous amount of skill as not only are we preparing meals to put in 8 separate bowls of food, but we are also simultaneously picking one cat up off the counter who has jumped up, only to put them down to be replaced by another cat who has jumped up.<\/p>\n

\"Feeding3\"<\/a>

Let the games begin! I am barely into the feeding process and Peanut is already up on the counter…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding4\"<\/a>

And now I pick Peanut up to put her back down to the floor…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding1\"<\/a>

Zoey watches all of it from a safe distance, looking ever the poised young lady who would never misbehave…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding5\"<\/a>

So that is why she is now on top of the counter with Rolz… all I did was turn my head while I was fending off Peanut. This is just the tip of the iceberg with them!<\/p><\/div>\n

I think this actually qualifies as exercise and this little circus routine lasts through the duration of dinner preparation and it matters not one whit when we say \u201cno,\u201d or \u201cget down,\u201d or the fact that at this point, it is blatantly obvious we are going to feed them dinner soon, so what the heck is the need for them to act like lunatics at this point? Are we really going to stop the preparations and just not feed them if they don\u2019t jump up onto the counter during all of this?<\/p>\n

I can sort of understand Jazmine\u2019s concern with food \u2013 maybe she still has memories of a tough life on the farm and remembers days of not having a steady meal. She is always right next to me when I cook and is quite the talented little thief. All it takes is me turning my head for a split second and she is off with something! As far as Peanut, Mia, and Rolz \u2013 well, they have lived every single day of their lives with us and have never known a minute of stress other than when my son brings his dog over to the house and they are too afraid to come out to the kitchen and eat. But, since I bring the food into the bedroom for them when this happens, it\u2019s not like they are missing a meal.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0723\"<\/a>

Jazmine looks all sweet and innocent here as she watches me cook… but don’t let her fool you… she is just like the Artful Dodger from the Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist. Nothing but a thief, I tell you!<\/p><\/div>\n

Zee and Zoey came to live with us when they were 12 weeks old, respectively, and also never knew a day that didn\u2019t include a good dinner. Harley, well, we don\u2019t know what her back story was, as she came from a rescue, but I can assure you after being with us since 2004, she has no memory at all of those days. Kizmet, well, bless him, but that boy just lives in his own little world and he is literally our only cat that could care less about food and doesn\u2019t participate in any of the theatrics whatsoever, which is odd considering his size.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3965-Edit\"<\/a>

Kizmet typically sits up on the cat condo while we prepare dinner and I have to go and pick him up to get him to eat!<\/p><\/div>\n

But anyhow, finally, after what seems like an hour ordeal, Dan and I set the bowls on the floor, carefully making sure each cat is situated where they are supposed to be. Mia and Jazmine eat in one area, Zee and Harley in another and the rest in a third area. Kizmet is usually nowhere to be found during the frenzy and I have to go and remind him it is time to eat. Then we stand there, proud pet guardians, happy that we are able to provide for them. Approximately 37 seconds later, all of them have switched bowls, 14 seconds after that, they switch bowls again, and 42 seconds after that, they are done eating and have left food in all of the bowls to nibble on later.<\/p>\n

\"Feeding6\"<\/a>

Finally all the bowls have been prepared and I can begin feeding the cats… on the floor… where they are supposed to eat…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding7\"<\/a>

So far so good. From L to R we have Rolz, Kizmet (he showed up tonight to make me look like a fool for the previous comments I made about him), Zoey, Peanut, Zee, and Harley.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding8\"<\/a>

And over in the fussy section, we have Mia who prefers to eat without a crowd and Jazmine who is still eating kitten food.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Feeding9\"<\/a>

And yup… just like that, all the carefully laid out plans have gone awry as the cats do the ole switch the bowl routine… Can you tell which cat is which in this photo?<\/p><\/div>\n

Seriously? All the meowing and whining\u2026 all the angst and impending starvation and yet that\u2019s what happens each and every night without fail. I guess in some way\u2019s though, it\u2019s kind of incredible that despite the sameness of it all, cats have the ability to always make an everyday, going to happen, ordinary occurrence, extraordinary. They look forward to dinner every single day in the same joyful and exciting way a child does waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning. I think that is an incredible message for all of us to keep close to our hearts \u2013 not all of us in this world have the luxury of a meal every day and those of us that do should take care to remember what a blessing it truly is.<\/p>\n

So how does it go in your house for feeding time? Is it a well oiled machine, a quiet and reserved ordeal, or complete chaos?<\/p>\n

\"ZoeyMiaZee\"<\/a>

The anticipation of eating can be exhausting… Zoey, Mia, and Zee feel a good nap is in order now that their bellies are full of good food!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know about your house, but in ours, feeding the cats dinner is like preparing a Thanksgiving feast that a mob of hungry guests is anticipating to be served. The prep time can take days and the cooking itself becomes an Olympic event. And then finally, after all that pomp, circumstance, and glory you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365],"tags":[175,720,1265,65,322,812,813],"class_list":["post-12341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-humor","tag-cat-behavior","tag-cat-food","tag-cats","tag-caturday","tag-ellen-degeneres","tag-feeding","tag-mulit-cats"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Feeding71.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12341"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12368,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions\/12368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}