Catfood Puzzles.. Do you use them?

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

So I was reading up on these puzzles you put cat's food in and make them have to work to get it out..
http://gizmodo.com/cats-are-happier-and-healthier-when-you-make-them-work-1786057743
and I started looking at these various types of puzzles:

Spoiler: Catfood puzzles

Has anyone tried these? How did the cats react to them?

I usually do not really feed my cats much dry food so I am not sure if it would work or not.

My cats have been drinking at least 10x as much water since I replaced their old water bowl with this ceramic fountain:

Spoiler: Ceramic Pet Fountain

I am thinking maybe I should try making some puzzles and see how they respond before buying something more durable. Like something like this:

Spoiler: DIY Cat feeder Puzzles

Though knowing my cats they will eat the cardboard too.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

Naw I don't use cat food puzzles, it makes eating lunch too much of a chore and takes so long I'm still hungry by the end...

On a more serious note: Catfood puzzles are only good as enrichment, not as a meal time activity. It's better to have play time, serve dinner, have cuddles, then bed. For cats, every meal is dinner btw.

 

[Catfood220]

My cats would probably take one look at a puzzle like that and meow pathetically for food in a bowl. And then go out and catch their own dinner. My cats are not that bright. For example, they have never figured out how to use a cat flap so the cat flaps have to be propped open so the little dears can come and go as they please.

Also, when I had a dog, we moved their bowl onto a higher surface so that the dog didn't eat their food. Of course, to begin with, I would show them where the food was figuring they would learn where it was. But nope, after 10 years they would still meow pathetically at whoever was nearest person to be put near some food.

Some people would say my cats were spoilt. I would not disagree.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

My cat is very lazy, but his enthusiasm for food overrides his laziness. While I've never tried a puzzle of this kind on him, I have this punching bag-like toy that if he bashes enough, treats fall out. I also hide treats around for him to scavenge and find. He loves doing things like that.

When I lived in a house, he would hunt down the lizards and critters that got in, now that I live in an apartment with regular maintenance, there aren't many critters for him to hunt, so I need to keep him busy during the day or he gets bored and starts chewing on wires.

I also set up a bird feeder in-front of a window he could watch out of. It fed more squirrels than it did birds, but he got plenty of enjoyment out of watching the squirrels do acrobatics up until they ripped the whole thing down.

If your cat is very enthusiastic about food, they might enjoy a puzzle, but maybe try a scavenger hunt before you spend money on something like this.

 

[Just Ebola]

I've tried something like this once, where I cut a small slot into an empty water bottle and put a few cat treats in. Problem is, it sounds like a stampede of elephants when it's being knocked around, and my cat is like 20 pounds. He doesn't have paws, he has meat hooks, so anything that requires finesse or precision is beyond him.

I don't think I could use a maze or puzzle for his regular feeding, he was a stray so he has issues when it comes to food. I don't think he'd take kindly to me putting an obstacle in front of him, but all cats are different. Plus I'd rather him put that effort into hunting bugs and such.

Not that he's particularly good at it.

https://s18.postimg.org/l6e07fesp/20160327_235820_1.jpg

I know he looks massive, but it's all fluff, when he's shaved you can tell he's a healthy weight. I'd be curious to see how the cats react, if OP decides to try one out.

 

[SupahEwok]

I want to get one for one of my mom's cats. Thing's a shithead AND a dumbass, be worth a laugh to see him try to figure the puzzle out.

Might want one for my own cat. She's not needy, but she is pretty lazy. Most likely scenario would be that she just ignores it and goes hungry until I feel bad enough to go back to her bowl.

 

[axlryder]

I might try it. I thought my cat was stupid AF until she started doing startlingly clever things like figuring out how to turn on washing machine at night to get our attention and consistently opening the door to the bedroom because she figured out the doorknob. She also bashes things against hard surfaces in order to intentionally damage them and hides things.

I'm still not so sure though, because outside of those brief flashes of brilliance she still seems really really dumb. She's also incredibly violent with anything that's not human, so I think she'd figure out how to break it somehow.

The pet fountain intrigues me though. She doesn't drink nearly enough water and it's always concerning to me.

 

[Avnger]

The pet fountain intrigues me though. She doesn't drink nearly enough water and it's always concerning to me.

I actually went out and bought one for my 2 cats a few years ago. It's a completely different model than what Lil posted, but the principle idea is the same. It keeps the water a bit fresher because it's moving. Mine also has a filter that catches the inevitable litter/hair/whatever that my cats put into their water. I just clean that out occasionally now, and no more floating things in the drinking bowl itself (except when they spit entire pieces of cat food into it -.-).

 

[saluraropicrusa]

The pet fountain intrigues me though. She doesn't drink nearly enough water and it's always concerning to me.

I actually went out and bought one for my 2 cats a few years ago. It's a completely different model than what Lil posted, but the principle idea is the same. It keeps the water a bit fresher because it's moving. Mine also has a filter that catches the inevitable litter/hair/whatever that my cats put into their water. I just clean that out occasionally now, and no more floating things in the drinking bowl itself (except when they spit entire pieces of cat food into it -.-).

a cat's eyes are tuned to movement, so moving water is actually easier for them to pick up on as a source for drinking. cats will drink standing water but they're much more inclined to drink flowing water. so fountains are a good idea if your cat's not drinking enough.

Naw I don't use cat food puzzles, it makes eating lunch too much of a chore and takes so long I'm still hungry by the end...

On a more serious note: Catfood puzzles are only good as enrichment, not as a meal time activity. It's better to have play time, serve dinner, have cuddles, then bed. For cats, every meal is dinner btw.

puzzles aren't just a source of enrichment though. there are products like this that are specifically designed to slow a cat down and force them not to eat too fast--and i've seen people talk about how their cats will eat so fast they'll throw up. which obviously isn't good for them. so it's good for physical as well as mental health (especially if you're not able to play with your cats as often as you should).

 

[sanquin]

My cat doesn't need something like that. When she's inside during the daytime she spends 90% of the time on my lap or sleeping somewhere else. The other 10% is me petting her and her getting dinner/a snack. At night she almost always goes outside and finds her own things to play with. If I'm still awake she sometimes even brings birds/mice inside to play with them. Though I send her outside again if she does that.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

So.. I took some cardboard tubes, cut them to different heights and a glued them to a paper plate then glued that to a large foam board. Then glued some tubes on their side as well to another plate on the board and tried the tube looking puzzles( both vertical and horizontal) AT first they tried to dig them out with their paws until one got the bright idea to beat the crap out of them and rip the cardboard tubes to pieces until they came loose and he showed the others how to do so so they all broke the tubes loose and stole the treats... So much for that puzzle attempt. LOL

I will have to find something more durable for my next attempt. My cats will just beat the crap out of anything else. One of them just brute force kept smacking the tube with his paw until it came loose like he was punching it to death.

One of my cats just kept looking at the tubes then looking at me like he was rolling his eyes and saying "REALLY?!"

Two of them seem to really enjoy it though so I am going to try to make others and see how they respond.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

My cat doesn't need something like that. When she's inside during the daytime she spends 90% of the time on my lap or sleeping somewhere else. The other 10% is me petting her and her getting dinner/a snack. At night she almost always goes outside and finds her own things to play with. If I'm still awake she sometimes even brings birds/mice inside to play with them. Though I send her outside again if she does that.

Yea my sister's cat used to bring her "gifts", including a live bleeding bird and put it on her nice white bed pillow and white sheets then it proceed to fly all over the house making a horrible mess. Cats think they have to" hunt for their family" and take care of "their human". Cats think they are the boss of you and it is their duty to take care of you. Often when they bring in their prey, they think they are providing for you and yes, they expect you to eat it. LOL

They often bring "gifts" to try and take care of you. One of my cats kept bringing me decapitated lizards he found in the house for a while until I blocked where the lizards were coming in from under the door.

The primary purpose of these cat puzzles is to slow down their eating of dry food/ treats and help stimulate the cats senses by making them think not just throw their head in the food bowl and start inhaling the food as fast as they can.

I usually only feed my cats raw and wet foods and not much dry food at all. So really all the puzzles will do for them will be something extra, outside their morning and evening raw food meals and I would only want to put a a few treats or pieces of food in there. The only time I put grain free dry food out is when I know I will not be feeding them on time that day due to my schedule and that is not often.

 

[sanquin]

-snip-

Oh my cat doesn't bring me anything. The mice and birds she brings are solely for her and her alone, as every time I try to get close she grabs them and hides/walks away. She just wants to play with them inside the house. xD

I don't think cats think they have to provide for you though. Maybe if you don't feed them enough. But otherwise, you basically magically produce food for them in abundance, without even going out to hunt! You're the best hunter ever in their eyes. Or that's how I think they see it.

I just feed my cat wet food once a day at 5~5:30 pm, and she has a bowl of dry food that I always keep filled. Though she barely touches it. (Which gives me the idea that she has another place somewhere where she gets food. Or she just hunts.)

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

-snip-

Oh my cat doesn't bring me anything. The mice and birds she brings are solely for her and her alone, as every time I try to get close she grabs them and hides/walks away. She just wants to play with them inside the house. xD

I don't think cats think they have to provide for you though. Maybe if you don't feed them enough. But otherwise, you basically magically produce food for them in abundance, without even going out to hunt! You're the best hunter ever in their eyes. Or that's how I think they see it.

I just feed my cat wet food once a day at 5~5:30 pm, and she has a bowl of dry food that I always keep filled. Though she barely touches it. (Which gives me the idea that she has another place somewhere where she gets food. Or she just hunts.)

Some treat you the same as their kittens.

In the wild, cat mothers teach their young how to eat their food by bringing home dead or injured prey. Domestic cats are no different. But in this modern age of spayed domestic cats, many female felines have no young to whom they need to pass on their hunting wisdom.

By leaving a dead animal on the back porch, your cat is acting out its natural role as mother and teacher. You, her loving owner, represent her surrogate family. And frankly, she knows you would never have been able to catch that delicious mouse on your own.

http://www.livescience.com/34471-cats-dead-animals.html

It has nothing to do with how much you are feeding them. LOL