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Messy eating habit

20 16:44:54

Question
I have a 1 & 1/2 year old Male Bengal Cat (neutered) that is strictly indoors. For as long as I can remember, this little (well, not so little anymore) guy has been the messiest eater ever! I've had several cats in the past, and I have never encountered this issue.

I have a ceramic dish that I feed him with. I feed him dry Science Diet food once a day. The dish is about 4 & 1/2 inches in diameter, round. It is about 1 & 1/2 inches deep. I do not fill it up heaping full, rather I fill it up a little less than level. What he does is he scoots the food to the edge of the dish against the side of the dish and eats it from the side of the dish, spilling several kernels off to the side. He snacks throughout the day, which is good for us since my husband and I work full time and are gone all day. I've tried putting a small amount of food in there, and he still spills it. If there were 5 kernels in there, he'd spill 4-5 of them!

What's driving me insane about this is that once he knocks the food out of the bowl, he doesn't eat it! He only eats it when he's completely out of food in the bowl and he's starved. All the other cats I have had will eat whatever pieces of food they knock out of their bowl. What can I do to make this cat eat neater? I'm considering ordering one of those Scatterless Dome Bowls for Ferrets, but I'm wondering if he would just start eating from the front edge of the bowl.

(Picture of the Scatterless Dome Bowl)
http://www.healthypetstore.com/sp-61814.html

Help!

Answer
Hi Larena,

I have never encountered a cat that wouldn't eat what falls out of their bowl.  I have also never heard of a Scatterless Dome bowl, but it looks promising.  If my cat was making me nuts, I would try it for sure.  Good luck, I hope it works.  

By the way, cats should be free fed.  In other words, keep their bowl full and let them graze when they want to.  They are good at regulating their own diets without getting fat.  Write again if I can be of further help.  Barb