One of the things that you soon learn about living in Florida is that there is wildlife EVERYWHERE. And I'm not just talking about Alligators in laundry rooms either.
When I first moved into my current house, I discovered the existance of the pesky little "roof" or "citris" rats which are evidently all over the place. I've just never had then in my house before, but I soon discovered that putting the cat's food down on the floor was a sure way to invite the critters inside.
So I moved it up to the breakfast bar and there it's stayed. When I first got Tristan last September, once I got the canned food out, he'd eat anywhere - the table, the floor - even going to far as to attack my hand while I was still holding the can of food.
That's changed. Now suddenly, he must take his meals on the breakfast bar and only the breakfast bar. Doesn't matter that it's the SAME food. It just doesn't taste the same when it's on the table.
This creates a small problem as while both Diamond and Tristan can share the breakfast bar for snacks, trying to give them their meals together up there doesn't work. Specifically, Diamond hogs the whole thing and won't let Tris up.
So I have to stagger feedings, usually putting Diamond outside - actually, she'll go out by herself - and feeding Tris. Once Tris has inhaled his portion of the food, he goes out and eventually Diamond comes in to to get her can. She never finishes a whole can by herself, but Tris will show up at the back door again, meyowl to come in, and then bolt down the left overs. He then heads over to the front door and meyowls to go out again.
As for the self serve cereal feeder, cat - unlike dogs - do not feel the need to eat themselves silly until all the food is gone - at least where the crunchy food is concerned. A 3.5 bag of dry lasts us about two weeks and the feeder holds maybe two pounds at one time.
Diamond is the one that scatters food about. I gather this is a hold over from being a wild cat, in that she occassionally will grab her food and give it a good shake, just to make sure it's dead. Tristan does not believe in wasting food like that, and functions instead as the feline vaccum cleaner, sucking up every particle in this path.
I should note that Diamond is also really good about handling any of the rodents that might wander into the house. I couldn't figure out why the kills always ended up in the bathroom when they get in through the kitchen pipework, but evidently she grabs them and takes them into the bathroom where she will play with them to her heart's content.
Tris has proved very proficient at catching lizards. It will be interesting to see what he can do with a roof rat.
