Many cat owners recognise that their cats like to be independent, but that doesn’t mean their pets don’t need help to regulate their diets.
If a cat eats too much they are at risk of obesity and weight-related illnesses, whilst changes in feeding behaviour, whether sudden or gradual, could be an indication of illness or distress. With busy lives to lead, it can be difficult for cat owners to keep track of how much they are feeding their pets and how much their cats are eating.
The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect can help. It is app-controlled, connecting to the Sure Petcare app via a Hub, so that owners can monitor their cat’s feeding behaviour, wherever they are. Having remote access to the app gives cat owners peace of mind when they are out of the house – even when they are on holiday.
Obesity is still a big problem amongst the UK’s cat population. Some cat owners will feed their cats an unmeasured amount without realising they are overfeeding their pets. Obesity can lead to serious illnesses such as feline diabetes, heart disease or chronic kidney disease, to name a few. Therefore, giving cats the correct portion size is a vital step in preventing these issues. Weighing a cat’s food using separate scales isn’t practical, so the Microchip Pet Feeder Connect has integrated scales which weigh the food every time the bowl is filled. The owner sets the food portion size within the app and when the bowl is filled with food, LEDs guide the owner to the correct portion size to within one gram of accuracy. This makes it easy to always serve accurate portions.
In busy households where there is more than one carer, a cat might be fed too many times without the owners realising. The Microchip Pet Feeder Connect highlights when a cat was last fed within the app to prevent overfeeding. Multiple people can be invited to view the household’s app data, so that everyone caring for the cat can see when the cat was last fed. This is also useful when the cat’s owners go away on holiday and leave the cat in the care of a pet sitter. The pet sitter can be invited to the app so that they too can check that the cat is eating as normal.
The Sure Petcare app records when a cat visits the bowl and stores this data over time in easy to read graphs. This makes it easy to monitor a cat’s feeding pattern and notice any changes in their habits. Changes in feeding behaviour could mean that a cat has developed an illness or that they are stressed. Having the ability to monitor these changes means that if a cat has developed an illness, they can get treatment in the early stages. The data can also be shared with the cat’s vet to aid diagnosis.
If a cat’s feeding behaviour has changed due to stress, then it’s important to investigate what might be causing that stress in order to find a solution. The presence of new animals in a resident cat’s territory, especially the home environment, can cause stress. If there is a new cat in the family, the existing cat might feel threatened by it. Therefore, it’s a good idea for each cat to have a Microchip Pet Feeder Connect, as the microchip access will stop food being stolen. Feeders should be positioned separately from one another to ensure each cat has privacy when they are eating. There should also be plenty of other provisions in the home to help reduce stress, such as multiple water stations, beds and hiding places, so that the cats do not have to share.
A neighbouring animal entering the home could also cause great stress to a resident cat. Using a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap will stop such invasions and help the resident cat to feel more relaxed in their own home. The presence of an intruder cat could cause the resident cat to lose their appetite if they feel intimidated or gorge themselves on their food as soon as it’s served for fear of it being stolen by the intruder. A cat’s natural feeding behaviour is to graze on their food, choosing to eat lots of small meals throughout the day rather than eating the entire portion as soon as it’s served.
Monitoring a cat’s feeding behaviour can help to keep them happy and healthy.
For more information about the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect, visit surepetcare.com.
