When I had cats, I never used automatic feeders when I was out of town: I always hired a catsitter. Now I’m glad I did, because I wouldn’t want a cat to learn that you can get extra nomz by banging the apparatus.
As the YouTube notes say:
These are merely the highlights of a two day feeding binge by Milo. He stole food much more often than was shown here.
. . . which evokes this image.
And here is the story of Rufus and his owner. Greater love hath no man for his cat:
Rufus might enjoy this
http://youtu.be/I_cMBDeIGAE
Lucky Rufus, and he’s an Australian cat if my ears do not deceive me.
Please tell me you’ve all seen Eddie Izzard’s short piece on Pavlov’s cats?
That first cat is already getting too much kibble; you can tell from the waist that (slightly) bulges; feline waists should curve inward, not outward.
And that sculpture for Rufus is awesome. Baihu has found a couple corners of the home that are similarly-sized that I try to preserve as hideouts for him, such as the top shelf of the linen closet where he can hide behind and in a pile of blankets. I don’t think I’ll be able to top Rufus’s, though.
b&
I house-sat for a friend in my previous city, and one of their two cats would stick his paw up the feeder to score a few more extra tidbits. He would do it all day. It was hilarious. My friend said they don’t mind too much and see it as his reward for enduring hours alone while his people are working.
Cat leads owner to discovery of ancient Roman ruins
The article features a photo of said cat in a hat.
What I find interesting about the automatic feeder raiding cat isn’t that he figured it out, but rather the other cat didn’t seem to learn his trick. We have had a similar situation with two sets of cats. In each case one cat has learned how to open a closed door by manipulating the handle, but the other cat in the pair has never learned how to do it. The first cat became so good at it that we had to install a lock on the door. The newer cat has learned to check the door after my wife goes through because she often leaves it unlocked. None of the cats has figured out how to unlock the key-in-lock door.