Tonks Tuesday

Tonks loves sitting on my lap while I watch TV, even if she doesn't understand or agree with what I watch.

During this particular cuddle session, I was watching the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It's a movie in the Harry Potter franchise, starring a vast array of magical creatures. As a fan of fantasy, I quite enjoy the movie and have watched it multiple times, though Tonks firmly believes that the only creatures I need in my life are cats.

Happy Tuesday, friends!

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Doodle of the Day

We have a couple more doodles to share from this year's sort of dark, sort of spooky winter series, and this is one of them.

If I'm being honest, I plan on doing a similar series of doodles come March, but with a springtime twist. It'll probably be a weird, wacky, and perhaps even a bit of a witchy series of springtime doodles. I hope you all don't mind seeing that sort of thing, but those simply are the type of doodles I'm really enjoying scribbling up for the time being.

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Tip of the Day

We're making these National Cat Health Care Month tips stretch until the end of February. So, today's (incredibly long) tip is another one related to feeding those kitties of yours. In some cases, you might have multiple cats with differing dietary needs. For example, you may have one cat who needs a low-protein kidney diet in a household that also contains other cats in need of higher levels of protein. Or, you might have one cat on a diet for weight loss in a household also with other cats who should not be on a restrictive diet. Or, perhaps you simply have one kitty who steals the other kitty's food. If any of these are the case in your house, there are some possible ways to succeed in feeding your kitties their separate diets.

First, if your cats are of different sizes or have different physical abilities, there is a chance you can take advantage of these traits to separate their feeding stations. For example, if you have a large cat and a kitten needing separate foods, you could cut a hole in an upside box in which the kitten can fit, but not the larger cat. This way, the kitten could be fed its kitten food in the box without the larger cat feasting on the food. You can also try feeding one cat its food on various elevated surfaces, if its housemate cat on a different diet is unable to reach those elevated feeding spots.

Of course, there are many cases in which the above options simply will not work. If this is the case, one primary option is to stick to scheduled feedings of some sort, and to physically separate the cats during these feeding times. First, determine times of the day when you are home and can oversee feeding time, such as morning, lunch, and evening. Then, at feeding time, each cat can be given their specific diet separately under your observation. This can be done in a number of ways. You can simply separate the cats in the same room, if you are able to closely observe them so that no kitty's food is stolen by another. You can also separate the kitty's in the same room while using something such as baby gates to ensure they remain separated while they eat. Another option is, of course, shutting cats in different rooms to each eat their meal on their own. There is also a bowl on the market that can be linked to a certain microchip, and the bowl will only open and allow access to food for a furbaby with that particular microchip.

That all being said, if your cats are used to being free-fed all day and you find yourself needing to transition to scheduled feedings due to differing dietary needs, then do be patient and give this transition some time. A cat will have to get used to going from having access to food 24/7, to eating on a schedule. If need be, such as if your cats are not yet used to eating their meals at a scheduled time, then start this transition by feeding your cats more often, so that they will have more chances to eat their food throughout the day. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns with regard to feeding your kitties, do speak to your veterinarian!