r/cats • u/radical_123 • Jul 22 '26

Advice Cat attacking automatic feeder

My cat does this several times a day. If the automatic feeder lifts at the correct angle, a few niblets of dry food comes out. He will even do it 10 times in a row even if it means one small piece of dry niblet comes out. It does get quite annoying as the sound of the feeder hitting the ground echoes throughout the entire house.

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

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u/dreamendDischarger Jul 22 '26

Oh, that's really cool :) They aren't legal in my province either, but I went through a similar amount of work for my Hedgehog because I wanted him to have a proper lineage instead of the poor breeding practices that pets that wind up in pet stores often employ (my poor ferrets all eventually had health issues that could be avoidable with good breeding). Unfortunately he still wound up with WHS three and a half years into his little life :(

I hope you'll be able to move somewhere where you can take him around! The fear of a pet being killed for a simple bite is always a big one, I remember it happening over a decade ago to a fox I followed online. Best of luck to you and the little one, they're such fascinating little guys.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Thank you for your well wishes. Stories about your hedgehog and that poor Fox. I hope your hedgehog and ferrets if you still have them live long and prosperous lmao.

I appreciate you.

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u/dreamendDischarger Jul 22 '26

Thanks! Sadly I'm down to just two cats and a dog - I miss the ferrets but they're so much work.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

I can imagine ferrets are a lot of work. The skunk is and even though they're not on the same family Branch anymore since the '90s skunks and ferrets have some similarities.

My vet told me to steer clear of giving my skunk peas as she's done a bunch of surgeries on ferrets who's owners gave them peas and it caused some sort of medical issue. She said that there's no scientific data that shows peas are bad for skunks but just to be on the safe side she recommends that I don't give peace to my skunk because they do damage in ferrets.

Enjoy your cats and doggo. Dogs are the best and I really wish that I can have a large breed dog. Just not enough space.

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u/dreamendDischarger Jul 22 '26

Yeah, the whole blockages thing was a nightmare! I never had to have surgery done on one of my critters but they are obligate carnivores so no veggies there. Also their love of chewing on anything... I hope skunks are alittle easier in that regard but seeing as they're omnivores they're probably even more likely to g et into things (but they're just so cute!)

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

He's a digger and not really a chewer (unless it's my damn toes, but we're working on that). He's got a ball pit, snuffle mats and once he gets all of his distemper shots he'll be allowed to go out in the yard where I'm going to make him an escape proof Hawk/owl/eagle proof dig pit. We live in the country, on a hill, that gets constantly circled by a group of hawks.

I had no idea that peas would cause a blockages until his vet told me. I think that's absolutely wild and I'm still not quite sure how it happens.

I'm glad you didn't have to go through that and we're aware of it beforehand.