More Procrastination: Cat Burglar

Monday, December 11, 2006

Cat Burglar

In some TV commercials for dry catfood, they make the point that cats nibble around the clock (as opposed to dogs who do fine with one big meal per day). Often, a substantial quantity of food left for my cat in the evening is gone in the morning, yet he is not very fat, so I've wondered who is eating, and when (and why I am not awakened by howling and fights). Thanks to this very clear and complete how-to, I was able to leave a webcam pointed at the cat's feeding station last night to record activity. Based on my sample of one cat, one night, my observation is that he only ate once after 10:40 p.m. and that was at 7:00 a.m. But I was also able to capture images of another cat which came in and stole himself a nice leisurely meal between 3:27 and 3:40. He looks bigger than the resident cat (the all-white one), so maybe mine just "looks the other way" when the other comes to feed. Resident also appears to have leapt/dashed out, whereas the burglar just sauntered.