Question
My vet recently put two (of our four) cats on a prescription diet. We're having trouble getting all of the cats to accept it, and it would be easier (now and in the future) if everyone ate off of their own bowls so that we could track food consumption easier.
Another wrinkle is that we're moving in 6 months and I'd like to not have to totally retrain them when we move.
My husband wondered if we could train each cat to their own colored tray? I'm willing to try that, but also open to other suggestions.
Answer
Since I was asked... I'll change my comment to an answer. :)
One the easiest ways to train is through repetitive rote behavior. For example, when we feed our cats, they both wait at the same place to get their dishes and always start from the same place. They only move around later when they come back for a second bite and that's because they can. That leads me to consider something like the Wonder Bowl Selective Pet Feeder as a good way to reinforce the concept of whose dish is whose. If the cat can only every get food from one particular dish and not another, then it will reinforce in them the idea that they need to go to that dish and only that dish.
With respect to the idea that another cat could come along while the first is still feeding it's been my experience that cats aren't very tolerant of it. Not completely impossible, but if the first cat wanders away as a result, the dish closes anyways.
Answered By - Joanne C