Appetites

[stoutfellow]

I'm not sure what changed over the break, but the pups are definitely a bit different now.

It used to be that I'd put down food sometime during the day, and over the next twenty-four (or sometimes more) hours it would be eaten. Not all at once; after a few hours, there'd be a bit less, and later a bit less still, and eventually the bowls would be empty - or near enough to warrant refilling.

Since I returned from break, almost as soon as I put the food down, the dogs are digging in. Fifteen minutes, twenty tops, and it's gone. I've been guiltily giving them a second helping, most days. It usually vanishes almost as quickly.

Furthermore, Buster has taken to pawing at the bowl as he eats, sliding it all over the floor. It not infrequently winds up under the dining room table, three or four feet from its proper place.

Could it be the cold weather? But - apart from the relatively brief period of the Vortex - the temperatures have been pretty normal, or in some cases unusually warm.

Is a puzzlement.

Comments

[mmegaera]

Perhaps it has more to do with you having been gone? How often did the caretaker come to deal with them?

[stoutfellow]

The agreement was once a day. She wasn't able to come out on January 5 due to the heavy snow, but as far as I know she came on every other day I was gone.

It's not as if this is the first time I've been gone. This one was actually shorter than most of my winter absences.

[mmegaera]

I take it they've never done this after you've been away before, either? I know my cats have always been a bit clingy and wanting more food after I've been gone, even though I have a cat sitter who comes and spends time with them every day.

[stoutfellow]

Clingy, yes. The eating behavior is new.

[mmegaera]

Well, I wouldn't worry about it unless they start putting on a lot of weight [g].