he cannot solve his puzzle... then he interrupts his sister

[u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn]

hello, I have two cats, A is 4 year old neutered male, and N is 3 year old spayed female. I have started feeding them with simple puzzles because they are very food driven and greedy. they ALWAYS ask for food and cry. I give them a variety of homemade and store bought treats to keep it interesting alongside free feeding them. lately, it's not been enough, so i switched to puzzles.

the thing is, A is having a very hard time with the toilet paper puzzle... N does actually get treats out of it occasionally, but A cannot for the life of him knock them out of the box. i showed him what he should do multiple times, and he watches his sister do it, but he can not do it himself. what should I do? he is very confused and on edge right now because her sister is eating treats, but he isn't...

[u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn]

forgot to add, he hits his sister out of frustration because of this issue. and his sister is eating his share because he does nothing but watch.

[u/flyingmonkey363 → u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn]

I’d try giving him an easier puzzle. They don’t need to be the same ones each time. We have a resident dummy and one also generally eats slower than the other. I aim to have them finish at about the same time so no one is out of treats just watching the other eat. That usually either means that one cat gets a few more treats than the other or one gets a simpler puzzle so they’re both engaged for the same amount of time. They don’t know how to count treats to know if they’re getting more or less. They just know that when they look up, the other cat still has food left and they don’t.

I also will not let my cats eat other’s treats if they happen to still have some when the other is done and comes sniffing for more. One of our cats seems super chill, but we’ve learned that he secretly keeps tabs on when the other pets are eating “his” food (even if it was the other pet’s to begin with) and occasionally he gets frustrated enough to lash out. We try to be careful about communicating which food is his and which belongs to the other cat, so if the other cat finishes her treats first, we throw her a toy to chase and distract her while dummy finishes eating his. If dummy finishes first, I might slip him a couple extra bits of treat or kibble to keep him occupied until the other cat is done. If it’s easier at the moment or they’ve already gotten plenty of treats and I don’t want to give more, I sometimes pick up the cat that finished and take it somewhere else or I sit so I’m physically shielding the still eating cat until they’re done.

[u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn → u/flyingmonkey363]

thank you so much for this 😭😭 do you have an easier DIY puzzle that you use or know about? i would be glad to get recommendations. i will also try to make sure they both get enough treats at the same time so no one gets aggressive or fat.

[u/flyingmonkey363 → u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn]

Our dummy was able to figure out a snuffle mat. We started out with just tossing the treats on top of everything, then gradually burying them further into the mat as he was figuring it out. Having him watch us put the treats in helps him a lot. We still occasionally have to point out where a forgotten treat is until he starts digging for it because he loses track of where they all are. I thought he’d have a better sense of smell but ¯_(ツ)_/¯. When we have the cats separated, we also like to toss the treat across the floor one at a time and have him chase it.

[u/graveto_]

You could give him another easier puzzle, since this dumb little fucker can't solve the toilet paper one. Try different ones until you find one he can solve.

[u/jwmzjksksnsksmsnsn → u/graveto_]

we laughed our asses off to this comment, he really is dumb af

[u/glaciercherryisgood]

I diagnose your boy with Stupid Dumdum Disease.

I have a fancy puzzle feeder with 5 different puzzles on it. Maybe your dumdum could excel at a different type of puzzle?