Cat vs. Dog vs. Technology
My struggle to keep my pets fed
There is something going on in my house and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.
My Pets
You see, I have a cat. And I also have a dog. Think about Garfield and Odie, Milo and Otis, Tom and Jerry. There have been plenty of famous cat and dog duos over the years. It’s incredibly heartwarming when the two breeds can cohabitate peacefully. Hell, they don’t even need to love each other, they just need to behave.
Alas, there is a reason why we still use the term “fighting like cats and dogs”.
I won’t get into the deep biological history here. Our modern pets are far removed from the lives of their ancestors. Rather than roaming the jungles or frozen tundra in search of prey, these furry friends now lounge around the house most of the day. Their feeding times are the highlight and in my household the most contentious time of the day.
We had a cat several years before getting a dog. The cat established itself as the dominant non-human species in our home. She had freedom to roam all around and leisurely enjoy her meals whenever she was hungry. In the case of our rather rotund calico, she was pretty much always hungry. We gave her a variety of culinary options. Dry food, various wet foods, we even went through one stretch where she only ate fresh shrimp painstakingly prepared by her generous owners. It was an excellent time in the life of Ruby the Cat.
But after living in this blissful state for several years, we decided to adopt a dog. I’m not sure that we were fully prepared for all of the work involved with a rescue dog. Our mutt did the classic trick of acting all chill at the rescue center and then becoming increasingly needy and barky once we got him home. Male dogs in particular like to establish themselves in their new environment. He wasn’t aggressive with the cat, but he made sure she knew that he was around. Some days they’d nap together for hours at a time. Other days, Charlie the dog would chase poor ruby in circles until she retreated to higher ground.
And then there was dinner time.
Our dog definitely had a rough life before we adopted him. It’s safe to say he came from a home where there was food scarcity. He had to overly protective of every morsel he had even if he wasn’t hungry. He kept this mentality when he moved in with us. No one could go near his food, especially not any feline. And if there was any food on the floor or in any type of bowl, he was going to eat it.
Tech to the Rescue
So of course I look to technology to solve my issue! I can’t be the only person on earth who has both a cat and a dog. There must be millions of others who have hungry dogs eager to chomp down any catfood within reach. Yes, I was not alone, and there was the perfect product for our situation.
The Surepet Microchip Pet Feeder was going to save the day!
It’s just so clever. It’s a feeder that will only open if it detects the microchip implanted inside a cat or you can use an RFID tag that attaches to the cat’s collar. We opted for the RFID tag after having issues with the microchip. But it did work marvelously at first.
The food would stay fresh and uneaten until Ruby walked over and stuck her little head into the opening where the sensor detected her presence. The door would open for her like royalty. Poor Charlie was always trying to eat the food and just pressing his snout into the glass. There was domestic bliss. The pets were eating their own designated food and all was well.
Then something odd happened. The cat food started disappearing. And not like when only crumbs would be left after a cat feeding period. No, the bowl would be spotlessly clean as only a dog’s long tongue could do. This dog was clearly figuring out a way to eat this food. He was outsmarting the high-tech solution. What could be going on?
Obviously, I checked for malfunctions first. The batteries still seemed good. The feeder opened and closed as normal when testing. I even checked the collar to see if it was still being sensed correctly. All seemed good. Charlie had just been training himself daily to be faster than the robotic lid.
Here’s a fun video that shows other dogs trying to break through the feeder:
There are times when I consider my dog to not be very smart. Like when he eats garbage or barks at the wall for apparently no reason. He also once got his leg caught in the slat of a park bench that was both scary and pretty dumb of him at the same time. But he also surprises me sometimes with how well he’s able to figure things out. After a few months of practice, he can now easily open a sliding screen door with one paw. And clearly, he figured out a way to beat a robotic feeding machine too.
I started watching him hide behind the cat while she ate. When I was in view he would never lunge at the food. He would pretend to be asleep or sometimes face the other way. But the sound of the robotic lid opening acted like a trigger for him. He would hear it from across the house and always come running. He knows better to do it when I’m around, but he’s obviously figured things out when Mom and Dad aren’t there to scold him.
Conclusion
So I write this as both a vent of frustration and also with a sense of pride and admiration for my older dog who is still able to learn new tricks. Think about it from a logical perspective. The cat is eating at least three times per day (usually many more). And we’ve had the feeder for well over three years at this point. So he’s had at least a thousand opportunities to watch, observe, think, test, and repeat until he hits paydirt. Am I giving him too much credit? Possibly. Is this less about brains and more about just using his size to overpower the poor cat? He’s certainly stronger but maybe only about ten pounds heavier than her.
Have canines really outsmarted our modern robotic feeding technology? Do I just have a faulty unit that isn’t closing as quickly as it used to? It’s hard to answer any of these questions for sure. I’m just trying to make it through a day where my dog eats dog food, my cat eats cat food, and my robots do their jobs…
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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