Mancats wear collars

Some of the mancats in the house are now wearing collars.  Smokey started wearing his special collar in October...

 It took him a while to get the hang of it...his collar has a magnet on the front, and it opens the door into the cage where his special food is kept. 

 Smokey needs to gain weight, but a certain orange boy in the house does not!  This was the only way we could guarantee that Tanner could not get inside to eat the higher calorie food. 

 It took Smokey about a month to really get the hang of the door...now he goes in and out like a champ!  We still need to help him remember to eat several times a day...but if you take him to the room, he goes right on in.  Smokey now weighs 9 pounds.  He had lost down to 8.4 in December, so we are pleased with his progress.  We did have to start him back on his anti-anxiety meds too...Smokey is a worrier, and stresses over things internally.  This has helped him to not worry, and just enjoy life.  He is very laid back now, and we can see the true Smokey personality!

Some of you with older cats may be experiencing this same problem...weight loss, forgetting to eat, not wanting dry food, etc...With Smokey, we simply take him to the cage several times a day to help him remember to eat.  We serve high calorie canned food (AD, Authority, ProPlan, etc...).  Dry food is more calorie dense, but he isn't loving on that right now, so we grind it to a powder and add it to the canned food, with some extra water.  There is also a bowl a dry in the cage, so if he wants it, it is there.

In early December we used a couple of appetite stimulants on him, and they helped him to remember that he was hungry and should eat.  Since going back on the anti-anxiety meds, we haven't had to use the appetite stimulants...so we are thankful.

 Tanner is wearing a special collar of a different kind...his is a Calming Collar.  It contains pheromones and I hope it will help him not be so nervous.  I put it on last night, and he is doing well.  It was a big heavy at first, but once he got used to it, he was a snuggle bug.  This morning, he went over to Pirate and bopped him, and simply walked away...while I don't condone bullying, this is an improvement.  Normally, Tanner would bop Pirate, and then get all nervous and squeal like Pirate was attacking him!  So if this collar helps him to feel brave then that is great!  I want my boys to feel comfortable at home, and I hope this will help Tanner.

Has anyone else tried the Calming Collar?  Have you seen a difference, or felt like it was helping?

Devon is just laughing at everyone else because he doesn't have to wear a collar!