Training a deaf cat to use timed feeder?

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Virginie & Chewie (GA)

Virginie & Chewie (GA)

Member Since 2022
Hi everyone - not a diabetes-related question (yet), but I figured with so many cat people in one place, maybe someone would have experience training a deaf kitty.
My 16 yo lady Mew has lost her hearing over the past few years, and is definitely on the slow side (physically and mentally - I love her to death but she has never been the sharpest tool in the shed). She sleeps VERY hard since she can't hear a thing. I have even vacuumed right by her face when she was sleeping and she never woke up. Turning the lights on doesn't wake her up either.

Long story short, I bought a timed feeder for when we have to be out of town for a few days. The pet sitter will come in the morning and evening to feed and medicate, but I need her to be able to eat between meals. Normally, as her work-from-home valet, I bring her food wherever she is during the day. With a hearing cat I would train them with the sound of a little bell or something, but I can't do that with her.

I'm planning on closing doors to the bedrooms when we travel so she has fewer places to sleep and therefore will be closer to the feeder when it opens (I don't mind if the other cats snack from it too, it's big enough to put a good amount in there).

Any ideas how I could train her to look for that feeder when she is hungry? I am going to start by bringing her snacks to her in that feeder, then I think I'll bring her the closed feeder right before it opens and stay with her to make sure she sees it contains food, but not sure what else to do?
 
If she sleeps in a certain spot you could try using an alarm clock with a bed shaker. The combination of an alarm and vibration may be enough to wake her. Many alarm clocks have dual alarms so you could set it for different feeding times
 
Virginie & Chewie (GA) said:
Any ideas how I could train her to look for that feeder when she is hungry? I am going to start by bringing her snacks to her in that feeder, then I think I'll bring her the closed feeder right before it opens and stay with her to make sure she sees it contains food, but not sure what else to do?
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That is a good idea. When I first got a feeder I fed Sheba all her meals in it so she would associate it with food.
The ideas of getting something to vibrate or shake are good ideas. I remember I had a childhood friend who was deaf and she would dance as she could feel the vibrations of the music through the floor..
 
Katsallday said:
Do you have a spare cell phone? You can set alarms with the vibrate function next to the feeder :)
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That's a really smart idea - I think I do have an old one somewhere. She never sleeps in the same spot when we are home, but if we go out of town I'll close access to bedrooms so the cats are set up on the main floor, and in that case I think she'll be spending most of her time in her cave bed on the couch, so I could set up the phone underneath the bed! Thanks :cat:
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
Surepet has them back in stock https://www.surepetcare.com/en-us/p...Qqr_t1b8dUNzTSQQL5F4seIUV61I4ZjTGXP3trSJ8Eg90
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Still shows out of stock for me?

Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
If she sleeps in a certain spot you could try using an alarm clock with a bed shaker. The combination of an alarm and vibration may be enough to wake her. Many alarm clocks have dual alarms so you could set it for different feeding times
Click to expand...
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
That is a good idea. When I first got a feeder I fed Sheba all her meals in it so she would associate it with food.
The ideas of getting something to vibrate or shake are good ideas. I remember I had a childhood friend who was deaf and she would dance as she could feel the vibrations of the music through the floor..
Click to expand...
Yes, love the idea of user something that vibrates. She sleeps very soundly, but after a while I'm sure it'll get her up (sometimes thumping the bed doesn't work and I have to pet her for an entire minute before she wakes up... I did shake her a couple of times I thought she had died :eek:). So glad I asked the community of minds here! :cat:
 
Other than thumping the floor which has always worked for me in a "I mean business" kind of way, deaf or not, all I can think of is a light on a timer.
I know you said she doesn't respond well to lights but maybe try a different colour.
If you're desperate enough try buying a cheap corded sander hooked up to a timer like the one I use on my aquarium. If you put the sander in a small metal trash bucket with some rocks or marbles that should get anyone's attention.
We also have a dim witted cat that's hard not to love. If he had opposable thumbs he would have stuck a knife in a socket years ago. We keep him inside where he'll probably outlive all of us.
 
Update: I started simple by placing the feeder right next to her bed in the afternoon, set to open within minutes. Her face was so funny. "Wow! There's food in there!"
Repeated that a couple of times, with gradually longer intervals so she would know it always opens eventually.
Then last night I made sure she saw me put it down on the landing by our bedroom door, so she would know to come "watch it" if she was hungry. This morning both snacks were gone :cat: the other two cats don't like her LID food very much, so they might have helped but I think she ate most of it. So I guess now I'll just be sure to always place it in the same spot at night and during the day, and she'll know her snacks are in there. I shouldn't have talked smack about her smarts, haha.
 
Virginie & Chewie (GA) said:
Update: I started simple by placing the feeder right next to her bed in the afternoon, set to open within minutes. Her face was so funny. "Wow! There's food in there!"
Repeated that a couple of times, with gradually longer intervals so she would know it always opens eventually.
Then last night I made sure she saw me put it down on the landing by our bedroom door, so she would know to come "watch it" if she was hungry. This morning both snacks were gone :cat: the other two cats don't like her LID food very much, so they might have helped but I think she ate most of it. So I guess now I'll just be sure to always place it in the same spot at night and during the day, and she'll know her snacks are in there. I shouldn't have talked smack about her smarts, haha.
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I'd love to see a picture of the cutie! I've always wanted a deaf cat, as I'm fluent in ASL. I went to a deaf school but I can hear fine, it just hurts to hear in one ear lol!
 
Katsallday said:
I'd love to see a picture of the cutie! I've always wanted a deaf cat, as I'm fluent in ASL. I went to a deaf school but I can hear fine, it just hurts to hear in one ear lol!
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I would love to develop a sign language with her, and she does respond to a wave as an invitation to come closer, but that's about it so far :p

Here she is sleeping soooo hard - she will let out the cutest coo/purr sounds when you wake her up:

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And with her sister Isis and Wicket (my beloved departed Chewie's brother):

upload_2023-2-27_11-30-46.png
 

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