The Food Web

Suki's visit this time seems to have been somewhat less frightening than her past visits. I'm not sure why. It may be something to do with Darwin's presence. Maybe Suki feels that Darwin is somebody more familiar, since she lives with him in Baraboo, and less intimidating than Ned and Fatty. She didn't follow us around the house the first couple of days, like she usually does. However, her food habits are the same. She refuses to eat anything.

The food situation is quite complicated right now: Darwin wants to eat Ned and Rowena's food; Suki wants to eat Ned and Rowena's and Darwin's food; Ned wants to eat Darwin's food or anything else that may be available when he tiptoes into the kitchen in the middle of the night; Rowena wants to eat any food she can find anywhere. Darwin's requirements are important because he can't eat ordinary cat food. The magnesium in ordinary cat food makes him sick. However, his prescription cat food is expensive, not something the other cats should be eating. Whenever he shows up in the kitchen with a hungry look, we feed him his special cat food. Usually upon hearing the sound of kibble on china, Fatty comes running to join the feast. We've to feed her then. Yesterday Suki was around and she wanted Fatty's food, ignoring her own bowl a few feet away from Fatty's bowl. We have to change their food bowls often to ensure everyone is eating the right thing.

Ned gobbled up Suki's food two nights back. A few hours later he deposited almost the entire thing on the closet carpet (he always finds a carpet to vomit).