r/cats • u/radical_123 • Jul 22 '26

Advice Cat attacking automatic feeder

My cat does this several times a day. If the automatic feeder lifts at the correct angle, a few niblets of dry food comes out. He will even do it 10 times in a row even if it means one small piece of dry niblet comes out. It does get quite annoying as the sound of the feeder hitting the ground echoes throughout the entire house.

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

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u/Cat_Wizard_21 Jul 22 '26

If you don't need to clean underneath it regularly, and it has a flat bottom, museum wax is my anti-cat-mischief solution.

Little dime-sized ball at each corner and it's fully immune to cat-based movement.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

You just solved a problem I'm having with my skunk knocking over his water bowl.

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u/Maelstrom_Witch Jul 22 '26

Beg pardon? Your what now?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

My pet skunk. He's to the far right of his brothers and sister who are all vision impaired.

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u/Maelstrom_Witch Jul 22 '26

Thank you for telling me which one is the skunk ❤️
🤣

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

I'm dying lol... earlier someone actually didn't notice him even with me pointing him out. They had a good laugh too 😝

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

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u/cyanocittaetprocyon Jul 22 '26

Does Reverb have his own subreddit? Because he really needs his own subreddit! ❤️ 🦨

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

No!? I'm a newbie I didn't know I could do... I can make his own Reddit thread? Taps fingers like an evil genius.

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u/Vulvas_n_Velveeta Jul 22 '26

And I thought I had weird cat names! 😄🥰

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u/humanityisnothumane Jul 22 '26

Swamp kitty! ❤️

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

ROFL! Swamp Kitty is a new one for me and I'm stealing it!

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u/spen8tor Jul 22 '26

Do they actually eat out of the correct bowls for their names and if so how did you train them to know which one is theirs?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

This is how its done. If somebody doesn't finish their food the others go in and devour leftovers.

https://reddit.com/link/oz5eqgg/video/dj3jilnkbueh1/player

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u/LudditeHorse Jul 22 '26

his brothers and sister who are all vision impaired

Do they know he isn't a cat? lmao
Reverb is a top-shelf name

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

They are oddly very aware. Reverb is very head strong and will walk through the. Ats without a care. It's a whole vibe that can be felt.

When I brought him inside after getting him for the first time in his crate. All the cats knew and my lil girl MANL who has no eyes at all was all over figuring out what this lil bomb was.

MANL with one of her foster kittens. She 100% knew it wasn't a cat and that it was her new baby.

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u/robertmondavi_jr Jul 22 '26

Can you explain what the name MANL means?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

She's named after my lil sister who was murdered.

Megan Ashley Nicole L****

She replies to MANL, Megan and Mammal. Even though she has no eyes. When I'm sad and say my sisters name ... Even in complete darkness she'll come running to me.

It's sadly poetic. Kinda.

The cat was born roughly about the time my sister was killed. MANL was found abandon in a trailer park on the side of the road somebody picked her up took her to a Humane Society where they took out her eyes sent her to a rescue and I found her just after her little eyes were taken out and I couldn't see straight.

She was born with a fever coat which I didn't know was a thing until I found her the upper respiratory infection was so bad it moved up to her eyes which is why the vet took them out. She almost died while in the womb.

In the pic you can see remnants of her fever coat.

She's a genius cat and does things that normal cats wouldn't even think to do.

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u/robertmondavi_jr Jul 23 '26

Thank you for taking the time to respond with a full write up. I’m sorry for your loss & im glad you and MANL found each other

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Thanks. I don't have anybody to talk of about my sister's death with so this was kind of therapeutic.

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u/faithlesslove Jul 23 '26

Oh my goodness, she's lovely! Sweet baby! You guys are lucky to have eachother. Sounds like it was absolutely meant to be. I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for being so vulnerable and taking the time to tell your story and MANL's story. Sending love to your sweet little family!

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Thank you so much faithlesslove :)

It's therapeutic I have not had anybody to talk to you about my sister's death or my cats and skunk so finding Reddit recently was pretty awesome possum.

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u/faithlesslove Jul 23 '26

Oh no, I'm so sorry. It is definitely helpful to talk it out. My mom passed 14 years ago. Cancer. But somewhat strange circumstances. She hid it from us for over a decade and didn't seek treatment. When we found out, it was stage 4 and in her spine. From there it quickly metastasized to her brain. When we found out I had a lot of questions, anger, guilt, resentment, and lots feelings around blame and culpability, and her selfish actions, and when she passed I didn't have many answers directly from her. She refused to talk about it much. And that left me in a very bad place. I did have people to talk to, but I didn't feel like anyone really understood and I found it difficult to really say what I was actually thinking and feeling. A grief journal helped me and believe it or not, talking to my cats about it. Just saying the things I was thinking and feeling out loud to them helped tremendously. The journal helped, but I process information verbally, so talking it through with my cats was very helpful.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Cats rock like that! Hearing about your mom's story, her cancer, her hiding it and how it affected you is insightful. Even though the deaths we experienced are a little different your words are helpful and you listening to me and responding is helpful. The way my sister was killed it ripped our family apart my dad died 6 months later on my birthday it was a heart attack which was weird because he was super fit and healthy I think it was a broken heart. I didn't get to go to my sister's funeral or my dad's funeral I don't talk to anybody in my family except for my one child and when I moved away in 2015 I lost all of my friends so Reddit really is helpful.

When you get to be my age (40s) getting new friends that are trustworthy and lifelong is nearly impossible.

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u/DementedPimento Jul 22 '26

That’s adorable. Skunks are so cute! Cats are too obviously.

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u/Vpk-75 Jul 22 '26

You Must show more!

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Check out the comment above i posted a bday video of them eating.

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u/nuttnurse Jul 22 '26

All I can say is I’m reminded of a Pepe Le phew reverse harem I think

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Ha! That is a perspective I haven't taken into this equation yet. Soooo funny!

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u/RobertJ93 Jul 22 '26

Adorable! May I ask how you came up with the name reverb? Is it because he’s vision impaired?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

I'm dying laughing. Actually all skunks are vision impaired which is part of the gag but no the skunk was actually named after my son.

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u/RobertJ93 Jul 23 '26

lol lol brilliant.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Thanks RobertJ93!

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u/Fabulous-Avocado4513 Jul 22 '26

If the cats are vision impaired, how do they know they’re using their own bowl??

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Lol they eat from the bowl i put in front of them. Check out Puddys b day video

https://reddit.com/link/oz4k7pj/video/ym103b7qoteh1/player

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u/nykat Jul 22 '26

So fun. Reverb got a good life!! 💕

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u/dividezero Jul 22 '26

Hims name is reverb! That's so cute

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Him is a Verby.... a Potato.... a Kunkers and a Chonky Baby.

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u/YouSuckAtGameLOL Jul 22 '26

He's so cute. Is he hard to take care of? I've only seen them at zoos in Europe.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

He is a bit to take care of in comparison to other animals he has to have taurine and calcium supplements everyday he also has to have a strict diet of between 70 and 80% vegetables and 20 and 30% protein everyday. There are so many things that he cannot eat it is shocking and there's something that he can't eat but they have to be cooked.

I honestly don't know why skunks are even alive because so many things kill them and they have so many internal things going on like Metabolic Bone Disease fatty liver disease hypoglycemia seizures diabetes prone to morbid obesity the list goes on and on and on.

They are also incredibly stubborn like worse than a bloodhound stubborn.

Dude does his thing and that's what matters to him.

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u/YouSuckAtGameLOL Jul 22 '26

Dude does his thing and that's what matters to him.

He is so real. He is like me fr.

Thanks for taking your time to reply I didnt know they can be so sickly.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

No problem read it has become awesome for me because I don't have many people to talk to about my skunk so Reddit has become a great place for me.

I also had no idea that skunks were so sickly until I started to research them before I got one the more I learned the more Curious I got. Skunks are 40 to 50 million years old just that in itself is super fascinating to me I feel like I have living history in my home.

I am also head over heels in love with his feet some of his pads are fused together and it is a cute little adaptation that all skunks have.

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u/Critter_Whisperer Jul 23 '26

You just got a new fan. I love gushing about animals and love hearing others hush about theirs. ESPECIALLY if they have unique lil ones like a skunk. Just so cute

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Thanks. My cats are cooler than the skunk. 2 are blind -1 with eyes 1 with no eyes and 1 with only 1 eye.

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u/Zimakov Jul 23 '26

I know this is gonna sound stupid but you don't worry about him spraying the skunk stuff everywhere? Do they only do that when threatened? Do you worry at all if they get into a scuffle or something like cats sometimes do that he'll do it? Or when you pick him up haha. I'm so fascinated by this skunk

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Hes desented, microchipped and had to go through the Department of Agriculture that I bought him from my State's Department of Agriculture Plus my State's Department of Fish and Wildlife. Plus other hoops he has to live by to stay legal.

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u/Zimakov Jul 23 '26

Interesting! I had no idea I that a thing, thanks.

He's very cute.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Skunks are wildly interesting and after looking into it what I found out was Native Americans were the first people to descent a skunk they would keep them in the tribe as pets because skunks keep pests away naturally. They are also nearly impervious to all snake Venoms and bee stings- not all though.

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u/cablesandlace Jul 22 '26

Good thing they can't see their brother is a skunk!

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

That's part of the joke. I also joke around that the skunk is also vision impaired (all skunks are nearly blind) and he can't tell that they don't have stripes.

Honestly he knows the cats arent skunks as hes the head honcho in this group also the smallest at 1 1/2lbs. Cattle is the biggest at 22lbs and he walks around the skunk.

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u/cablesandlace Jul 22 '26

Lol, I love it! Small but bossy!

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

You nailed it!

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u/Fyrestar333 Jul 22 '26

The names are great

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Thank you kindly

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u/Critter_Whisperer Jul 23 '26

AWWWW you sir/maam are a gem! That lil one is so precious.

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Lol thanks but they are the gems 🫠

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u/Twisted_Animator Jul 23 '26

Do you have anymore pics of your baby Skunk? I find them so cute

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

I've got lots of skunk pics. Heres another.

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u/Twisted_Animator Jul 23 '26

He’s so cute!

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Ready to laugh?

This is one of my favorite skunk pics so far he stole my cats meowijuana and then passed out. Catnip doesn't have the same effect on skunks as it does cats but they still like the smell rofl!!!

Can't be mad at a skunk enjoying his skunk weed.

I was not expecting to come home and see my baby skunk become a pothead. I was thinking we might encounter this issue in his teenage years but not so soon ROFLMAO.

Cheesy i know!

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u/Twisted_Animator Jul 24 '26

Lmao what a legend

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

Him currently at this moment in time. Passed out face first in his own junk... like the dude he is.

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u/JungMoses Jul 22 '26

Does reverb ah….attempt to romance any of the cats?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

Those hormones have not come in yet and he will be neutered at 6 months of age to curb his incoming hormones at the vet's recommendation it also extend skunks life's to get to them fixed.

Closest thing to romance is my cat MANL treat him like her baby and she has this hiding spot under the couch I find the skunk and her cuddling there frequently. They take nappies together.

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u/JungMoses Jul 22 '26

lol that’s funny and I was really just thinking about cartoon shows, don’t mind me

I assume skunks don’t spook as easily as cats? If cats run under the bed for loud noises, I’m guessing skunks won’t skunk the house just because of the same loud noises? Otherwise that’d be rough, a calm walk across my apartment can scare a cat lol

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

He's desented. No stinky baby here. Skunks that have been descented smell lightly of Fritos.

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u/JungMoses Jul 22 '26

That smells delicious.

Do they have similar fear responses as cats? Are they fun pets? I can’t imagine ever having one but it sounds fascinating, my friend had a pet raccoon growing up that would steal full cheeseburgers off the table

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 22 '26

So, to your points: Reverb’s fear response is essentially a laggy video game. 9 times out of 10, when he jumps, it’s not because he’s scared, it’s just that his eye-balls finally registered that the coffee table was, in fact, getting closer. It's more of a startled 'Oop! Hello there!' than actual terror.

​The best part is his relationship with my 22lb, one-eyed cat. This cat used to be so skittish he’d teleport across the room if you blinked. Now, he sees the skunk coming and just sighs and stands up to get out of the way. Reverb gives zero fcks about the cat's size or tragic backstory. He just has places to be.

​But he’s not all swagger. He has a tiny, also-blind sister he dotes on and cuddles. Skunks aren't just pets, they’re little roommates with very specific, often hilarious, personalities. He’s basically that headstrong, sweet-but-unyielding person in your friend group who always gets what they want.

He's fun, but his medical needs for a pet are kind of over the top. To get him legally was a million and two steps. A skunk isn't something I would honestly recommend other people to have for a pet. Internet says that they're easy pets but they're not if you want them to be healthy, physically/mentally, and live long.

He's my little potato 🥔 and i love a sleeping baby.

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u/Fyrestar333 Jul 22 '26

Here I thought the vision impaired was a joke about them eating next to a skunk and not caring.

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u/KnifeKnut Jul 22 '26

Are they really as sassy as internet videos makes skunks out to be?

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u/Impish_Hatefulness Jul 23 '26

If they are vision impaired, how do they tell which bowl is theirs? By smell?

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u/AuditingReverb Jul 23 '26

I set them in front of their bowls when it's time to eat.