# Learning a schedule?



## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

I worked out my budget, and I can give Zazzle 1/2 a can of food every day. It will be 9-Lives, which isn't the best...but also not the worst. I really just want it to be a treat, and let her get used to me being around (maybe one day even pet her!)
For now I am sitting on a stool about 6 feet away from the bushes, and the bowl is just beyond the edge of the bushes. It still takes her a good 10 minutes before she dares come out of the bushes to eat. Once she isn't so hesitant to be out in the open, I will start moving the bowl a few inches closer every few days, until she's right at my feet... or at least that's the plan!

Maybe I can start getting Tangelo to come around too. But since he's not fixed yet, he's still got the urge to roam territory...I've heard a feral tom's territory can be 2 or more miles...so I'm not surprised if I don't see him for days at a time. Maybe when (if?) I give him the ol'e snip-snip, he'll stick closer to my yard.


I started feeding it to her this week. I was thinking I would do it at sunset every day. However, in the winter I will be at work during sunset. Then I thought maybe sunrise, but I am too lazy and don't want to get up at 5:30 in summer.
I was thinking about sun-times, because while cats can't tell time in human terms, I am pretty sure they still have a general knowledge of time passing through regular cycles such as sun and moon settings, seasons, maybe even weeks or months, etc.

If I did it at 8am every day, would they know to come at that time? Even if some parts of the year it would be 2 hours after sunrise, or right at sunrise (late December)?



The night before she got spayed. Let me open the cage door to take a picture, and only hissed a little!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Im convinced cats have internal clocks. Ill bet they would know when your going to be there and will be waiting. 

Loved the photo. What a beauty!


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## Jan Rebecca (Oct 14, 2010)

She's so pretty.


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## nicolee (Feb 1, 2011)

The ferals I feed are waiting on me every day when I pull into the parking lot of my apartment complex. They have definitely learned my schedule.


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## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

Midnight, the wild cat, shows up for his breakfast everyday as if he had a watch.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Even more amazing is how intuitive they are. The first cat I ever rescued my landlord adopted. My landlord lived across the street from my apartment. Brad let him be an indoor /outdoor cat. So max the cat lived at both our homes. Going back and forth. I had an irregular schedule with my work. Brad told me somehow Max knew when I was coming home and about 15 minutes before Id arrive Max would demand to be let out. Trot across the street and wait for me to pull in! Cats are so amazing!


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

First, thank you for feeding the cats. That's so nice of you.
Cats will adapt to whatever your schedule is/becomes. Think about when we (in the East Coast) move our clocks forward/backwards. My colony quickly adjusts to the time difference. I think the more important factor is consistency in time, doesn't matter so much whether it is 6 a.m. or 8 a.m., but pick one or the other and stick to that time, plus or minus 15 to 30 minutes. Cats care more about food than the time they get the food. (Ideally, to cue in to their prey/hunting instincts, it should be sun up and sun down. But that is not realistic in most cases.)
I've been feeding a colony for over a year, and they wait for me, usually under my car in the morning, and hear my car coming at night time.


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## Whaler (Feb 13, 2011)

my colony is located right out my back door at work so i can frequently check for them. with that being the case they show up when they want, they know daddy will give them food. they have me trained really well.

i work 6 days a week, so sunday is the only time i am not there. i do make sure to be there around 8 am to offer food and there are always a few cats waiting. i also am there during the day and around sunset. any that haven't been there in the am or during the day are there for supper. so yeah, they do learn a schedule.


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

Ritzpg said:


> (Ideally, to cue in to their prey/hunting instincts, it should be sun up and sun down. But that is not realistic in most cases.)


That was exactly what I was thinking. I would love to do it at sunrise, but in the middle of summer when it's 6 A.M. and I don't usually get up until 7:30 (if I'm actually being responsible and not lazy that day!), that's a bit of a challenge. 8 or 9 is much better for me, but at some times of the year that would be 2 hours away from sunrise and the winter it's barely 1 hour.

I do set out kibble every morning for them, and she's waiting for that. But now that I have a job, got my cats on raw meat, figured Zazzle could use something better too. I found a food better than 9-Lives for about the same price! It won't be her steady diet, just a little treat to hopefully get her used to me (right now I set up the feeding station and leave, because she won't come out of the bushes until I'm half an acre away at the house...with canned food, I want to sit out there with her a bit and see if she'll let me be with her)

Oh, and I saw Tangelo TWICE in the last week!  Maybe I've gotten lucky and somebody else got him fixed LOL


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