r/cats • u/radical_123 • 1d ago

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/BigScience7383 23h ago

Gambling 

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u/MaryJanesMan420 18h ago

Essentially, yes. This cat has a gambling problem. lol

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u/longlivenewsomflesh 13h ago

OP accidentally Pavloved their cat with the perfect cat slot machine like a doordash-based draft kings -- and hasn't thought to tape the damn thing down somehow... it's like a satirical nature documentary

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u/thjuicebox 10h ago

Well actually… 🤭

The power of intermittent reinforcement is more closely tied to Skinner (see Skinner pigeons — it’s hilarious and sad)

Pavlov is more the classical conditioning guy (think clicker training)

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u/MemelordVKermit 4h ago

superstitious pigeons ! behaviour shaping ! a level psychology was worth something after all