cat feeding issues

10 years ago

I am at the end of my rope - I am trying to feed my cats right i.e. not just leave out dry food all day for them to gorge but having no end of hassles and tensions around food. I hope I don't give my cats an eating disorder! Actually Im afraid I may have already....

So Ive been feeding wet food.... one cat (orange) wont eat everything in one shot but the other one (brown tabby) has to gobble up everything in sight and Im just so tired of him pushing the other cat out of the way to grab his food.... even though he hasn't finished with his. I wonder if this (and my tension around it) may in fact be causing the slow eater to not relax during meals and to not want to finish.

So then to accommodate slow eater's dawdling Ill put out more wet food for him throughout the day, which of course means the other cat has to have some too. End result: plates of half eaten food sitting around drawing flies and stinking up the place. Latley Ive been throwing in the towel and just leaving out a bit of dry food (scattering it around so they wont binge - so not only do I have stinky fly-ridden wet food left out but little bits of kibble all over. Im sure my guests are very impressed.)

Putting them in 2 separate rooms.... well, it could work... really there's no other way that I can see.... but there again is the slow cat going to comply with the requirement to eat everything in one sitting?
I just wonder how other people handle the logistics of this - which one gets shut up in the bedroom (hopefully it wont be seen as punishment) and how long do you give them to eat. I know I have to get some kind of routine going here because the way it is now is just too chaotic.

I have ordered a meat grinder and am going to attempt making food using LIsa Pierson DVM methods.... wondering if feeding better, less addictive food might help the binge eater? If nothing else they'll eat healthier food. One cat (the slow eater) has developed a UTI which is one reason I want to get them off of dry - Im sure the stress around feeding time has not helped.

Featured Answer

glaserberl

10 years ago

I feel your pain...

We have four with different eating habits also on canned food. Two eat fast and two eat slow. One of the fast eaters will finish and leave, the other will finish and bully one of the slow eaters away from his dish. The other slow one stands her ground. I have slowed down the bully by swishing a couple tablespoons of water around in the empty can and pouring it over his food. Since it has little bits and pieces of food in he licks/drinks it all and by the time he is done the other one is done or almost done.

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Comments (6)

sas95
10 years ago
I had the same issue with our two.. Wet food only, one gobbler and one slow eater. I feed them twice a day, and sit with them while they eat so I can shoo the greedy one from the slow eater's bowl if need be. The greedy one has learned over time not to charge the slow one's bowl when I am in the room. I do not cater to the slow eater. What he doesn't eat in a 20 minute time frame, I take away. In a short time he learned to finish breakfast in one sitting (albeit more slowly), or he'd have to wait until dinner, etc. Now the fast eater finishes in 2 minutes, the slower eater in around 10. So not that bad.

i have not gone the homemade diet route, but I do feed only grain free premium canned food. Usually Nature's Variety Instinct, Nature's Logic, Hounds and Gatos or Tiki Cat fish-free varieties.. That was an adjustment at first, but they got used to it pretty fast.
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pamghatten
10 years ago
I have this same situation, but with my dogs. I've changed the quick eaters bowl to one of those bowls that slows her down, and I don't allow her to approach his bowl until he's done or I take it up.
nannygoat18
10 years ago
Some foster parents have this issue with more than one dog. We recommend separate feeding areas and it seems to alleviate this problem.
pippiep
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I have to feed my slow eater in a separate room. Plus, she's a kitten, so she gets three meals a day. Whatever she doesn't finish gets a silicone lid and goes back into the fridge until her next meal. I'm hoping she figures out that she needs to start eating the full three ounces soon! Because at some point, I'm going to taper off the midday meal. ETA: My fast eater gobbles everything in sight and cleans the kittens plate if I don't pick it up right away when I open the door.
Debbie Downer
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I think I have a solution .... hopefully. It occurred to me - the fast eater has vestibular disease which means his balance is still messed up even though he is much improved and he cant jump hardly at all - so.... I put slow eater's feeding station up high where he can jump but other cat can't! Duh, why didn't I think of this before. When I first set it up and lifted slow eater up to his new place with food and water laid out for him, he got it immediately and was SOOOO happy. The only problem could be I saw slow eater raiding the fast eater's bowl once.... but hopefully he won't make a habit of it. Mostly Ive seen him jump up to his shelf to eat.

My standing guard or attempting to intervene was not working, only adding to the tension because the second fast eater started to move towards slow eater, my moving to intervene would often scare away the slow eater.