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- Nov 23, 2012
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I'm at a frustrating point with my two cats and I'm not sure what to do. My older cat Hootie is 4 and has been a free eater his whole. He has never had any weight or health problems. 2 months ago we rescued a stray we named Sansa. When we rescued her she was 6 pounds. She now weighs 10 pounds and seems to be a bit of a food hog. We figured it would be a good idea to switch them to a feeding schedule. Our cats right now only eat grain-free dry food. Sansa will eat wet food, but Hootie won't even look at it.
Last night we took their food away after reading a bit on how to switch the cats to a feeding schedule in a structured and healthy way. This morning we sit them down measured portions of food and Sansa digs right in and eats hers. Hootie doesn't touch his. After 20 minutes we take the food away and wait until the next meal. Again we sit down their portions and Sansa eats her and this time Hootie doesn't ignore his food bowl, he runs from it like he's terrified and hides under the bed. We just finished their third meal and the same thing happened, Sansa ate hers just fine, and Hootie ran and hid. It's now been 24 hours and Hootie has only had a few mouthfuls of his snacks. I've tried to offer him just small amounts of his normal food and everytime he runs and hides. I've just about decided to give up and let them go back to free-feeding a couple of days and try again later but I wanted to get some opinions first.
We just took Hootie to the vet this week. His brother passed away a few months ago due to a congenital kidney failure so before changing Hootie's diet I wanted to get him checked out. The vet did some bloodwork and said his kidneys, liver, pancreas, and blood sugar are all tip top so we feel there's nothing medical going on, just for some reason after going hungry a while hootie became scared of his food.
Last night we took their food away after reading a bit on how to switch the cats to a feeding schedule in a structured and healthy way. This morning we sit them down measured portions of food and Sansa digs right in and eats hers. Hootie doesn't touch his. After 20 minutes we take the food away and wait until the next meal. Again we sit down their portions and Sansa eats her and this time Hootie doesn't ignore his food bowl, he runs from it like he's terrified and hides under the bed. We just finished their third meal and the same thing happened, Sansa ate hers just fine, and Hootie ran and hid. It's now been 24 hours and Hootie has only had a few mouthfuls of his snacks. I've tried to offer him just small amounts of his normal food and everytime he runs and hides. I've just about decided to give up and let them go back to free-feeding a couple of days and try again later but I wanted to get some opinions first.
We just took Hootie to the vet this week. His brother passed away a few months ago due to a congenital kidney failure so before changing Hootie's diet I wanted to get him checked out. The vet did some bloodwork and said his kidneys, liver, pancreas, and blood sugar are all tip top so we feel there's nothing medical going on, just for some reason after going hungry a while hootie became scared of his food.