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- May 22, 2019
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Hi All,
I am new to this forum and was hoping to get a little advice on a few feeding issues I am encountering after the adoption of a second kitten.
Some background: Resident Cat (Artemis) is about a year old and recently transitioned to adult cat food. She is a fairly picky eater and if she had it her way would eat dry food all the time- she goes nuts for the stuff. I try to feed her mostly wet food- twice a day. She is also a grazer and only eats a little at a time. New Kitten (Gaston) is feisty and eats kitten food. He has only been fully out in the house 24-hours a day for a week now and he has recently declared himself to be a voracious eater (after a bout of URI that required syringe feedings and SQ fluids).
At first I was feeding them their separate foods and it was no problem. Resident Cat turns her nose up at most wet food and his kitten food was no exception. New Kitten gets plenty of food left out for him so her bland adult food was of no interest. I bought a Microchip feeder (SureFeed) with the intention of using it for feeding New Kitten some dry food, (I know if I leave any dry food out, Resident Cat will devour it).
However before it even arrived, New Kitten has began hijacking Resident Cat's food!! He will eat half of his wet food in the morning, and immediately run over to her food and begin devouring it. I immediately set up the SureFeed for Resident Cat instead, thinking that since she is the grazer she may benefit from it more. Unfortunately the SureFeed is no match for New Kitten!!! Any time he hears the sound of the lid opening up, he runs in and sticks in his head. Then he runs up from the side and sticks in his foot to prevent the lid from closing! I have put up barricades to allow passage for only one cat at a time but that still doesn't stop him. Now every time Resident Cat walks over to eat, she is essentially bullied away from her feeder (she doesn't put up much of a fight). I even saw her nibbling on some of New Kitten's wet food....out of desperation maybe?? She would normally NOT be interested in this type of food. (Of note, when she did this, New Kitten immediately ran over and began eating his own food...)
Can anyone offer any advice? This is all still relatively new, so maybe they are just working out their power dynamics? Why does the new kitten insist on eating whatever the resident cat is eating, is this a case of little sibling syndrome? Is new kitten associating HIS food with diarrhea (he recently finished a course of antibiotics) and looking for different foods to try? OR am I simply doomed to having to create a safe enclosure for Resident Cat to eat in peace an quiet? Any advice is much appreciated!!
I am new to this forum and was hoping to get a little advice on a few feeding issues I am encountering after the adoption of a second kitten.
Some background: Resident Cat (Artemis) is about a year old and recently transitioned to adult cat food. She is a fairly picky eater and if she had it her way would eat dry food all the time- she goes nuts for the stuff. I try to feed her mostly wet food- twice a day. She is also a grazer and only eats a little at a time. New Kitten (Gaston) is feisty and eats kitten food. He has only been fully out in the house 24-hours a day for a week now and he has recently declared himself to be a voracious eater (after a bout of URI that required syringe feedings and SQ fluids).
At first I was feeding them their separate foods and it was no problem. Resident Cat turns her nose up at most wet food and his kitten food was no exception. New Kitten gets plenty of food left out for him so her bland adult food was of no interest. I bought a Microchip feeder (SureFeed) with the intention of using it for feeding New Kitten some dry food, (I know if I leave any dry food out, Resident Cat will devour it).
However before it even arrived, New Kitten has began hijacking Resident Cat's food!! He will eat half of his wet food in the morning, and immediately run over to her food and begin devouring it. I immediately set up the SureFeed for Resident Cat instead, thinking that since she is the grazer she may benefit from it more. Unfortunately the SureFeed is no match for New Kitten!!! Any time he hears the sound of the lid opening up, he runs in and sticks in his head. Then he runs up from the side and sticks in his foot to prevent the lid from closing! I have put up barricades to allow passage for only one cat at a time but that still doesn't stop him. Now every time Resident Cat walks over to eat, she is essentially bullied away from her feeder (she doesn't put up much of a fight). I even saw her nibbling on some of New Kitten's wet food....out of desperation maybe?? She would normally NOT be interested in this type of food. (Of note, when she did this, New Kitten immediately ran over and began eating his own food...)
Can anyone offer any advice? This is all still relatively new, so maybe they are just working out their power dynamics? Why does the new kitten insist on eating whatever the resident cat is eating, is this a case of little sibling syndrome? Is new kitten associating HIS food with diarrhea (he recently finished a course of antibiotics) and looking for different foods to try? OR am I simply doomed to having to create a safe enclosure for Resident Cat to eat in peace an quiet? Any advice is much appreciated!!