Hi everybody, it's a long time I don't post but I always keep an eye on you ;-)
Now I'd like to get your advice on my obese cat.
I have 5 female cats and I give them dry food. I leave it there so they can eat small amounts whenever they want, which is also great for me. The 3 older ones (3,5 years) have always been able to self-administer their food without getting fat, while Ginevra, one of the 2 younger cats (1,5 years) simply never has enough. Her sister is long and skinny, while she is resembling more and more a sphere.
I tried giving all of them a smaller total amount of food per day and changing their usual food with the same brand's "light" version: only result was that the normal weight cats got skinnier, and Ginevra kept putting up weight (6,5 kg now and she is no big cat).
If she was simply a fat cat who enjoys food I wouldn't worry too much, but in the last few months she gained 100 grams each week!! And she feeds on so-called light food!! I don't think she has any metabolic disease... though I will certainly need to take her to the vet sooner or later.
The real problem is how to feed her separately. Now I'm putting her alone in a closed room and give free food to the others at night, and during the day I keep them all together and basically don't give them anything. The others complain, but I don't want to close her up for too long - when she is alone she is also less active, while usually she plays a lot with the other cats.
Last but not least, after two weeks at 60 grams of light dry food per day, she is exactly the same weight as before. I don't want her to lose weight too fast, but I wonder if the amounts written on food boxes are reliable or should be further reduced. At least she stopped putting up weight!
How do owners of several cats feed each of them the right food? Each cat has their own needs, but I don't want to feed them only twice a day, having to set fixed feeding hours and close them in separate rooms so that each of them eats their own special food. It's quite depressing... :-( Ginevra is becoming a real problem in my little cat community - though I love her a lot I must say.
Any advice will be welcome!
Thank you for reading such a long message.
Now I'd like to get your advice on my obese cat.
I have 5 female cats and I give them dry food. I leave it there so they can eat small amounts whenever they want, which is also great for me. The 3 older ones (3,5 years) have always been able to self-administer their food without getting fat, while Ginevra, one of the 2 younger cats (1,5 years) simply never has enough. Her sister is long and skinny, while she is resembling more and more a sphere.
I tried giving all of them a smaller total amount of food per day and changing their usual food with the same brand's "light" version: only result was that the normal weight cats got skinnier, and Ginevra kept putting up weight (6,5 kg now and she is no big cat).
If she was simply a fat cat who enjoys food I wouldn't worry too much, but in the last few months she gained 100 grams each week!! And she feeds on so-called light food!! I don't think she has any metabolic disease... though I will certainly need to take her to the vet sooner or later.
The real problem is how to feed her separately. Now I'm putting her alone in a closed room and give free food to the others at night, and during the day I keep them all together and basically don't give them anything. The others complain, but I don't want to close her up for too long - when she is alone she is also less active, while usually she plays a lot with the other cats.
Last but not least, after two weeks at 60 grams of light dry food per day, she is exactly the same weight as before. I don't want her to lose weight too fast, but I wonder if the amounts written on food boxes are reliable or should be further reduced. At least she stopped putting up weight!
How do owners of several cats feed each of them the right food? Each cat has their own needs, but I don't want to feed them only twice a day, having to set fixed feeding hours and close them in separate rooms so that each of them eats their own special food. It's quite depressing... :-( Ginevra is becoming a real problem in my little cat community - though I love her a lot I must say.
Any advice will be welcome!
Thank you for reading such a long message.