2 house cats. 1 fat 1 thin. what can I do?

[bloomp]

I have two wonderful cats. One Tonkinese who is huge, 7 years old and about 3 pounds overweight and one little Burmese who is 3 years old and kitten sized.

The big one, Pea, is so lazy, he just sleeps all the time and doesnt want to play. All he wants to do is cuddle. He is on Iams light and has been for 3 years with no noticeable weight loss.

Noodle is lively, slim and loving. I try and give her treats when I can but she eats the light food too as it is impossible to make them eat seperate things.

What can I do? I really want Pea to lose weight!

 

[sandie]

First, you can try getting him to play a little more with some interactive toys like feather teasers, or a lazor Pen. If he's interested in them, it may help to get him more active.
The only other way to have one loose weight and not the other is to put him on a special diet and have seperate feeding rooms for them. In this case, it may be worth it because once the weight is off, you can probably maintain him on light food. You should speak with your vet and see what kinds of suggestions they have.

 

[iceangel]

i also think that Pea will always be the larger cat since he is a boy. my cat mickey is younger than my charli , but hes also twice her size... actually i was looking at him the otehr day and was thinking he was getting a bit pudgey around the sides! hehe

 

[sammie5]

I have been able to (mostly) teach my cats to eat only out of their own dishes. It took two months. So they can each get different food. However, I had to stop free feeding, and control the amount they eat at meal time. Your vet will tell you what you need to do to maintain different diets for your cats, it is possible.

 

[bloomp]

i weighed pea today and he is 14 pounds. Surely overweight. Noodle is less than 6

 

[hissy]

If you do put this cat on an eating plan, be sure you have a vet's okay behind you. Doing this on your own in a "crash diet" sort of way- like humans do- is quite dangerous for the cat unless a vet has outlined the eating program. There are ways that you can feed the skinny cat more than the fat one, but then you will have two fat cats not one!

Some cats metablolisms are just more efficient than others.

You can start feeding Pea in high places around your house- a top shelf, the top of the cat condo if you have one. Let the cat work for the food.

While you are housecleaning, take a long piece of string put a clip on one end and tie a toy on the other end. Clip this to the back of your belt loop and just start doing your chores. You should be able to engage the prey instinct and get the cat some exercise that way.

 

[maui]

Easy. We made a Beck-o-Mat (skinny kitty's name is Becky). Get a large box. Cut a little hole at cat level that ONLY Noodle can get in and out of. Feed Noodle in here. Train Noodle to get in and out. Wallah! A Noodle-o-Mat.

It may take a couple test runs to get the size of the hole right. Once you get the proper size hole, you can get fancy. . . make one in a cupboard, or any other kind of enclosure in your house.

 

[bloomp]

thanks will definately try these suggestions. the food up high is a bit tough as I dont have anywhere like that, but the box is a great idea!