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- Jul 27, 2016
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Hi there I am new to this forum but after thorough findings and coming up with absolutely nothing, I am feeling rather frustrated, I am at my wits end and don't know what my next step is here. This will be rather lengthy to ensure all details that are relevant.
Because this post is so specific to my situation, I can't find anything that can help me out here.
So my husband and I adopted an ex-friend of ours cat whom we were looking after while our ex-friend was looking for a new place, and a year after that he just left the cat with us.
Gemini's History (Our Cat):
His previous owner got him as a kitten, and he was coddled a lot so this cat demands attention. His feeding was never scheduled or controlled. He was on a dry food diet (which he still is but I'll get into that in a moment) but his dish was always filled whenever it was empty. Then his previous owner switched him to nothing but cooked, lean chicken... ALL. THE. TIME!!! This cat gained 15 pounds of lean muscle. He was twice the size of a small dog. Then we went back to dry food. Possibly a HUGE shock to his system, poor cat. Nothing ever consistent. His bathroom habits were ill controlled which is another thing we are constantly fighting with. Poor Gemini did not have a proper owner before and now we are dealing with the consequences. Few years later I had to take him into the vet because he had 2 bouts of a urinary tract infection... that was fun... The vet said he was overweight but gave me no actions to take to put him on a diet.
I have a second cat who is also male and 6 years old. He is a Siberian Forest Cat, absolutely beautiful, is still growing, has 6 toes on each front paw and is totally active. He has perfect habits all around. Since he turned one we feed him 1 cup of food almost every day which he spaces his feeding times throughout the day. He eats small doses just enough so he maintains a comfortably full belly.
So having two cats at opposite ends of the feeding spectrum, Gemini is the tough one to break. I had them on the same feeding schedule in the same room and one day discovered that Gemini was getting bigger, Scooter was getting smaller in weight. I began to panic. This was when I noticed that Scooter was not eating the way he should because Gemini was eating both bowls of food, bone dry. Starting to cost money on food more often than required. So I got smart and separated the two of them. Scooter is now back on his regular and proper feeding schedule and went from 6 pounds up to a healthy 12 pounds where he should be for his build and size.
Gemini is 9 years old now and getting him to eat properly is almost impossible. Here's the deal: I feed Gemini 1/2 cup of food per day, and limit his intake to 2 feedings a day.... When I do feed him he gets right into his bowl, literally inhales his food as if to think he will never get fed again. This cat doesn't even chew, just swallows it, which results in him barfing it up later. I've tried limiting his intake, I've tried getting him to slow down on eating by sitting with him to try to get him to properly chew his food, and digest it.... I don't know what to do, I am at a loss. This cat is close to 22+ pounds. When his dish is empty we CONSTANTLY bothers me, is at my feet all the time and acts like he is starving until I give and give him maybe an 1/8th of a cup just something light to leave me alone.
I give both my cats wet food 1 to 2 times a week depending on how much water they drink just to keep their hydration up, especially when it gets hot outside.
What the heck do I do with this cat? How do I get Gemini to eat properly? How can I get him to drop the weight?
Any Suggestions Would Be Welcomed & Appreciated. Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Help!
Because this post is so specific to my situation, I can't find anything that can help me out here.
So my husband and I adopted an ex-friend of ours cat whom we were looking after while our ex-friend was looking for a new place, and a year after that he just left the cat with us.
Gemini's History (Our Cat):
His previous owner got him as a kitten, and he was coddled a lot so this cat demands attention. His feeding was never scheduled or controlled. He was on a dry food diet (which he still is but I'll get into that in a moment) but his dish was always filled whenever it was empty. Then his previous owner switched him to nothing but cooked, lean chicken... ALL. THE. TIME!!! This cat gained 15 pounds of lean muscle. He was twice the size of a small dog. Then we went back to dry food. Possibly a HUGE shock to his system, poor cat. Nothing ever consistent. His bathroom habits were ill controlled which is another thing we are constantly fighting with. Poor Gemini did not have a proper owner before and now we are dealing with the consequences. Few years later I had to take him into the vet because he had 2 bouts of a urinary tract infection... that was fun... The vet said he was overweight but gave me no actions to take to put him on a diet.
I have a second cat who is also male and 6 years old. He is a Siberian Forest Cat, absolutely beautiful, is still growing, has 6 toes on each front paw and is totally active. He has perfect habits all around. Since he turned one we feed him 1 cup of food almost every day which he spaces his feeding times throughout the day. He eats small doses just enough so he maintains a comfortably full belly.
So having two cats at opposite ends of the feeding spectrum, Gemini is the tough one to break. I had them on the same feeding schedule in the same room and one day discovered that Gemini was getting bigger, Scooter was getting smaller in weight. I began to panic. This was when I noticed that Scooter was not eating the way he should because Gemini was eating both bowls of food, bone dry. Starting to cost money on food more often than required. So I got smart and separated the two of them. Scooter is now back on his regular and proper feeding schedule and went from 6 pounds up to a healthy 12 pounds where he should be for his build and size.
Gemini is 9 years old now and getting him to eat properly is almost impossible. Here's the deal: I feed Gemini 1/2 cup of food per day, and limit his intake to 2 feedings a day.... When I do feed him he gets right into his bowl, literally inhales his food as if to think he will never get fed again. This cat doesn't even chew, just swallows it, which results in him barfing it up later. I've tried limiting his intake, I've tried getting him to slow down on eating by sitting with him to try to get him to properly chew his food, and digest it.... I don't know what to do, I am at a loss. This cat is close to 22+ pounds. When his dish is empty we CONSTANTLY bothers me, is at my feet all the time and acts like he is starving until I give and give him maybe an 1/8th of a cup just something light to leave me alone.
I give both my cats wet food 1 to 2 times a week depending on how much water they drink just to keep their hydration up, especially when it gets hot outside.
What the heck do I do with this cat? How do I get Gemini to eat properly? How can I get him to drop the weight?
Any Suggestions Would Be Welcomed & Appreciated. Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Help!