HEY!
After keeping my eyes peeled for quite a while I've found a good match for Elfie and I! I wasn't looking for any specific breed or look but a certain personality that matched hers! SO I'm soon welcoming my second cat: another persian, 5 y/o. His name is Lucas, but I kind of want to change that - suggestions are welcome.
I want introductions to be a success to give them the best chance at being buds! He is used to living with cats and Elfie has shown a lot of interest in other cats when I've taken her outside (leashed). Anyway. I will need to do feedings near the door. Problem is scheduled feeding.
Bit of background info:
At some point I had Elfie on 3 scheduled feedings a day for about 6 months. But even this meant that I put down dry food in a feeder ball in the mornings and she'd eat that in about 2-3 sittings. The other 2 feedings were wet and she'd only eat an ounce at a time. Half a can at most. Sometimes not even a bite. During this time she got quite skinny and I wasted a lot of food. Almost every time I've tried scheduled feeding it has been like this. She can't eat enough in one sitting, it seems.
Right now I'm giving her 2 tablespoons of dry food 3x a day and a can of wetfood at night. She will only eat 1/2 to about 2/3 of those meals. The reason I can't feed fully or even any more wet food is because she is very picky about wet food and she would never eat enough to sutain herself I'm afraid.
I'm really scared to see/feel her getting thin again. She's a cat that'll probably never be overweight, she has genetic PKD so that is probably also a factor?? For clarity Elfie is about 3.8kg-4kg (8-9 pounds) at a healthy weight according to the vet but I don't know how much of that would be her hair lol. She is currently around this weight.
I also want to admit that I have a bad habit of giving too many treats. I like to clicker train and Elfie is not a very affectionate cat unless there are treats involved lol.
SO give it to me here. Tell me what else I'm doing wrong, what I should be doing and what is necessary to make this introduction successful. Sorry for the long post and thanks so much for your time! I appreciate any imput as this will be probably be a stressful time for me (and the cats!) during introductions.
After keeping my eyes peeled for quite a while I've found a good match for Elfie and I! I wasn't looking for any specific breed or look but a certain personality that matched hers! SO I'm soon welcoming my second cat: another persian, 5 y/o. His name is Lucas, but I kind of want to change that - suggestions are welcome.
I want introductions to be a success to give them the best chance at being buds! He is used to living with cats and Elfie has shown a lot of interest in other cats when I've taken her outside (leashed). Anyway. I will need to do feedings near the door. Problem is scheduled feeding.
Bit of background info:
At some point I had Elfie on 3 scheduled feedings a day for about 6 months. But even this meant that I put down dry food in a feeder ball in the mornings and she'd eat that in about 2-3 sittings. The other 2 feedings were wet and she'd only eat an ounce at a time. Half a can at most. Sometimes not even a bite. During this time she got quite skinny and I wasted a lot of food. Almost every time I've tried scheduled feeding it has been like this. She can't eat enough in one sitting, it seems.
Right now I'm giving her 2 tablespoons of dry food 3x a day and a can of wetfood at night. She will only eat 1/2 to about 2/3 of those meals. The reason I can't feed fully or even any more wet food is because she is very picky about wet food and she would never eat enough to sutain herself I'm afraid.
I'm really scared to see/feel her getting thin again. She's a cat that'll probably never be overweight, she has genetic PKD so that is probably also a factor?? For clarity Elfie is about 3.8kg-4kg (8-9 pounds) at a healthy weight according to the vet but I don't know how much of that would be her hair lol. She is currently around this weight.
I also want to admit that I have a bad habit of giving too many treats. I like to clicker train and Elfie is not a very affectionate cat unless there are treats involved lol.
SO give it to me here. Tell me what else I'm doing wrong, what I should be doing and what is necessary to make this introduction successful. Sorry for the long post and thanks so much for your time! I appreciate any imput as this will be probably be a stressful time for me (and the cats!) during introductions.
