- Joined
- Nov 15, 2014
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Hi all,
I have an issue that is not going away, so I am going to those here who are experienced. I adopted my mom's cat back in early November. He is about 8 years old, according to the vet (Mom took him in when a family seemingly moved and left him behind). I have 3 cats who were obviously here first. Mine are siblings whose mom left them for me after I had fed her before they were born. The siblings are 2 males and a female, so the poor girl is really outnumbered. Everyone is neutered/spayed.
Actually, we did a really slow introduction, and overall, it went much better than I thought it would. There were a few spats, but for the most part, when everyone is full, they are happy and walk by each other without any spats. I even caught one of my cats sleeping on the same surface with the new cat only about 5 inches apart, which I considered a huge step.
Loki was on an all-dry food diet when we got him, and he was free fed. At the last vet visit, the vet said his glucose seemed a bit high but not diabetic but that it could have just been from the stress of going to the vet for the first time in years. I decided that the first thing I needed to do was get him off of the dry if at all possible. Well, with the help of this site, he is on an all wet diet now. He is actually finicky and only wants Weruva (but does like several varieties, though he scoffed at the beef) and Nutro minced chicken (and occasionally minced chicken and shrimp as a special treat, since it was his first wet food ever he ate). I also stopped free feeding. He is not as small as my cats, but I think two of my cats could stand to gain at least half a pound, but that is hard when the girl could be overweight if she gained. Loki was about 11 pounds at that last vet visit, and I think he would be fine if he lost a pound over time. I actually thought with the run of the house (he lived in my mom's bedroom for the last 7 years) and the wet food, he would lose some, but it is not noticeable to me, which I figured is good and means he is not losing weight dangerously fast or anything.
The biggest issue we have with him is that scheduled feeding brings out the worst in him. When I start getting the water bowls and changing the water or cleaning the litter boxes, which I always do as part of the feeding routine, he begins starting hitting fights with my cats. I have watched, and he is the instigator. They fight back, but that is nature. Also, he scarfs down his entire bowl of food in about a minute. I am feeding him at least 4 oz and maybe even 5 oz of the 6 oz Weruva food, since I know it is lower in calories or a whole 3 oz can of the Nutro minced per meal. I usually feed twice a day, but to try to stop the behavior, I was feeding a snack of canned food in between the larger feedings. It may have helped a bit. I feed him first (separately in the safe bedroom where he was before he was introduced), and he gets under my feet and cries like he is starving as I prepare it. Also, if he gets hungry, he will get in my lap and act loving and cuddly but then it turns aggressive (he hit me and drew blood the other day after being in my lap for 5 minutes and not getting his desired effect of food as soon as he would like--I was working on the computer on work that was late and could not stop right away and feed them). The other day, he was finished eating and crying at the bedroom door to get out where my cats were still eating, and my husband had to go in there for something. Loki tried to bolt out, and when my husband put his foot up to stop him, Loki bit him. We do not have cats who bit aggressively, so this is all new. My cats only nip out of true affection when they are sort of overstimulated.
Our first reaction was likely wrong, which was to scold him. My husband even put him in the bedroom in time-out. Tonight, when he started slapping one of the other cats, I just took him to the bedroom and made him stay there while I fixed his food. That kept everyone safe, but I feel like he is not learning that this is bad behavior by us putting him up during food preparation. He does better if I am giving treats of chicken between meals. I put him on my left and my cats on my right and hand out the treats, and there is no fighting.
Any advice is welcome. Am I maybe not feeding him enough calories still since one meal a day is usually Weruva? Should I keep the snacks up but make it a full meal for him? If his glucose is borderline, could it be low or something if he is going too long without some sort of food and causing irritability? Could he still be adjusting to not be free fed? I stopped free feeding him even before the transition to wet food, but during that time, he was not incorporated into the house and was still living in his safe room, so he did not have my cats to fight with. (He was, however, doing the thing where he would start cuddling and being affectionate with my daughter and then it would escalate to hitting when it was near feeding time, and I chalked it up to him adjusting to change.) I wonder if he is doing the fighting to make sure he has my attention (in other words, he is say, "Stop messing with the water or the liter and feed me!" During treat time, he is actually more patient that the other three.
Okay, this is a novel, so I will just wait for any responses from the great people here who are so generous with their experience and time!
I have an issue that is not going away, so I am going to those here who are experienced. I adopted my mom's cat back in early November. He is about 8 years old, according to the vet (Mom took him in when a family seemingly moved and left him behind). I have 3 cats who were obviously here first. Mine are siblings whose mom left them for me after I had fed her before they were born. The siblings are 2 males and a female, so the poor girl is really outnumbered. Everyone is neutered/spayed.
Actually, we did a really slow introduction, and overall, it went much better than I thought it would. There were a few spats, but for the most part, when everyone is full, they are happy and walk by each other without any spats. I even caught one of my cats sleeping on the same surface with the new cat only about 5 inches apart, which I considered a huge step.
Loki was on an all-dry food diet when we got him, and he was free fed. At the last vet visit, the vet said his glucose seemed a bit high but not diabetic but that it could have just been from the stress of going to the vet for the first time in years. I decided that the first thing I needed to do was get him off of the dry if at all possible. Well, with the help of this site, he is on an all wet diet now. He is actually finicky and only wants Weruva (but does like several varieties, though he scoffed at the beef) and Nutro minced chicken (and occasionally minced chicken and shrimp as a special treat, since it was his first wet food ever he ate). I also stopped free feeding. He is not as small as my cats, but I think two of my cats could stand to gain at least half a pound, but that is hard when the girl could be overweight if she gained. Loki was about 11 pounds at that last vet visit, and I think he would be fine if he lost a pound over time. I actually thought with the run of the house (he lived in my mom's bedroom for the last 7 years) and the wet food, he would lose some, but it is not noticeable to me, which I figured is good and means he is not losing weight dangerously fast or anything.
The biggest issue we have with him is that scheduled feeding brings out the worst in him. When I start getting the water bowls and changing the water or cleaning the litter boxes, which I always do as part of the feeding routine, he begins starting hitting fights with my cats. I have watched, and he is the instigator. They fight back, but that is nature. Also, he scarfs down his entire bowl of food in about a minute. I am feeding him at least 4 oz and maybe even 5 oz of the 6 oz Weruva food, since I know it is lower in calories or a whole 3 oz can of the Nutro minced per meal. I usually feed twice a day, but to try to stop the behavior, I was feeding a snack of canned food in between the larger feedings. It may have helped a bit. I feed him first (separately in the safe bedroom where he was before he was introduced), and he gets under my feet and cries like he is starving as I prepare it. Also, if he gets hungry, he will get in my lap and act loving and cuddly but then it turns aggressive (he hit me and drew blood the other day after being in my lap for 5 minutes and not getting his desired effect of food as soon as he would like--I was working on the computer on work that was late and could not stop right away and feed them). The other day, he was finished eating and crying at the bedroom door to get out where my cats were still eating, and my husband had to go in there for something. Loki tried to bolt out, and when my husband put his foot up to stop him, Loki bit him. We do not have cats who bit aggressively, so this is all new. My cats only nip out of true affection when they are sort of overstimulated.
Our first reaction was likely wrong, which was to scold him. My husband even put him in the bedroom in time-out. Tonight, when he started slapping one of the other cats, I just took him to the bedroom and made him stay there while I fixed his food. That kept everyone safe, but I feel like he is not learning that this is bad behavior by us putting him up during food preparation. He does better if I am giving treats of chicken between meals. I put him on my left and my cats on my right and hand out the treats, and there is no fighting.
Any advice is welcome. Am I maybe not feeding him enough calories still since one meal a day is usually Weruva? Should I keep the snacks up but make it a full meal for him? If his glucose is borderline, could it be low or something if he is going too long without some sort of food and causing irritability? Could he still be adjusting to not be free fed? I stopped free feeding him even before the transition to wet food, but during that time, he was not incorporated into the house and was still living in his safe room, so he did not have my cats to fight with. (He was, however, doing the thing where he would start cuddling and being affectionate with my daughter and then it would escalate to hitting when it was near feeding time, and I chalked it up to him adjusting to change.) I wonder if he is doing the fighting to make sure he has my attention (in other words, he is say, "Stop messing with the water or the liter and feed me!" During treat time, he is actually more patient that the other three.
Okay, this is a novel, so I will just wait for any responses from the great people here who are so generous with their experience and time!