Any tips for dealing with a kitty who scarfs and barfs.

[gillyrosh]

My darling kitty Stella just inhales food and sometimes she eats so fast, she ends up barfing it up shortly after. I'm trying to figure out how to balance feeding her small portions with feeding my other kitty, Talana who (per the vet) needs to eat more so she can gain some weight. It's hard for me to feed them separately because I have a small apartment, and so there isn't a ton of real estate to keep Talana's food away from Stella. Talana will eat a little, leave it and come back to it, which Stella uses as the perfect opportunity to eat the other cat's food.

Any tips for how to manage this situation?

 

[verna davies]

You could try a slow feeder , something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08TVP8ZY7/?tag=
there are plenty to choose from

 

[fionasmom]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089DP7M1X/?tag=thecatsite

There are also lick mats which some members have used.

 

[maggie101]

I have the same problem. This sounds mean but I lock my cat peaches in my bathroom so Maggie can eat in peace. Sometimes Coco's eating bothers her or I let Peaches out because she's banging on the door so Maggie eats in my bedroom with the door closed. If that doesn't work,buy trixie puzzles,play with stella while the others eating,or slow feeders as suggested. Also keeping peaches in the bathroom has helped with her eating too fast and throwing up her food so she's not worried someone else were get her food or hurry so she can eat maggie's food
Peaches licks her food so buying food with cuts of meat has helped a lot. Also has a timer for 4 meals,small portions

 

[Astragal14]

One of my cats is prone to scarf and barf, the two things that worked for us were raising his food bowl and giving him smaller portions. We tried a puzzle feeder and he hated it, it only made him frustrated. We haven't tried lick mats at home but I use them with dogs at our animal shelter and they work well.

We didn't buy a raised bowl, we placed his current bowl on top of tupperware and it was the perfect size. And we give him 1/4 of his meal at a time, waiting a few minutes between each course. Less to scarf makes him less likely to barf!

Another of our cats likes to graze and the only thing that worked for us was finally getting a microchip feeder. They're expensive but worth it. We had previously been keeping food stashed in every room but it was becoming hard to manage - we'd accidentally leave it out, or forget we had some in a room somewhere - it was getting very messy.

 

[maggie101]

One of my cats is prone to scarf and barf, the two things that worked for us were raising his food bowl and giving him smaller portions. We tried a puzzle feeder and he hated it, it only made him frustrated. We haven't tried lick mats at home but I use them with dogs at our animal shelter and they work well.

We didn't buy a raised bowl, we placed his current bowl on top of tupperware and it was the perfect size. And we give him 1/4 of his meal at a time, waiting a few minutes between each course. Less to scarf makes him less likely to barf!

Another of our cats likes to graze and the only thing that worked for us was finally getting a microchip feeder. They're expensive but worth it. We had previously been keeping food stashed in every room but it was becoming hard to manage - we'd accidentally leave it out, or forget we had some in a room somewhere - it was getting very messy.

Peaches has a motor mouth so sometimes I lift the bowl up after a few bites. I have thought of buying the micro feeder but would it work if she snatches a piece from Maggie's bowl super fast? Plus Maggie is tall so I would have to put books under it.