Ex-stray cat won't eat in one sitting

[liabee]

Hi all! Due to some health issues in one of my cats (Loki) I need to switch them both to a soft food diet. Monty and Loki (Monty was a stray until he was about 11 months) have always been on a dry food diet and eat when they like. Loki needs the high moisture content as he has Urinary Tract Disease and it's easiest to have them both on the same type of diet. The trouble is that Loki, sits and eats his food in one sitting at every meal but Monty will eat about a 1/3 of his and then paw the ground like he's trying to bury it. I'm wondering if there's a way to get Monty to eat all of his food without having to leave it out all day (bad for bacteria IF Loki doesn't swoop in and gobble it all up!) Thanks guys! 

 

[sparklexo]

Yes but it might take a while. It took my super stubborn rescue kitty an entire year to not only eat wet food, but to eat it in one sitting. And sometimes even now, she'll only eat half and paw the ground and walk away. I feel comfortable leaving it out up to 2 hours, so she usually returns in that time. But if not, I have to throw it out. It's time consuming, I won't lie. Maybe try taking it away if Monty doesn't finish? He might learn through being hungry that day that he has a certain window to eat the food. This worked with my kitty for the most part, but like I said it's still a process. I also offer her less wet food to start with, because she never finished the amount I used to give her. Instead of a full serving, she gets about 1/3 of that because that's all she'll ever eat. She also gets special dry urinary food at night, to make up for the calories she misses by not eating enough wet food.

 

[liabee]

Thanks! Really helpful I think that's going to have to be the trick for now. He ate at around 3 and is not hungry now so we're still establishing a schedule. It looks like Loki might need to eat 3 times a day and Monty only twice. He did finish his lunch which is good ( first meal he's finished since we started this!) even though it was in two sittings. It's good to hear someone else is having this problem and it's not just my silly boy. Thanks again!