Healthy Cat On Food Strike?

[susan denning]

Update: I saw Felix eating his kibble just know, so I think I jumped to conclusions about him being on a hunger strike

Hi,

As those of you who read my other posts know, I am trying to transition my two cats Trixie (early CKD) and Felix (urinary crystals) to eating separate foods. Trixie has taken to her KD food like a champ, and is not drinking like she was. I have a bowl for Trixie in the kitchen and a bowl for Felix on the cat tree (where Trixie doesn't go).

My concern is Felix. He is a high strung cat which may have been the reason for the crystals in the first place. He has a good relationship with me now (Yeah) and an ok one with my parents. He doesn't try Trixie's canned food. However, when my Mom gave her kibble this morning, he went over and tried to eat it. Trixie (who's the more passive one left). My Mom told him no and tried to get him to eat his food. He wouldn't take it and ran off outside (frost on the pumpkin) this morning. We can't find him in our backyard. Also, to my knowledge he hasn't eaten since last evening (He was on my bed for most of the evening and the food in his bowl didn't go down overnight. Any thoughts?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

So Felix's food hasn't changed? What HAS changed then, for Felix? Does the S/O come in canned? Maybe he wants what Trixie has, so if he gets canned food, he'll think he's getting what she is getting.

Glad that Trixie likes the K/D, BTW!

 

[susan denning]

I moved his food up on our cat tree, because I didn't want Trixie eating it. Canned food is not a problem (he sniffs at it and walks away, but I'm afraid the kibble might be (he wanted to try the kibble Trixie was eating).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK, so everything is AOK now, right? At least for the moment ?

 

[susan denning]

For the moment. I'm keeping an eye on Felix as he didn't seem to eat much yesterday. I also think the separate feeding is going to need tweaking if it's going to work long term.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

how did you feed them before? Next to each other? Is Felix a grazer? If so, you may need to transition him to scheduled meals so he learns to eat at meal time. here is an article on "how to", just in case: Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals

 

[susan denning]

I was feeding them both the same food on the floor (letting them graze), and they would take turns. The issue I see with Felix is that he is a shy kitty and may need privacy to eat. So, it may have to be a separate room from Trixie. And it may have to to be me (and not my parents), since he's the most comfortable with me. I'm pretty sure he did eat today. because when I got home, his food bowl was partly empty. However, he got spooked just now when I headed him away from Trixie's bowl and put his bowl down. So, I'm concerned if that were to continue, he might come to associate being fed with being scolded and might go on a food strike for real.

My original plan was to feed Trixie on demand, and to feed Felix from the cat tree. I'm satisfied that is not working (because of what happens when they are both inside), so I think it will have to be scheduled feeding. Before I get into the details of scheduled feeding, I want to make sure that's going to be workable with the constraints I'm under. If not, I'm thinking the best solution for all might be to give Felix back to out local humane society and to concentrate on Trixie.

The constraints I'm under are these. My parents refused to let me ask one of my friends to feed the cats while we're gone overnight for Thanksgiving. So, I have no choice but to put something down for them, as it's too long to let them go without eating. I think they don't see the separate foods as a big deal. However, as different as kidney and urinary foods are, I think it is a concern. And if Felix were to be schedule fed by one of my friends, I'm not sure he would be comfortable enough to eat for them. Let me know what you think.

 

[susan denning]

I apologize for the venting. I think I need to figure out what I am looking at and then figure out if that's possible. If i understand the article right, it looks it would be about 3 meals a day to do the scheduled feeding properly. With the max time between feeds being around 8 hours. Does that sound accurate? If so, I think I will need to used timed feeders to make it work. Either that or maybe having my parents give snacks would work.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, normally scheduled feeding is two to three meals per day, BUT, typically it takes more than one or two days to train a free fed cat get used to being on a schedule. Sometimes weeks, so I wouldn't really try to do this right before you go away for Thanksgiving night. BUT, on the other hand, I don't really think one 12 hour period of them sharing each others food is going to really hurt either one of them too much. Urinary food is supposedly low in phosphorus already (at least Hill's S/D says it is), so Trixie should be ok if she eats it. I would call the Vet and ask them what would happen if Felix snacked on Trixie's food....how bad would that be? I think your only other option might be to put Felix and his food in one room and Trixie in another for Thanksgiving night. Would that work?

 

[susan denning]

Thanks. I can certainly ask about putting Trixie in the laundry room. It might also be worth a check with the vet's office about what would be the best compromise food. I will give both a try.