How do you keep a cat out of kitten food?

[strange_wings]

This is driving me crazy...

I've been trying the box with a small hole method. It's 3"x3" and if I make that hole much smaller the kittens won't want to go in.

It works for keeping all of the adult cats out but Tomas. He's smaller for an adult male cat and has always found ways to force himself into tiny things.

He can't have any of their food. It's much worse than him just eating all of it and putting on a little extra weight. It has chicken in it.

So, how do I keep him out? And still be able to do this as the kittens grow?

 

[weldrwomn]

Maybe you could try feeding the kittens in a separate room?

 

[strange_wings]

But then I'd either have to leave a door open or find a way so they could go through it.

Kittens are right around 16-17 weeks now, so I prefer to free feed their dry.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I would confine the kittens to one room with the food and only let them out for a few hours each day under supervision. You can pick up the kitten food during the time they are running around.

 

[strange_wings]

I'm not locking them back up.

1) The only spare room is the gecko room and now they're too old to safely be allowed in there at all. I do not want them busting into gecko cages and killing them. Nor do I want an electrical fire taking us all out in our sleep because they got bored in a room with plenty of cords to chew or halfway unplug.

2) They started off feral. They only truly began trusting me and integrating into the household after I let them out with the adult cats.

3) They pile on the bed with everyone at night. I don't want to take that away from them.



So does anyone else have any ideas? I'm thinking maybe adding a piece of PVC that the kittens could crawl through, but Tomas wouldn't be able to get enough of a hold to pull himself though. My only worry is that he'd try anyways and I'd be taking Tomas to the vet to remove it...
Does anyone think a large elbow might be safe? I doubt he could make a turn.

 

[zephyer78]

Could you switch them to adult dry and supplement them with kitten while Thomas is in a diffrent room?

 

[weldrwomn]

could you put a little magnetic pet door on the box and give each of the kittens a collar?

 

[strange_wings]

^Hmm. Will those stay closed even if a cat is digging and violently pushing at them?

...sometimes I think Tomas should have been a dog. He's that food driven.

 

[weldrwomn]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^Hmm. Will those stay closed even if a cat is digging and violently pushing at them?

...sometimes I think Tomas should have been a dog. He's that food driven.

No idea, but since they are meant for entry doors and to keep animals (except the ones with collars) out, they might. You could probably go on amazon and look at reviews.

The PVC elbow just makes me nervous. As the kittens grow, they might end up getting stuck or something horrible like that.

 

[strange_wings]

I'm not too worried about the kittens. I just want another pound on them before I put them on a regular feeding schedule with the adults. So it would only be for a month to a month an a half at most.

It would be nice to find a simple solution in the meantime, though. That way when others have the same issue maybe they'll find this thread.

 

[weldrwomn]

well, you could try the elbows, just measure the kittens and make sure to get a large enough one.

 

[mzjazz2u]

You don't!

(Unless, as others have said, you feed the kitten in a secluded room.)