Ideas for feeding two cats who eat at very different rates

[silverpersian]

We recently adopted an ever-famished stray cat who gobbles down her food at an alarming rate. Our resident cat is a very slow eater. We have been feeding him in a separate room, behind a closed door, to prevent her from gobbling down his food after she finishes hers. That has been working.

The problem is that we have travel coming up. So far, we had a cat sitter visit and feed our one cat twice a day. He would set out the food and leave. That won't work now, because he would have to wait a long time for our slow eater to finish.

Do you have any ideas for how to handle the feeding during our travel? The only idea I have is to keep our resident cat in an enclosed area with his food, water, and litter box. The cat sitter could leave his food and allow him to eat it at his own pace.

This solution isn't a good one, because neither cat likes being confined. Any other solutions?

Thanks in advance for the guidance.

 

[suzannef]

How long are you going to be gone? If it's not for too long and if HungryCat isn't overweight, would it be possible for your pet sitter to just leave out an extra portion of food for HungryCat (twice a day) while still feeding SlowCat in a separate room, but without shutting the door? My thinking is that HungryCat would be occupied with his extra food long enough to let SlowCat finish her meal. He might even get full? I agree that it would be a shame to keep them separated the entire time you were gone.

I hope someone else chimes in with a better solution. :-)

 

[silverpersian]

How long are you going to be gone? If it's not for too long and if HungryCat isn't overweight, would it be possible for your pet sitter to just leave out an extra portion of food for HungryCat (twice a day) while still feeding SlowCat in a separate room, but without shutting the door? My thinking is that HungryCat would be occupied with his extra food long enough to let SlowCat finish her meal. He might even get full? I agree that it would be a shame to keep them separated the entire time you were gone.

I hope someone else chimes in with a better solution. :-)

 

[suzannef]

I just ran across you other thread and see that my suggestion was really impractical. But chances are that no one will starve in 36 hours. I hope you find a good solution before your trip.

 

[silverpersian]

Your solution is actually a good one. I plan to try leaving HungryCat something that is really hard to eat, like a whole wingtip. That might buy enough time for SlowCat to eat. If he would get his act together and she would stop acting like a deranged vacuum cleaner, my life would be much easier. I'm cursing myself for keeping the stray and turning a peaceful home into a crazy zoo.

I just ran across you other thread and see that my suggestion was really impractical. But chances are that no one will starve in 36 hours. I hope you find a good solution before your trip.

 

[Alicia88]

Your solution is actually a good one. I plan to try leaving HungryCat something that is really hard to eat, like a whole wingtip. That might buy enough time for SlowCat to eat. If he would get his act together and she would stop acting like a deranged vacuum cleaner, my life would be much easier. I'm cursing myself for keeping the stray and turning a peaceful home into a crazy zoo.

Zoos are fun.  You're doing a good thing by keeping the stray kitty.  HungryCat might stop eating so fast when he realizes that he's going to have food on a regular basis and isn't constantly worried about his next meal.  I imagine that might take a while.

 

[lonelocust]

They make feeders which are keyed to a cat's microchip, or to a microchip in a collar dongle which comes with the feeder. These allow the dish to open only when the correct cat goes for it. They run around $50 on Zooplus, probably a bit more in stores.

 

[boellp]

Keeping the cats separated for a short time shouldn't be a issue (even more so because they dislike each other) but when you have time I would take the time to slow down the crazy faster eater by  limiting her portions so she will slow down on her eating, that way your not withholding her food all together but you will get her used to smaller portion sizes and that could possibly slow her eating habits, but back to the original question I think @silverpersian  is correct about just keeping them separate

Hope this helps a little for the fast eating issue.

 

[silverpersian]

Thanks, Alicia88, Lonelocust, and boellp.

I am pretty close to throwing in the towel and rehoming HungryCat. She is getting more and more vocal about demanding food, and is putting on weight too quickly. Our other cat spends most of the day crouching because he is very mellow (Persian) and can't handle her. I had a few good and reliable homes lined up when I found HungryCat. I decided to keep her for a while after spaying, to avoid any stress that might come from dealing with new people.

Now it just seems selfish to keep her at the cost of making our other cat completely miserable. I have been reading all the introduction-related threads here, and nothing seems to convince me that an energetic furball and a very mellow cat will ever enjoy each other's company.

 

[bootsandamy2]

Years ago I had a very similar situation, separating the kitties at meal time was the only way I could manage. We are 'snowbirds' and when we head west we take our kitties with us as the fast eater has since passed on. One of my cats will not join us in a hotel room so he eats in the SUV, again separating the kitties works this way. No idea how to separate them if your cat sitter leaves so quickly. Any neighboe kids 12+ in age who would love to make a few bucks feeding your cats and playing with them as well?

 

[zed xyzed]

My sister is in the same situation and swears by this feeder 

https://www.sureflap.com/en-us/pet-feeder/microchip-pet-feeder