My Large Cat Eats My Small Cat's Food

[alisad1981]

Hello,

I have a very large cat, Elmo, who's overweight but also very large-framed. I also have a small cat, Daphne. Elmo's predecessor was the same size as Daphne, so when I put down their canned food, they would both eat for a few minutes, go away, come back and eat some more, etc. It took them about an hour to finish their food, and they were both a healthy weight.

Well, now when I put down their food, Daphne eats a little and goes away, and Elmo finishes her food. So Elmo is overweight and Daphne is getting skinny. I tried feeding Daphne in the bedroom, but then she only eats some of her food and starts meowing to be let out. Putting Elmo in the bedroom would probably produce the same result. I also tried adding a high-calorie gel to her food and feeding her in the bedroom, but she hated the taste and barely touched it.

So what else can I do? There's no WAY I'm going to free-feed dry food. I know how unhealthy that would be for them.

Thanks for your assistance!

 

[DreamerRose]

My two are like that, and I have to separate them so Mingo, who eats slowly, can finish his meal. Put Daphne in the bedroom and let her cry until she gets done. It's hard, but there is nothing much else you can do.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Would you consider a microchip activated feeder for Daphne?

Also, you could try adding some egg (raw yolk is ok, but the white needs to be cooked), even some unflavored Pedialyte or kitten glop for her, or some kitten food that's higher in fat and protein, goat milk, purebites or orijen freeze dried treats...

 

[KarenKat]

We are at a similar situation because Olive chunks up on dry food so she is on all wet diet. The boys have only been on kibble their whole lives, and it's hard to switch them to wet (which we prefer) so we do free-feed. Olive started chunking up again when she was stealing their kibble.

We plan on buying a microchip feeder like Furballsmom mentioned that will only open to the right cat. Not sure how this will work yet, but that's an option to "lock out" Elmo from Daphne's food.

 

[Yanaka]

Same here. She starts to eat separate from her brother now, but a lot of these tricks get quickly boring: Parmesan, topper, dry food sprinkled on top, pure bites... right now what works is if I get firm with Salmon and say NO or Saaaalmoooon when he gestures towards her. But not too loud because otherwise Miss Picky goes away too. Sometimes she’ll only eat food if it’s dry and thrown to chase and it has to be thrown energetically and far, if it’s too close or easy she’ll ignore. ..........

 

[lalagimp]

GateFeeder, SureFeed, MeowSpace.
I HAVE USED THEM ALL.
Tommy and his great big blue food snarfing butt.
He was able to keep the girls from locking the first two properly, so then the Surefeed was moved into the kitchen, with a gate on the kitchen, with the SureFlap on the kitchen gate.
Then we moved and there is an open kitchen, so we got a MeowSpace, and put the old kitchen gate Sureflap door onto that.
Cheers.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh my word!!
TOMMY!!!

 

[Indigoday]

Cat 1 is on medicated food. Cats 2 and 3 are on normal. We put cat 1s bowl in another spot from cats 2&3 and he learned. He knows better now. We also time feed them so we can watch, but after time he learned. We can even leave for a week now and he still eats just his food. Just move them on other sides of the room, with their own water too or a central watering hole, and train them. It will take time, but it works.