Rescued food thief vs. spoiled, casual eater

[mak2024]

This a bit of an addendum to prior post from a moment ago but I feel like this is a more specific topic. Fiancee and I have a rescued 13 month old male we brought home about 3 weeks ago. He is settling in with our 10 year old female who has led a charmed life. They both get raw food twice a day. She has of course been thrown off by him moving in. Things are progressing slowly but surely but the adjustment has not surprisingly disrupted her diet. She has only been eating in the evening (no more breakfast the past week or so) because with us going to work in the morning, it's difficult to successfully coax her to eat in a timely manner. In the past, the food was placed out for her and we'd leave for the day. She'd consume at her own pace in spurts. On the weekends when we're around, food may get set out for her around 7 or 730 in the morning and she may not touch it for at least an hour or sometimes longer. So now if she sniffs her plate and walks away or eats a bit then walks away, he will eventually find and eat the food if we allowed him to. He eats his whole plate right when it gets placed in front of him. She's used to eating a bit and then walking away without having anyone there to steal it from her. In the evening, we're having to continually pick up her plate if she walks away so he won't eat it, put it in the fridge, then when she goes back to her spot asking for more, we take it out for her again sometimes 3 or 4 times over the course of an hour or 2. All while standing next to her in case he walks up, while one of us is trying to distract him with toys in the other room. Someone suggested leaving it out so he can actually eat her food and she'll learn she has to eat it all at once but we haven't tried that yet. Also, they are eating in 2 different rooms. Thanks for reading and any suggestions would be great!

 

[cinqchats]

Don't worry, she'll figure out eventually that it's food time NOW and not food time whenever she feels like it. What I do with my clowder is they all go into their own carrier at meal time. This way there's no stealing and everyone can munch away at their own pace.

 

[mak2024]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, hopefully we're on the right track. She is willing to come to her dish and start eating so that's good. But once he finishes his food in the other room, he eventually winds up checking her out in the kitchen even if we're trying to distract him. We're debating swapping their dining rooms and having him in the kitchen, putting her in the bedroom to eat so she can have a closed door (if we close the door on him, he eats so fast then just ends up scratching/meowing to get out and we don't want him to think he's punished). But we haven't played that card yet because it feels like it would be yet another major change for her. Also, a friend mentioned that if she was really STARVING and her situation was desperate, she'd be more aggressive, and possibly even fight, when he approaches while she's eating. This I'm not so sure of though, I've heard of cats becoming stressed for various reasons and continuing to not eat for quite a while. But I don't really know....

 

[alic23]

Hi i have a similar problem in that my male cat will eat his food in seconds and then barge female cat out of way to eat hers because she eats slower. My solution was to ask my friend who is handy at DIY to fix a microchip cat flap on some acrylic (perspex) box where you can place her food. So only she can go in and eat. Another option is to buy a microchip feeder which is pricey but might be worth it so your girl can continue with her feeding routine how she wants to and not rush her food just cos he is likely to nab it. Or feed her in a room which only she can access. Again that is reliant on her having a microchip.

I would be interested in other ideas as it's not ideal every time she wants to eat to have to go through a cat flap.

I hope your girl can go back to her normal routine with breakfast! Good luck.