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- Feb 27, 2001
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I apologise for this being so long.
We are experiencing a slight behavior problem trying to switch our cats from having all the food they desire to limited portions per day.
Last Friday our vet ordered us to stop allowing our two indoor only cats to "free feed". The vet suggests we feed them no more than 3/4 cup per cat per day. The vet feels that they are at good weights now, and doesn't want them to become overweight.
Our one year old female, Sophie, is on a special presciption food (ScienceDiet z/d) because of her gum disease. We have not been successful trying to separate their food, so our 10 month old male, Ray, eats this food as well (which vet says is OK). It is fairly "greasy" which the vet considers high fat.
I imagine their stomachs need to adjust from eating a lot to eating less. So this week, we are trying to get them used to not having food in the bowl all the time. This past week we've been feeding them approximately four times a day, one handful of food each (more than enough to cover the bottom of their dishes). They're fed at 5:30a when boyfriend gets up, again at 7:30a when I get up, 5:30p when we get home, and 10p or so when we go to bed.
The behavior problem is that all week Ray has been waking us up at 3:30a or 4:00a because he's hungry again. We try to ignore him or ask him to wait another couple of hours until we get up. This is important sleeping time for us. It would be really easy to just give them a little to eat, but I am trying not to give in to his demands because I don't want to reinforce this behavior - teaching him that if he wakes us up he'll get his way.
I've tried getting out of bed and bringing him back to bed with us. In the past if I make him lay between us for a little bit, he falls asleep. This has not been working.
Thank you for any suggestions...
We are experiencing a slight behavior problem trying to switch our cats from having all the food they desire to limited portions per day.
Last Friday our vet ordered us to stop allowing our two indoor only cats to "free feed". The vet suggests we feed them no more than 3/4 cup per cat per day. The vet feels that they are at good weights now, and doesn't want them to become overweight.
Our one year old female, Sophie, is on a special presciption food (ScienceDiet z/d) because of her gum disease. We have not been successful trying to separate their food, so our 10 month old male, Ray, eats this food as well (which vet says is OK). It is fairly "greasy" which the vet considers high fat.
I imagine their stomachs need to adjust from eating a lot to eating less. So this week, we are trying to get them used to not having food in the bowl all the time. This past week we've been feeding them approximately four times a day, one handful of food each (more than enough to cover the bottom of their dishes). They're fed at 5:30a when boyfriend gets up, again at 7:30a when I get up, 5:30p when we get home, and 10p or so when we go to bed.
The behavior problem is that all week Ray has been waking us up at 3:30a or 4:00a because he's hungry again. We try to ignore him or ask him to wait another couple of hours until we get up. This is important sleeping time for us. It would be really easy to just give them a little to eat, but I am trying not to give in to his demands because I don't want to reinforce this behavior - teaching him that if he wakes us up he'll get his way.
I've tried getting out of bed and bringing him back to bed with us. In the past if I make him lay between us for a little bit, he falls asleep. This has not been working.
Thank you for any suggestions...
