About the problems of cats being on different diets... *sigh*

[Kirsten]

A while ago, I found out I have to feed Luna and Lily seperately. In the morning, they usually got their breakfast (Whiskas canned food) together in the same room, but two weeks ago I noticed that Lily isn't eating much (she's more eating during the night, when I offer them dry food; Hill's Indoors most of the time), so Luna always ate the rest of Lily's portion. No surprise that Luna has gained a lot of weight lately!

Since she still had problems with diarrhea (resulting from clostridia) the vet gave me Hill's i/d, so Luna and Lily had to eat in different places anyway. And now that Luna is done with her i/d diet, I decided to put her on Hill's r/d for a while to lose some weight. So far, so good.

Now Lily doesn't agree at all with that arrangement. She wants to have what Luna has. Of course there's no way the tiny skinny Lily girl is allowed to eat a calory reduced food, but from the moment I'm closing the door behind Luna, Lily is freaking out. Not only that she's refusing to eat what I'm offering her (I'm now offering her dry food because to open a can for her just means to waste it), she's running through the entire place, crying and complaining loudly. In these moments she really makes it very clear to me that she feels she's treated very unfair, and I wonder if it's the food she's getting or the fact that she's seperated from Luna (she is still very very focused on Luna).

When Luna is done eating and I open the door to the cat room where Luna has eaten, Lily immediately runs to Luna's bowl to see if she has anything left.

To make sure Lily is eating enough, I'll place her bowl with the dry food on the kitchen counter; I know Luna won't go there, so she cannot find it and eat it. Also, both of them are getting some Hill's Oral Care during the day, and at night, they're getting their kibbles.

Has anyone such a complicated feeding schedule and complaining cats when some need a special diet? Or is it just me? LOL

BTW, Lily used to eat like a pig when she was a little kitten, but now she doesn't seem to have much appetite, maybe because she's not growing so fast now. Luna, on the other hand, has always been a finicky eater, but this has totally changed now since Lily has arrived.

Kirsten

[catnapper]

I wish I knew... I'll keep an eye out because I'm having a bit of the same trouble. Allen REALLY needs to be on weight control food and Pouncer obviously does not. I have stopped the weight reduction food altogether because Pouncer was eating more of it than Allen.

Just another thing our young ones have in common.

As for the crying and whining, that might be like human children "but ma! She got a bigger slice of pie than me!" Kids will be kids - regardless of their species.

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by catnapper


As for the crying and whining, that might be like human children "but ma! She got a bigger slice of pie than me!" Kids will be kids - regardless of their species.

LOL, this is exactly what I'm thinking! Cute actually, but I don't think Lily finds it very funny actually, she's really outraged. But Luna needs this diet now, I don't want to risk any heart problems or diabetes because she's overweight.

Kirsten

[CatDad]

I have the same problem, Joey needed the special I/D food and Bob needs a weight reduction R/D food. Both Hill's

I had it worked out for a while. I would use diet food as dry and that way they could free feed. Then I feed Joey her own wet food at night and I also kept some diet wet just in case Bob wanted some. I think that Bob is a little off, he doesn't really like wet food. However, every once in a while he will want some because Joey is getting it.

Now that all changed when Joey started to get sick last Thanksgiving. So I made the decision to put out dry I/D and let Bob gain a little weight for a short time. I thought that it was better to get Joey under control first.

I think that I am going to move there dry food to Royal Canin and mix there sensitive stomach and diet together. Then if we can get Joey all better and she no longer need to eat sensitive food go to the Royal Canon weight reduction and the wellness wet food for Joey. Then keep a couple of cans of the Hill's R/D for Bob.

So basically the same thing as before with different brands of food.

I will hopefully be able to do that again in a couple of months. For me it is all a matter of compromises between the 2 kitties needs.

[Kirsten]

Sounds complicated, good luck!

I hope when Luna has lost some weight, I can go back to normal except that there will only be a very small portion in Lily's bowl (to prevent that Luna is eating the rest of it). I only have to make sure that Lily will be able to eat a bit during the day without Luna taking notice.

Kirsten

[K & L]

Do you all remember Porch (the one who had megacolon and most of his colon removeed)? He has to be on a vpenpery strict diet, but luckily for us it's OK for the other cats to eat it. It's just VERY expensive, but worth the price over the hassle.

You might try switching the back and forth in the room so the other one thinks she's also getting special treatment. It also may settle down once they get use to the routine.

[Cheshirekatt]

Our feeding plan is equally hard as well!

Picasso has to eat a special natural canned food. Anything else makes him vomit. Five-eights of a can....no more, no less. He has to eat on the kitchen counter so the other kitties don't get his food and you have to smash it down into the bowl so he can't eat too fast.

Amadeus has to have a special urinary tract canned food. He eats really slow so you have to fluff his food. He eats on the opposite counter from Picasso so the other kitties don't get his food.

Six is eating her kitten food in the bathroom right now. This is to keep the other kitties from gobbling the kitten food and getting fat.

Elvis, Elvira and Tigerlily share regular dry cat food in the kitchen. Their bowls stay on the floor, but Tigerlily must have her own bowl. Elvis and Elvira will share.

They get fed twice a day.

[cutie_chica]

I had a problem like that when tony came home, he needed kitten food, and all princess wanted 2 do was eat his food, and she gained alot of weight, I couldnt wait until tony was 1, so it would be easier to feed them, then...we got patches, so its just like that all over again lol....but i love my kitties!!

[Lorraine]

hmmm... sounds like my cats, and my kids too for that matter! one is quite sure that what the other one is having is sooo MUCH better! Wouldn't want to be getting cheated out of anything special!

[NoahsMommy]

Us? Complicated feeding??? Uh....yes!!!!

Let's see....we feed the following foods: Royal Canin (Indoor, Slim, Special & Kitten) and Innova (Wet and Dry)

All eight cats have their own spots to eat and when I start getting their food out, they are eagerly awaiting it in their spots...that, comes with time and consistancy.

I first get Noel, Basil and Hermoine's food ready. Basil will not eat wet food, so he gets a mixture of the Indoor and Innova Dry. Noel and Hermie get a little bit of the wet, mixed with about 1/3 cup dry Indoor.

The babies get a bit of wet food mixed with the Kitten.

Olivia gets a bit of wet, mixed with the Slim.

Noah gets a bit of wet, mixed with the Special (sensitive tummy)

Micah gets his raw food OR Innova wet with Innova dry or the Special (Has IBD)

The babies eat in the bathroom, happily. When I let them out, the others have basically finished their food, and they all go around and lick eachothers bowls to see what they've missed.

I leave a bowl of Innova dry or the Indoor dry out all day, just in case they get hungry.

At first, I'd spend forever directing everyone to their bowls and had to sit and watch them eat. I was annoying after a long day at work, or early in the morning...but it works for us now.

I hope your little one's will settle on where they'll eat soon.

[Kirsten]

OMG, NoahsMommy, I would need a checklist for all these different combinations! LOL

Kirsten

[Pam]

Trevor was diagnosed with diabetes last summer and was put on Purina DM. He is to eat 1/2 can in the morning and 1/2 can at night and nothing else. Trevor always was a faster eater, and whenever he would finish his food he would go to Andy's dish and almost push him out of the way.

Since I have two dogs I have always fed my cats in the basement, away from the eager mouths of the dogs! Now I have to feed Andy in Bella's old dog crate (to keep Trevor from getting Andy's food) and I feed Trevor right next to the crate. I come upstairs and plug up the cat door hole so that Trevor can't come upstairs and eat dog food and I set my kitchen timer. I am such an airhead that if I didn't I might totally forget to let Andy out of the crate or open up the kitty door once again after the dogs have finished eating.

It works perfectly for me and Trevor has slimmed down since having his food regulated and his blood sugars are perfect.

[Kirsten]

Great that it works so well for Trevor! He seems to do so much better with his diet food now!

Kirsten