We have 2 adorable kittens, Cato (Burmese boy, 20 weeks old), and Umi (Ocicat girl, 18 weeks old). Both have been de-sexed.
We got Cato 2 weeks before we got Umi. The night Umi arrived Cato managed to break his leg – poor baby.
Anyway, now Cato has finally been released from his confinement cage after 6 weeks. While he was in there we noticed that where food is concerned he is somewhat of a vacuum cleaner. We’d put his food in the cage and he would barely stop to breathe before it was all gone, irrespective of the type of food (wet, dry or human).
Umi on the other hand, is a very delicate eater. She eats about half her portion very slowly and daintily and then leaves the rest and comes back later.
Tonight is Cato’s first night out of the cage. We got home from the vet, then gave them a serve each of wet food. Cato guzzled down his, and then proceeded to gobble down Umi’s as well.
Does anybody have any tips about how we can either slow Cato down, or speed Umi up?
The way my friends deal with two of their cats who are on the opposite ends of the chow-hound spectrum is to feed both cats at the same time, but pick up Olivia’s (the slower cat) food and put it high up in a cupboard once she moves away. When she later wants to eat some more, she makes her intentions clear to them, and they bring it back out for her to finish up.
Agree with FRDE. We had 12 cats at one point in time. They seemed to self-regulate food consumption quite well* and we never had a problem with any getting overweight.
*only if food is constantly available though, if it isn’t then there will be the potential to overeat on the not knowing when it’ll next be there basis.
I agree with the above. Some cats have the “I must eat it all now 'cause I don’t know when I’ll get more” mentality. You can try free-feeding a quality kitten food (nothing cheaper than Purina Kitten Chow) and reserving canned food for occasional treats. Keep an eye on their weight; some cats will overeat and get fat when you free-feed them. I have nine cats, which I free-feed Iams Indoor Cat Formula. One of them is overweight, one is rather plumptious and the other seven are about the correct weight for their age and size.
I have found the key feeding cats is to give them a steady diet. Changes in food can cause diarrhea, and may result in overeating if the cat likes the “new” food better than the previous food at the moment. Changing food can also cause a cat to turn into a picky eater.
Oh, by the way - you know the rule! Where are the pics? I want to see the Ocibaby!
I’ll note that some folks claim just the opposite. That one should rotate foods every several months ( gradually of course, to minimize dietary upset ) so as to prevent pickiness. Or claims like this:
More recently, some veterinarians specializing in feline medicine have stated that inflammatory bowel syndromes may develop, in part, because of food sensitivities caused by feeding one diet for over a year or two at a time.
I make no claim for the absolute accuracy of the above, by the way. Just presenting one of those conflicting opinions I’ve been reading about :).