It’s possible he just got a scratch that’s healing on its own; but yes watching and if it doesn’t clear up discussing with the vet seems like the thing to do.
Sounds like a plan. The main worry for me is trying to get him into a carrier and to the vet given he’s only been with me a short time and while he’s warmed up a lot I don’t think he fully trusts me yet. Today when I put down a scratching pad I went to pick him up to put him on it but he squirmed free and scuttled off a few feet.
Sammy is really heavy! He must have spent some time hungry.
Ten-plus pounds when adopted and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s put on some weight since I got him. He eats every meal as if it’s been weeks since his last one.
All of my current batch are over 10 pounds and that includes two who aren’t fat at all. The largest is about 15 and while he does have some fat the vet says he’s mostly just a Big Cat.
He’s the most timid of them, of course.
I’ve had some Big Cats – my avatar, Ed, was one – but Sammy is just a greedy chonk.
My biggest cat weighs the least. She has lymphoma, or maybe iritable bowel disease, and has trouble eating much at a time. We feed her all day long, in an attempt to keep her from starving to death. (Which is rough on the others, and also leads towards their eating too much, as they sometimes clean up what she’s left.) She used to weight twice what she weighs now. She’s really all skin and bones. But she’s lived a lot longer than the vet expected, and she’s the same weight as her last appointment.
Sammy looks overweight. 
That’s a better problem to have.
That’s tough for the old girl. Lymphoma is a cruel slow-death disease, been through it with more than one cat. I can somewhat control Sammy’s food intake while he and Barnaby are confined, but when they eventually get the run of the house I expect Sammy to gobble up Bruiser’s food, since my old guy is a nibble, go away, nibble, go away feeder. I may have try shutting Sammy in the half bath during meals.
Is Bruiser still ignoring the newcomers’ presence?
I sometimes lock my old lady in the guest bedroom/bathroom with a plate of food, a bowl of water, and a litterbox for several hours. Mostly when I need her to stop bothering me for food. But it gives her a chance to eat her food slowly. I always open the door to find her sleeping on the couch. Sometimes she’s finished the food, other times she hasn’t. But it feels like a way to meet both our needs.
Looks like you’re doing a really good job. Here’s hoping she continues purry.
Sort of. He’s spending a lot of his time now on the second floor, sometimes by the deck slider in my bedroom, sometimes on the landing across from the door. At times when I go in to tend them he waits for me to come out.
A conundrum: Will it ever be possible to integrate the feline household, given the disparate eating habits?
Bruiser: Eats erratically, typically eating a small amount, going away, coming back off and on, not always finishing the food.
Barnaby: Eats comfortably with Sammy, usually from the same dish, but often won’t even start if I’m nearby.
Sammy: EATS EATS EATS EATS will gobble up every scrap of food right away.
So you can see the problem, right? I may never be able to integrate them. At best I’ll have to keep them in their separate areas for most of the time in order to protect Bruiser. Which is not that great for me, but B&S seem perfectly content with the area they have now, so if I never let them out of it as long as Bruiser is alive, they’ll still be better off than living in the shelter.
If Sammy’s current eating habits are the result of previous starvation, they may go away with time.
In order to get his off switch to start working, you may need to accept that he’s going to be a fat cat, and not restrict his food. Try feeding him a bit more, until you reach the point (there probably is one, though that may not be obvious right now) at which he isn’t eating all the food immediately, but is leaving a bit in the dish. Don’t give him infinite amounts immediately, or you’re likely to have to clean up the results; but as over time it sinks in to him that there’ll always be plenty of food, he’ll probably become able to leave some.
I’ve lived with a couple of cats who arrived with that starvation reflex, but who became able to be mixed with cats eating free choice with no problems. One of them is still quite a fat cat, but she stopped getting fatter, and she’s happy.
It can help if it’s a less favored, though still acceptable, food that’s left available; feed the favored food first in a limited amount, then put down extra of the less favored.
Thanks. I’ll give it a try.
Another thing that might work is individual chip-operated food dishes. I gave up trying to train my old lady to use one, but i have another cat who pretty much only eats wet food (and barely drinks any water) and i think I’ll be able to train him. After the old lady dies, I’d like to give them less wet cat food, except for Merry, who needs it.
The other things we do with the old lady are:
- Feed her a little spoonful at a time, and stand there to keep the other card from eating it.
- Lock her in the guest bedroom, with a plate of food, a bowl of water, and a litterbox for a few hours, away from the others.
If it’s not obvious, Rachel (the old lady) can’t eat very much at a time, and is grossly underweight. She has medical conditions (not fully diagnosed, because she’s a cat, and the dexamethasone that treats the most likely problems send to be working) that make it hard for her to eat much. And the other cats are at risk of getting fat.
there are these:
The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder from Sure Petcare
with me it is easier. my food obsessed boy can’t jump very well. i am able to keep koritza’s out of his range. he knows it is there… oh boy does he know.
Alas, Bruiser can’t jump very high – to the bed is about it. Sammy can and will jump higher.
You could also put a chip-activated cat door into part of the house for Bruiser. Keep his food dish and litter box there. Maybe allow Barnaby in there, too. Sammy can be fed out in the other area. Or maybe he could be given a food dropping toy for his meals.
StG
Ooh, that’s an interesting idea. It wouldn’t work for Rachel (she’s senile, and teaching her a new trick would be hard) but for Merry… He hates closed doors and pushes against them all the time. I bet it would be easy to train him to use a chip-activated cat door.