Introducing 2 cats -- potential food problem

Hi! It's been a while since I posted.

My boyfriend and I might be moving in together in a few months. We're excited for the move, but we're also concerned about the co-habitation of our cats -- my rambunctious cat Micky, and his ornery cat Maggie.

I read the stickies on this subject and found a lot of helpful information. However, we still might have a problem with food. As soon as Phil feeds Maggie, she gobbles everything up right away and cries until she gets more (to which he never relents -- he feeds her twice a day, no matter what she says). My cat takes it a little slower with food, though I still only feed her twice a day, so there's often some left over in her bowl.

Phil and I theorize that if our cats move in together, Maggie will eat up everything in her dish and then eat all of Micky's food, too. This wouldn't be a huge problem, except -- Micky is on a prescription diet. It's a little more expensive and she needs that food (she's very prone to bladder infections and is on a strict diet of Feline C/D).

Our cats are both female spayed, each about 3-4 years old. I've had Micky for two years and Phil's had Maggie for (I think) a little over a year.

Any ideas on what I can do?

The only thing I could suggest is feeding them in separate rooms and not letting them together again until they've eaten and the dishes are picked up.

I agree with Yosemite, meal feeding is the way to go. This is what I do with Polly and Prego as they will switch foods. Polly is also on c/d. It's very important that Micky eat only the c/d (a few treats are ok).

Two or three times a day, put them in separate rooms with the door closed and give them 15-30 mins to eat. They will get used to this quickly.

I have a 'slow' eater too, and as soon as they've all had their (initial) fill, I pick up the bowls and put them away. Twenty mins. or so later, I bring them out (to the cats' very separate eating places) and let them finish, being sure I keep the piggies away from the slow one.

I dont know what your cats are like, but what also often will work is if one cat is really big and heavy and the other is not, you can put the food of the latter somewhere high where only that cat can reach it.