Keeping food stations separate

Hello everyone,

I hope this is the right forum for this question, but please move if necessary. I have three cats, one of which eats in a separte room from the other two. This is for two reasons, one he needs special food due to having a bladder stone 2 years ago. The other is that he (Capone) tries to eat the other cats' food and my other male (Bernard) tries to eat his food. The cats are also only feed two scheduled feedings per day. Before Capone's switching to this prescription food the cats were free feed. The scheduled feedings are actually good for my other two cats as they were both getting a little overweight and now I can better control their portions. The problem is that Capone has not adapted to the scheduled feedings at all. He has always been a grazer and eats small amounts many times throughout the day. He has 'trained' me to keep bringing his food out several times during the day in order to continue his eating pattern. This causes a problem because if I am not right next to the bowl, Bernard will come in and either stare Capone down or just push him out of the way to eat the wrong food. I would like to keep the food down for longer during the scheduled feedings, but again Capone doesn't each much at one time and the other cats try to eat his food. I tried keeping the door closed to the room where I feed my other two cats, but this causes a problem for my female (Cleo) as she hates being confined.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for either training Capone to eating at the scheduled times or for detering my other cats, especially Bernard, from eating Capone's food?

I've been thinking recently about how to give one of my cats exclusive access to a litter box. I've been wondering if something like this would work:

http://www.petco.com/product/12988/S...-Cat-Flap.aspx

I could put the box in a closet and install the flap in the closet door. Put the infra-red key on the collar of the cat to have exclusive access and there you go.

You could put Capone's food in a closet like I'm thinking about putting a litter box.

I haven't been able to think of any other way to guarantee exclusive access to a single cat.

What do you think?

IMO its an easy answer. The one that has special food should either be fed in a separate room with the door closed or in a cage/kennel till he's done.

Then the other two can't eat any of his food and he can eat in peace

You said it yourself - he's trained you (I have a beautiful Maine Coon princess like that). You need to pick up his bowl after the first go-round, and just not give in til it's the next scheduled time. He'll figure it out eventually (or to start out for a while, maybe you could give him one interim go-round). Cats don't starve, they're just really good at making you think so!

I can try keeping Capone in another room to eat, but how long should I give him for each feeding? He usually just eats about four or five kibbles and then walks away, only to return 10 to 15 minutes later. Will he learn to eat larger amounts in a given time period?

I like the idea of the infrared collar with the cat door, just not sure how much Capone would like it .

Thank you for your suggestions, if anyone else has any others, please let me know.

I used to free feed, but a couple of the kitties were gaining too much weight, so now I give them scheduled and measured feedings. One or two of them were so used to eating whenever they wanted, that they didn't like that the food wasn't there all day long.

I gave everyone a chance to eat, and if they walked away from the plate of food and didn't come back, the food got put away until the next meal. After a few meals of only having a bite or two, they realized that if they didn't eat they weren't going to get anymore for a few hours. Now they all eat what they're given.

Originally Posted by mschauer

I've been thinking recently about how to give one of my cats exclusive access to a litter box. I've been wondering if something like this would work:

http://www.petco.com/product/12988/S...-Cat-Flap.aspx

Click to expand...

this is exactly what I was going to suggest...

I also have a bit of a "problem" with my 3 yo tabby not being able to find a safe haven away from the kittens. They seek and annoy!