Feeding the Kitten and the cats

I go back to work tomorrow after a nice week off. My kitten has nicely increased her weight and size. Now she's probably between 6-7 weeks old and about 1 lb 4 oz. The trouble is in leaving her food to eat while we are at work. She shows zero interest in the baby cat dry food. And if I leave it out for her to find, the adult cats will go to great lengths to get it.

Her breakfast is about 1/2 a can of kitten food, so I think about 1.5 ounces mixed with a teaspoon of KMR second stage and water to make a bowl of smoothie.

There's no way to feed her again before I get home from work, but I could easily feed her 2 times in the evening. She's been asking for lunch about 1 PM.

I can't free feed the adult cats since 2 of them are overweight. My only option would be to put the kitten in the bathroom, but then that leaves out important cat socialization time.

All but one of the adult cats tolerates her and two of them dote on her, my boy Scooter being the most motherly.

I tried putting some of the kitten cereal inside one of those play cavern scratcher since she's the only one that can fit in it. Three of the cats had their heads jammed in there to snuffle up the treat. There simply is no place the kitten can get to that the others can't also reach.

Should I sacrifice togetherness for the possibility she might nibble on dry food she otherwise doesn't want to eat?

We free feed our cats, but when we had a kitty with adults, it was basically the same problem. I understand she doesn't show any interest in the kibble, but it should be available to her.

What we did was to buy one of those really large rubber maid storage containers and cut a small hole in it. It wasn't large enough for the adults to get their heads into - but they could get their arms in there. But the box was large enough that they couldn't reach the food bowl to pull it over. With a kitty that small, it works. IF she gets hungry for her kitten food, she can access it but your other cats can't.

The problem with little kitty tummies is that they need small amounts of food frequently - but you can't leave wet food out for her for hours.

Are you sure your home is kitten proofed? She's pretty young to be left out to roam. Any way to leave Scooter and her in the bedroom or something? With the large rubbermaid box solution for access to her food that Scooter can't get?

Either way, others may be along with other ideas.

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

We free feed our cats, but when we had a kitty with adults, it was basically the same problem. I understand she doesn't show any interest in the kibble, but it should be available to her.

What we did was to buy one of those really large rubber maid storage containers and cut a small hole in it. It wasn't large enough for the adults to get their heads into - but they could get their arms in there. But the box was large enough that they couldn't reach the food bowl to pull it over. With a kitty that small, it works. IF she gets hungry for her kitten food, she can access it but your other cats can't.

The problem with little kitty tummies is that they need small amounts of food frequently - but you can't leave wet food out for her for hours.

Are you sure your home is kitten proofed? She's pretty young to be left out to roam. Any way to leave Scooter and her in the bedroom or something? With the large rubbermaid box solution for access to her food that Scooter can't get?

Either way, others may be along with other ideas.


Laurie

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The tub is a good idea. I imagine that the effort to get at the dish by the others would provide hours of fun and exercise for the kitties.

The house has been kitten proofed. We went over every room to make sure, although kittens are very adept at finding that one thing you didn't plan for. I've got rooms shut off, closets closed, outlets covered, floor vacuumed, no string, no needles, no rubberbands, no paperclips, etc. etc.

And I don't have any plants that are cat unfriendly because the others are chewers.

I could keep them in the bedroom, but the doors are bi-fold from the inside, so there's no way to barricade it. Etta the tuxedo is an expert at getting the doors open without barricade. So the bedroom arrangement would last about 10 minutes.

I would leave her in the bathroom while you're gone. She'll still get socialization with the other cats when you are home.

I have a kitten and a cat (although my kitten is considerably older, at 4.5 months) and can't free feed either of them because they eat different foods. Both eat twice a day (although I still ocasionally feed the kitten 3 times a day), so I can be there to watch them. They always want each other's food! lol