I don't know how to do this

I'd like to keep all of my cats on a designated amount of food every day, but I have no idea how to do it. Especially with Nora, who I have fed that way since I got her but she won't sit and eat a serving all at once. She just picks here and there throughout the day. Her first serving usually isn't gone yet by the time I give her the next one. She at least (for now anyway) will only eat out of her bowl.

The boys on the other hand will eat anything and everything they see. I don't know how to keep them from eating too much, kwim? And then how do I know if Nora is eating the correct amount, so I can tell if she is getting sick or whatever?? They eat out of their bowls (which are in "their" bathroom) and also out of her bowl. I know they are kittens and at this point it isn't as big of a deal, but I don't want them to get into a habit and it create a problem in the future. I trust Nora to free feed b/c she's basically been doing it all along, but I don't know if I can trust them. Walter is a pig and will eat anything in sight. Gus (our old cat) was free fed (we didn't know any different back then) and he was HUGE! I don't want to make that mistake again.

How do you all go about feeding more than one cat? Especially those that feed a set amount each day (like 1/2c per day, divided between two feedings, which is what I want to do). Can you give me any advice on how to go about it?? Thanks!!

I would probaly leave the food down for a certain amount of time, then pick up what is left and offer it at the next meal. That way maybe they will catch on that it is time to eat.

Feed Walter in another area

I have three feeding stations with the food allowance divided

Start Nora out in a separate room from the boys for a bit. Once she learns that she has to eat the meal after it's put down or she won't get more till later she'll get in the routine.

I honestly don't know how others can free feed with multiple cats. I'd have four obsess cats, diarrhea dripped/tracked, barf everywhere, and eventually one dead from crystals if I didn't separate them and play food police.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Start Nora out in a separate room from the boys for a bit. Once she learns that she has to eat the meal after it's put down or she won't get more till later she'll get in the routine.

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I'll probably have to do that. I can put Nora in the laundry room, leave Thomas out in the kitchen, and put Walter in the bathroom (which I do now with Walter since I put Lysine and Probiotic in his food and I want him to eat it all himself, not share). I'll have to start feeding them 3x day instead of just two, then, b/c I don't think they will be able to eat 1/2c of dry food all at once, and I still want them to get wet food.

What schedule/routine do you have your cats on, if you don't mind me asking?

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I honestly don't know how others can free feed with multiple cats. I'd have four obsess cats, diarrhea dripped/tracked, barf everywhere, and eventually one dead from crystals if I didn't separate them and play food police.

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That's what I'm worried about, which is why I need to find a way to get them all on schedule feedings. Even still now, when I feed them in the morning, they swap back and forth between each others bowls...so who knows how much each one of them is eating. I guess they'll just have to be separated for each feeding from now on.

They figured it out in my house... I can tell you who eats and how much at each feeding station.... Basically I put 1/3 in station in the am and the pm ...

We put the measured amount in a cup, then feed periodically through the day. Since Walter and Thomas are young and probably need to put some meat on their bones, I wouldn't worry too much about overfeeding, but if you're feeding them lots of wet and just supplementing with dry, then you'll not want to overfeed them. When we first got Hannah and then when we added Tumbles, we had to supervise feeding or everyone was eating everyone else's food and everyone was on a different diet! We had to redirect Tumbles and train him to only eat from his bowl as he was so young and suffered from ADD that he just wanted to feast from all the bowls. He's fine now, but will still take an opportunity to steal from someone else's bowl. We still have to somewhat oversee feeding times, but now we don't have to be standing right there.

I just do two meals a day now. Large wet meal before noon and a dry meal in the evening. Three meals works if you can deal with that. I cut it out because Siri, Sho, Blann, and sometimes even Tanna or Blasa wouldn't eat as much for the two later meals (added together, not per meal). If they're not going to eat, why put it out?

Of mine, only the kittens can actually share a dish of food, too. The adult cats will bully/start spats over it... which leads to stress that makes Siri not eat entirely or go pee on something. It's quite a dysfunctional household.

The boys are brothers, right? ...I swore I read that elsewhere. If those two act like siblings usually do, close with lots of mutual grooming, then Thomas will probably need the l-lysine too. In fact, it might be best for you to just have some added to their water. Its fine for the other cats to have, so are the probiotics.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I just do two meals a day now. Large wet meal before noon and a dry meal in the evening. Three meals works if you can deal with that. I cut it out because Siri, Sho, Blann, and sometimes even Tanna or Blasa wouldn't eat as much for the two later meals (added together, not per meal). If they're not going to eat, why put it out?

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That's what I would like to do, and what I'm attempting to do now. A big wet food meal in the morning, and dry food in the evening. The problem is that, while Walter will eat all of his wet food, Nora and Thomas will just pick at it, leave, pick some more, leave...etc. So, you think I should just take the plates away after a few minutes and they'll learn to eat it right away?

Originally Posted by strange_wings

The boys are brothers, right? ...I swore I read that elsewhere. If those two act like siblings usually do, close with lots of mutual grooming, then Thomas will probably need the l-lysine too. In fact, it might be best for you to just have some added to their water. Its fine for the other cats to have, so are the probiotics.

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Yes, they are litter mates and yes they do do lots of mutual grooming. The only thing I worry about with putting it in the water is them not getting the correct amount. They don't seem to drink very much water. I dump out mostly full bowls of water each morning to refill them. Maybe I'll just start adding it to all of their wet food.

Start out with smaller wet portions for the picky cats. Only give them a bit more if they finish what they have first. That way you don't waste any food. It may also be that those two like different wets - are you using pate or gravy wets?

Letting everyone or at least both boys have a dose is good. Like people, most cats have herpes. I actually do put it in the wet food around here even though I've never seen anything more than a slight booger eye and the occasional sneeze/sniffle that Sho has had his entire life.. (With nine cats it's impossible that none of them have it.)

Originally Posted by strange_wings

SLike people, most cats have herpes.

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Wait, what, none of my friends have herpes!

I'd just put the cat and the food into a small room, and not let em out till its finished.

If there is still some wet food on the plate I set out after a while, I scoop it up with my finger, and for whatever reason even if not hungry they like licking food off my finger and so finish the last bit so none is wasted and I can wash the plate.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

Wait, what, none of my friends have herpes

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Are you and your friends in your teens or younger and had the chicken pox vac? Otherwise you all have at least one strain of herpes. Most people have at least two or three.

ETA: It's funny that when it's pointed out to people, that yes they have herpes, few ever reply back.
Double checking something earlier (spelling on varicella, to be exact), did anyone else notice that chicken pox- varicella zoster virus and feline herpes are both varicelloviruses? I wonder how I missed realizing that before.

Feeding at my house has become quite complicated since Claude's visit to the vet a few weeks ago, and Lily's oral surgery.

Tonya, who is still in her own room,gets two meals of dry food a day (approximately 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.) - 1/4 cup each - which she doesn't always eat up. It's out all the time. Only Lily goes in there (she jumps over the baby gate) and she does so to eat some of Tonya's food. Tonya also gets a canned food meal (1 oz.) at about 5:30 p.m.

Claude is on a strict weight loss regime. He eats diet food (my vet believes in it). He gets diet canned food (1.25 oz. at 5:30 p.m.) in a separate room while the others eat their canned food (1 oz. each). They get about 45 minutes to eat this canned meal. Claude eats all of his. Ariel and Harlow, though very interested in this meal and go at it when first put down, never eat it all up. I throw out what remains before Claude is let loose or he'd eat it. Sometimes Lily will eat some of what they left.

Lily eats canned food now for every meal because she had teeth removed a week ago. I feed her (about 1.25 oz.) three times a day when the others are fed, in a separate room. She is in that room about 30-60 minutes. After a while I go in there and coax her to eat more. She likes this and does. She sometimes eats it all, and sometimes doesn't. What isn't finished I throw out (Claude). When I go back to work on Monday there won't be time for this. Lily, who comes out of her room after eating all that canned food, goes for the dry food bowls (2 meals a day) even though she shouldn't. On Monday she'll go back to the two dry meals and one canned a day like everyone else.

The dry meals are 1/4 scant cup per cat per day at about 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. They are all getting diet dry food because my vet thinks it is so important for Claude to lose weight that he wants them all on the diet food. He says that if the others are a little under weight because of this, it won't harm them. All my cats (except for Tonya's bowls) eat out of each others bowls of dry. The bowls are always empty long before the next feeding time. Everyone is fine with that though they, very politely, remind me when it is time to feed them.

It's really not that bad once they get into the routine. I'll be glad for Lily to be off the special all canned regime. I'm encouraged because this procedure is keeping Claude from overeating and I really want his weight to come down for his health's sake.

All of this may be irrelevant to your situation. But it shows how I handle my cat's different dietary needs and the compromises I'm making for the health of the one with the most urgent need.


Robin

Well, there are several ways you can go about it depending on your schedule and what works for you.
You can either set up separate feeding stations, put out food for a set amount of time (and hope that they will catch on that the food won't be available later and eat their fill), or if you have a cat that just likes to pick what you can do is work it out so that she gets fed the same amount but you just break it up into smaller meals and stretch it throughout the day, some cats do better on more frequent smaller meals rather than twice a day...it all really depends on you and your cats and what works. I'd experiment a bit, write it down if it's confusing for you at first (that's what I do when I'm changing routine, otherwise I'll get scatterbrained), you could just set up the schedule on the fridge or something so it's easy to see. Once you find what works, you'll get so used to it that you'll have it memorized.
I have three cats and seven ferrets (whose food the cats always want but they can't have). I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a complicated routine...ten animals all trying to eat the others food besides their own...not to mention my boyfriend's three dogs that we live with and their food too...we play a lot of musical rooms, thank goodness we have a house!! the grass is always greener, right?

I'm going through the same thing. Two 4-month old kittens needing to free-feed; and two 3-year olds needing scheduled feedings, one of which is overweight by a few pounds and needs to eat more wet.

So, needless to say, feeding time in our house is a frenzy!

I've tried to block the kittens room with some weights, so that only they can get in, but the big girl can just push it open! lol

I'm practically schedule feeding all of them, because the kittens are hardly eating any dry food. The little dry I do leave down for them, I'm pretty sure the other cats are getting to. To combat it, I've been having more playtime with the big girl to get her more active.

The goal for me is scheduled feedings, separately. They will have to learn when the food is put down and when it's taken up, and they'll have to learn to eat during that time. It's easier said that done, but it's the only way to make sure each cat gets the proper feeding that they need.

Hi! I have a lot of experience feeding multiple cats. Meals are like "feeding time at the zoo", at our place but we've got a little routine and it works well. We have one slow eater, Shai, and 2 "Hoovers." Sophie also gets food supplements, so we keep them all in seperate rooms no one else gets her food. Lil and Sophie gobble up their food and we let them out when they're both done. Shai just hangs out in the office until she's finished her food, or until 30 min. has gone by. (We feed our cats mostly raw food, so you can't leave it out all day.) You didn't ask my opinion about the type of food you're feeding, but I'm a huge advocate of NOT feeding dry food to cats on a regular basis. (Maybe once in a while as a treat.) The short version, is that cats are notoriously poor water drinkers, and dry food creates a state of constant dehydration in them. In males especially, this encourages the formation of urinary crystals, which can be fatal if a total urethra blockage occurs. Processed kibble is high in carbs and low in high-quality protein, which is critical for cats. Veterinarians are beginning to attribute the ever-increasing rates of thyroid and kidney disease in America's cats to their increase in dry food consumption. Best food? Raw meat, with the bones and organs ground in (you can buy it frozen that way, don't worry!) Second best is a high-quality, grain free, canned food (Like Wysong, Evo or B.G.). This will give your kitties the moisture and protein they need to be healthy. If you want more information on the link between dry kibble and feline disease, or the names of pet food companies who sell frozen, raw foods, I'd be more than happy to send it to you. I'll hop off my soap box now. Best of luck with your kitty feeding dilemma!

Thanks for your tips everyone! Yesterday we started feeding them each in a different room (Nora in the kitchen, Thomas in the laundry room, Walter in the bathroom). We also fed them wet food in the morning and 3 feedings of dry food periodically throughout the day (just filled each bowl with 1/2c and offered it to them at each meal...Walter and Thomas finished theirs on the last feeding, Nora still had some left, but that's normal for her.) It worked out well. I hope to get to the point where I can just feed them in the different rooms and not have to close the doors, but we'll see. That routine seemed to work, though, and has so far today, so I think we'll stick with that. I'm home pretty much 24/7 now, so I can do it. Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Petfindergal

You didn't ask my opinion about the type of food you're feeding, but I'm a huge advocate of NOT feeding dry food to cats on a regular basis. (Maybe once in a while as a treat.) The short version, is that cats are notoriously poor water drinkers, and dry food creates a state of constant dehydration in them. In males especially, this encourages the formation of urinary crystals, which can be fatal if a total urethra blockage occurs. Processed kibble is high in carbs and low in high-quality protein, which is critical for cats. Veterinarians are beginning to attribute the ever-increasing rates of thyroid and kidney disease in America's cats to their increase in dry food consumption. Best food? Raw meat, with the bones and organs ground in (you can buy it frozen that way, don't worry!) Second best is a high-quality, grain free, canned food (Like Wysong, Evo or B.G.). This will give your kitties the moisture and protein they need to be healthy. If you want more information on the link between dry kibble and feline disease, or the names of pet food companies who sell frozen, raw foods, I'd be more than happy to send it to you. I'll hop off my soap box now. Best of luck with your kitty feeding dilemma!

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I'm well aware of all of this. I'm feeding my cats the best that I can according to what we are financially able to. We simply can't afford to feed 100% wet food, nor do I think Nora or Thomas would eat it. They barely eat the 1/4 can of food that I give them at this point. They do get "treats" (more like a small meal) of raw meat...chicken and beef...a couple days per week. Nora is very healthy, a good weight with thick, shiny, super soft fur. I think we are doing perfectly fine. It may not be perfect, but it's good for our cats.