Kittens' eating pattern is driving me crazy

pariscat

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I must be getting too old for this racket, or else I just worry too much.

Here's the scenery.  Morris is the heavy-weight, broad shouldered, big-boned, eats like there is no tomorrow.  I'd say he weighs around 2100 grams now.  Stango is my "baby", lightboned, more gentle in his manners, more cuddly - but he eats so little, it drives me nuts !!  I just can't feel that he is putting on weight. Perhaps he is around 1700 grams now.

They were born 1st October 2012.

Morris tends to be the top cat around the house, he is more outward and tomboyish - and he pounces Stango a lot. Also their rough playing and fighting is sometimes too rough, IMO.  I don't like it when they fight so much, because it looks so ferocious.

Even if Stango is also sometimes the "aggressor" in the rough plays, he does seem to be a bit intimidated by Morris, also when it comes to the dining scene. 

Morris couldn't care less, he just dives into his food bowl and starts scarfing everything down. So there is no hissing or blocking (not physically, anyway), but Stango just can't concentrate on eating. He does all sorts of procrastination acts: playing with the toy mice, running around etc. I take him to the food bowl and nudge him to eat, he walks away. I bring him back, places him before the food bowl. But no, won't do.

OK,  perhaps he is nervous that Morris may pounce him any minute, so he can't relax and eat in peace of mind. So I try to feed one cat in the basement and the other cat in the kitchen. Still Stango only eats, if I am lucky, a tablespoon of food.

I must add that they are lively enough, both of them, but it is driving me desperate and I am really unhappy, because there were no such problems when they first got here before Christmas:  they would run to the food bowls, both of them.

Now tonight at dinner time, the same thing. They wake up after their nap, I prepare the food. Place 2 bowls in the basement, with lots of space between them  (I even have a Feliway diffuser in the room) - and 1 bowl in the kitchen.  Morris starts eating like a horse and still Stango won't have any.

After a bit of playing he returned to his chair as if to resume the nap. But that felt so wrong !!!  So I decided to take him to the basement (closed the door, so Morris couldn'tt come and pounce) - placed Stango before the bowl, nudge, put my finger in the food, held him to it. And THEN finally he started eating.  I walked away to give him some peace - but when I looked into the basement after a while, I could  hardly see any food missing from the bowl.

I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF THIS GODDAM SHOW !! 
 
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Willowy

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He doesn't look too skinny, if that's a recent picture. I wouldn't worry about it too much---and I think sometimes when we stress about their eating they pick up on that and lose their appetites. As long as food is available and he isn't being chased away from the food I'd trust that he'll eat enough for his needs.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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When our two boys were little, they were kind of the same way.  One ate like a little piggy (he still does), and the other just wasn't that interested in food.  Still to this day (they will be 4 next month) it is that way.  The little piggy now weighs 14 lbs, (he did weight 15 but is on a diet
) the other 9.5 lbs.  One is completely food driven, the other loves to play and could care less about eating. 

One thing I did discover about my thinner boy is that he just doesn't like to eat his food all at once.  They eat raw now, so I can't leave it out very long, and with him, I have learned to feed him just a little bit, then later, right before I'm getting ready to clean up, just a little bit again (if he's not off playing!).  And, naturally, I have to keep shoving his brother away for the "second" feeding, poor underfed piggy


I know it is worrisome, though, especially for a kitten, thinking he might not be getting all the nourishment he needs.  But if he is still playing and rough housing like normal, then I'm guessing he's eating more than you think. 

Maybe you could try shutting Morris up in another room, rather than Stango, at mealtime?  See how that works?  See if he goes back to his bowl later? 
 
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pariscat

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Thanks, guys !  The best advice I had, was to stop stressing about it, because of course kittens as well as human infants react to their mom's anxiety and tenseness.

It makes perfectly sense to me, that being "nudged" too energetically to eat can actually make anyone lose his appetite. Children react that way too. 
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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Mine eat from my fine china saucers.  Hey, I figure no one else uses it, so why not


Glad things have worked themselves out and no more stress!
 
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just mike

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Thanks, guys !  The best advice I had, was to stop stressing about it, because of course kittens as well as human infants react to their mom's anxiety and tenseness.

It makes perfectly sense to me, that being "nudged" too energetically to eat can actually make anyone lose his appetite. Children react that way too.  :doh3:

I talked to a friend I have who breeds prizewinning British shorthair and Persians  (no, she is not a back-alley breeder, or whatever you call it) - she also suggested that I fed them separately.  But then she told me that her cats eat from the same big plate, without problems - a thing which my kittens were used to also, in their first home.  She was very confident, as there is no hissing or blocking going on at all here - so if I made sure there was plenty of food available, then things would sort out themselves.

So I gave up and decided to trust in Nature,  explained to Stango: "Listen, buster, if you don't eat, you die. Life is as simple as that. So now it's up to you." - :rolleyes2   And voilà:  it really felt that everyone in the house relaxed, incl. the kitties. :catguy: Now they eat from the same plate in the kitchen  (a long, pretty serving plate - not really intended for cats !) - and it seems to work fine.  They don't want to eat in the basement, I have discovered - perhaps because the concrete floor is too cold on their dainty footsies. :happy3:

And yesterday evening they slept on the sofa, hugging each other ........ how cute was that, made momma's heart melt. And of course I went to fetch a scarf to tuck them with..... (this is from a previous sofa-nap).

They are so cute :nod: Yes, just relax. Swiffer was a piglet and Ramsey was the slow eater. Swiffer would always gobble her food and then try to steal the other cat's food. Eventually the older cats got tired of it and began to "discipline" Swiffer when she got too pushy. At one point I did separate Swiffer from the others when it came to feeding time. She wouldn't have any of it. She would not eat and then I'd let her join the rest and she would then eat. Went through this for 2 weeks. I did monitor her during feeding times and would distract her from the other's food bowls with toys etc. Eventually she stopped the stealing but by then she was older and less active. She's a big girl weighing in at 22 pounds. Not fat, just big. Ramsey is right at 12 pounds which is a good weight for his size. So it all worked out in the end :clap:

Ramsey the skinny one ;) Checking out a bowl on the "forbidden" countertop right before the kitchen was gutted and remodled 2 years ago :D

 

bigperm20

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They could be my 7 month old Beans' little cousins. She is a medium-haired red tabby as well. Here are a couple of early photos of Beans and a pic of Beans today.

12 weeks

13 weeks:

7.5 months:

7.5 mo's:

My kitten looked like a stick and hardly ate at all until she hit a growth spurt at 5 months. Now she eats anything that isn't nailed down. It's a phase. They look healthy to me. As long as he has plenty of energy and can keep up with his brother you're fine.
 

tammyp

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Great that 'stopping stressing' has done wonders :)

Keep a loose eye on it though.  The thing that sprang to my mind was food intolerance - specifically to grains.  Some cats are more sensitive and show it more than others, but as a general point of health, the best is to go species specific for their food.  Just aim for grain free products.  There's also lots in the raw feeding thread too if you want to go that way.

Your pics sure show some cute kittens!
 

bigperm20

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I agree with Tammy that it may be good to try a grain free food. My 1 year old kitty is allergic to wheat gluten. It took me a while to figure that out, but she's much healthier after having removed it from her diet.

What are you feeding now?
 

mewlittle

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Maybe he don't like the food? or he gets sick from it? try a grain free diet on both of them and see whats happeneds if there is no improvements maybe its a health issue like worms or a intestine blockage or something else have you taken him to the vet to see what his problem is?
 

minka

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I don't think it's a sickness, I think all the hovering and worrying just made Stango not want to eat.
:nod:
 
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