One cat hogging all the food!!

Alrighty.

Well, I was under the impression that my cat Bailey had been eating very well since I started mising the Wellness into her Iams a week ago. However, she's been out in the livingroom with me for the past hour (her food is in my bedroom), and I watched my boyfriend's cat, Nucchi, go in the bedroom. Then I went in the bedroom and viola, a good amount of Bailey's food was missing. Now, Nucchi's food is on the kitchen counter where Bailey can't jump. I wanted to keep her away from his food since she's trying to lose weight. I never caught Nucchi in the act of eating her food, and usually all of his food is gone when I go to feed them in the morning. I have seen Bailey eat her food, but it looks like Nucchi has been dipping into it as well. I measure their food out in the morning (they both eat dry), and then I let them nibble on it throughout the day and then refill the next morning. My goal is for Bailey to lose weight, but I certainly didn't want to crash diet her (apparently that's Nucchi's idea though).

So my question is, should I start feeding them canned food so I can monitor them and make sure they're both getting what they need and not eating each other's food? I just gave Bailey some Wellness canned food and boy was she bouncing off the walls after!! Also, I'm not very educated on canned food, so I'm not sure how much to feed them. Bailey is about 13 pounds and should be 9 or 10. Nucchi is 13 pounds and is a bit skinny if anything (he has a very large build). If I switch them from dry to canned, should I slowly incorporate it or just completely switch over to the canned? Also, is it true that dry food is better for their teeth?

Thanks everyone!

I don't know , but I will bump that up for you .

I would ask your vet. Even if you don't have a full check up for the cats, ask how much they should be eating.

My vet only suggested a diet after they had both been checked out. And the amount of canned food she recommended was based on their weight at the time. What she suggested was one tin each morning and night, and then kibble just to snack on during the day - only a small portion left out. They are on diet food, both the kibble and canned food. But both of them are fairly large cats, and she didn't think they needed to lose a lot. I just didn't want them gaining any more.

It is not necessary to go to canned food. it is possible to simply feed the cats 2 scheduled meals, morning and evening, in separate areas. Measure the food, give them 1/2 to 1 hour time to eat and then pick it up. Do the same at the next feeding. they will VERY soon get the idea to eat at the feeding time and you will ALWAYS know who ate what and how much.
Think this is not possible???

I have 14 cats and I feed them ALL separate. (most in carriers). They get the proper food and the proper amount.

I would increase the play time for the kitty that needs to lose weight. If your kitty will play with a laser pointer make sure to give her a good run before feedings. This will pull the weight faster as it will speed up her metabolism (sp?)By using play running it will also build up the other thinner kitty.

Kibble is supposed to be higher in calories than wet food.

Has the thinner cat been checked for parasites? This could be why it is so hungry!

JenLuckenbach,

That's what my vet recommended too. She said she didn't think I should switch to wet food, but that the cats would get used to a dry food schedule. I started a schedule yesterday. I'm giving them a small portion (about 1/3) in the morning at 8am to eat and munch on during the day while I'm at work (the skinny cat is actually getting about 1/2 to make sure he doesn't run out and go after the chubba's food). Then I'm feeding them when I get home at around 8pm, again at 11pm, and then whatever's left they'll get before I go to bed at around 2am. I want to leave them something during the day since I'm gone for so long. Plus I figure if the skinny one eats some of the chubba's food, it'll only be a small percentage of what she gets for the day. It's easy for me to keep an eye on them during feeding times since I live in an apartment, so I think this will work well

I would increase the play time for the kitty that needs to lose weight. If your kitty will play with a laser pointer make sure to give her a good run before feedings. This will pull the weight faster as it will speed up her metabolism (sp?)By using play running it will also build up the other thinner kitty.

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I keep forgeting to get a laser pointer. I play with her every day (she looooooooooves her shoestring ), but she's not much for running. Maybe a laser pointer will change that. I'm pretty sure the skinny cat got a full physical before we got him including parasite testing, but I'm not positive (he's the boyfriend's cat). My boyfriend is the poop scooper, so I told him to keep a watchful eye when he's scooping. The kitty's only about 2 or 3 years old and is very active (he's always chasing after things that aren't there and jumping all over everything), so do you think he might just be so hungry because he's highly active?

Just to let you know, feeding at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. would be sufficient. If you have at least half an hour between the time you put the food in front of them and when you leave (so you can pick it up) they will have enough time to eat and would not need ANY food all day long. YES, the first few days of doing this the cats often do not eat ALL of their food, but they catch on very FAST!
Best of luck with them.