Wow, I have really screwed this up!!

I recently took in a very sickly and skinny stray cat (Patrick).  I already have 2 boys (Brad and Kenny), so Patrick is still being confined to a bedroom until he can be re-tested for FIV (he was negative 3 weeks ago).  Patrick recovered from his blood parasites and ear mites, and he just got neutered Friday.  He gets re-tested in 3 weeks, so the countdown is on to introduction time.

Anyway, I have been reading about introductions (I did Brad and Kenny all wrong, but fortunately they are best friends now) and the tips seem to rely on hungry kitties eating whilst they smell the new sibling.  Well, I have screwed up the feeding thing with my boys, big time.

Brad is a 2 1/2 year old domestic short hair and Kenny is a 1 1/2 year old Maine Coon, according to the shelter.  Brad is quickly developing a tummy and Kenny is thin (male Maine Coons grow until they are 2 or 3 years old).  I have always free-fed dry food (Nature's Variety Instinct) and put out wet twice a day.  Kenny only ever ate the dry and Brad will not touch pate, so it was a challenge.   My mother visited and brought them a ton of Fancy Feast gravy cans, so now both will only eat Fancy Feast gravy wet food.

I tried to switch them to wet only, but Kenny went on a hunger strike.  I asked my vet for advice, and she said that dry is fine, so I figured no big deal and now they eat almost all dry food unless I serve Fancy Feast gravy (i.e. not Classic).  Patrick, the new kitty, has been eating only Before Grain wet food and likes it fine (he's now a healthy weight), so he is no problem.

After reading on this site, I would like them to eat healthy wet food (maybe eventually raw) three times a day, but I have no idea how to make it happen.  I think Kenny, who is thin, will simply starve himself to death.  I don't think either of them will touch pate.  They have always been picky, but now it's off the charts, and I'm afraid that once Patrick tastes dry food and Fancy Feast that he will be just like them.  I feel like the worst guardian ever.

Help!  At the very least I need them on a schedule, but I don't want to doom my boys to eating kibble and crappy wet food for the rest of their lives!

Thanks in advance.

You can't go cold turkey with most cats; you need to go very slowly, and do your best to convince them it's their idea . Cats WILL starve themselves rather than eat something they don't like.

First off, start feeding them on a schedule. Feed them what they like, dry food, gravy FF, whatever. 3 times a day is best (most working people do morning, after work, and bedtime). After they're well established on a meal schedule, start mixing what you want them to eat with their favorite gravy FF for one meal a day. Just a teeny bit, barely a taste. Crush up kibbles and sprinkle the dust on the canned food. Add a little tuna juice. Anything to entice them to eat it. But also let their hunger work to your advantage, because missing one meal won't hurt. Cats get very set in their ways, but once you break through that old habit, it's easier to keep going. Here are some more good tips: http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

And take the switch to timed meals from free feeding slowly. They're young, but it's still a tough transition to timed meals. I free fed my cats dry food for many years. When I switched to canned and timed meals, the first thing I did was pull the kibble in the morning - but I would put it out before bed, a measured amount. I don't know if you work from home, but basically figure out how much they'll need to eat a day, subtract a little for the kibble you leave out overnight, and then divide the amount up into as many small meals as you can. They're not used to the idea that they only have a limited amount of time to eat.

Mine were used to nibbling as often as they wanted, so I had to feed a lot of small meals at first, because they didn't have the concept of "eat the amount of food in front of you." From the as-many-meals-as-you-can-feed-a-day, slowly reduce the number of meals, and increase the amount of food at the meals fed. I switched mine from free feeding to timed meals in about a month or so, and with hindsight, that was too fast. I had three cats that stressed over it - and I really wish I'd had more patience, and transitioned them from the free feeding to the timed meals over a time frame of 2 or maybe even 3 months.

Thanks, you guys!

I started today by just taking up the dry when they were done snacking and putting it back out a few times.  I also took it up when they got their beloved Fancy Feast gravy.  I was shocked not to hear much complaint.

I will try not to rush it, though I really like that Patrick is a model eater and I so hope that Brad and Kenny don't corrupt him when they meet.  But, they will not be eating together for a while.

I refuse to get impatient again.  I have thrown away far too much expensive cat food and I feel guilty that I've let Brad, who is very active, get chunky.

That's great! It's a good start. I was surprised at the lack of complaints initially, too. :nod: It was when I pulled that kibble at night...