How can I stop my kitten from eating everything in sight?

I have 2 cats: Monkee & Whiskey. Monkee is a 4 yr old who has been brought up eating free choice. Whiskey is only 7 months old and I adopted him from the SPCA in April. They are both neutered.

Whiskey will eat and eat and eat until the bowl is empty. I have bought a food puzzle and he figured it out so fast that the food is gone within 15 min of filling it. I have been meal feeding him 3/4 of a cup split into 2 meals and maybe a snack or 2 to keep him occupied while trying to feed Monkee.

I have no problems with meal feeding but the issue is that Monkee will not eat enough when I feed him and he is losing weight. I fill his bowl full so he has lots of food and some days he eats a couple pieces and walks away. I am just worried about the fact that he is losing weight. Monkee is also a picky eater. I have tried adding wet food to his meal but he only likes to lick the gravy and won't eat the meat.

I am just at a loss as to what I should do. Monkee does great on free choice but Whiskey doesn't as he will eat way too much. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what I can do? Thank you in advance!

Not sure if this will even help. Is it possible to feed Monkee Free Choice first while you play with Whiskey, then feed Whiskey? Maybe it will help to give smaller meals throughout the day for Whiskey, but tire him out before by playing with him.

Feed young one in a separate room. Maybe older cat feels uncomfortable or rushed so he walks away. They both need own dishes too. Give older cat a good high quality canned like natural balance ultra and sprinkle a little high quality dry on top to peak his interest. My cats are feed in separate rooms to reduce stress

Thank you for the suggestions. They already have separate bowls as there would be absolutely no way of feeding Monkee out of the same bowl as Whiskey lol but I will definitely try feeding them in separate rooms. I know Whiskey sometimes gets upset if he is locked in a room by himself but I can try leaving Monkee in my bedroom and feeding Whiskey in the main room. I bought Monkee a high quality dry food and I mix it with the food I already feed. I try feeding them small meals throughout the day, in hopes Monkee would eat more but sometimes that is not possible as I work crazy hours. I will also try tiring Whiskey out by playing.

It would be nice if Whiskey wouldn't be such a pig but because I got him from a shelter, who knows what conditions he was living in before I got him. And I know for a fact he was only fed 2 small meals a day when he should have been getting more food since he was a growing kitten. I think because of that, he now is worried he will run out of food so he has to eat it all before it is gone. I have considered leaving a big bowl of food down so that he wouldn't be able to eat it all in one sitting, in hopes he might change his attitude but I am too afraid he will get real sick and I don't want that either.

I think you're right about that...some cats who come from situations where they didn't get enough to eat end up as speed eaters who wolf everything down ASAP. But people are like that too -- growing up, my cousins were never allowed by their mom and dad to eat candy, so whenever they were in a situation where they could eat candy they gorged on it. Maybe Whiskey could benefit from seeing that there's no shortage of food.

My kitten is just the opposite. He's not picky because I always vary his meals, and he eats enthusiastically when I place his bowl down, but he eats less than half of what the labels say he should be eating for a growing 3-month-old. He eats 90% canned and if I increase the portion size, it'll end up sitting in the dish and spoiling. I am now feeding him smaller meals four times a day so he'll eat more. But the important thing is that he really is growing and thriving. When I got him, his coat was unhealthy looking, he had regular discharge coming out of his eyes and his poop was runny. Six weeks later he's sleek but active, his coat looks great, he has eye discharge much less frequently, and his eliminations are healthy and solid. He's a happy, healthy, sociable cat, and as long as he's like that I'm not too worried about his light eating.

So if Whiskey is happy and thriving, maybe his engine really does need all that fuel.