One cat over eats

rang_27

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OK, I've got my two boys & Jordan is very good about eating when he's hungry & not eating when he's not, but then there is Levi. I guess I'm not sure if free feeding would work with him because I was putting a cup of food in their bowls, but he was always finishing his & then moving on to his brothers left overs. They get mainly dry food & once a week they get a wet food treat. I worry because Levi has a heart murmur & at 7-8 months old weighs about 8.5#. I'm not sure exactly what he weight when I got him, but the first time I took him to the vet he weight 7.5#, the following week he was up to 8#, the vet said switch to adult food so I did, but two weeks later he was at 8.5#, but he doesn't appear to be getting bigger anywhere but in the tummy. I talked to the vet & she said cut back to 1/2 a cup of food a day, which I have done, but I'm afraid now that Jordan isn't getting enough food becuase Levi eats out of both bowls. Obviously I want to have two healthy cats, but how do I go about feeding them? Is free feed the best assuming Levi will stop eating once he realizes he has food all the time, or is feeding on a schedual better so that both the cats eat what's in their bowl in the morning & then at night? I've never had a cat that was so focused on food before. Any ideas?
 

lovemypets

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Is there a spot you could feed Jordan that Levi can't access? You could always leave enough food for Levi to free-feed, but feed Jordan seperately so he still gets feed.

Maybe it's not best to free-feed, until Levi changes his eating behavior. Also, get some chews and toys for Levi. Maybe he eats from boredom.

Also consider the brand of food and ingredients Levi is eating. Is it a premium brand? He might get full on a smaller amount, depending on the brand.
 

yayi

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Because of her background, my Skinny is like Levi (that is why I sometimes think of her as my cat food disposal unit). But I was lucky because my other 2 girls never let her push them away from their food. Even if she is the first to finish, she has learned to wait until the others are done. So, I have never separated them during mealtimes.Then of course, I give the others a bigger share of food, so their leftovers is actually Skinny's portion.I feed them full meals in the morning only and the rest of the day is food on demand and the occasional treat. They are busy playing and sleeping so it is usually me giving them treats. Hope I helped.
 
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rang_27

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I bought rawhide, but neither of them is intrested in it. I'm afriad I'm going to have to feed on a schedual. I just hate the idea of them not having food available all day, but I just don't think that Levi can control how much he eats. I was trying to figure out what the differnce was, they both were strays when they came into the shelter & Jordan is only a month younger than Levi, but I realized last night that Jordan was probably only 12 weeks when he came into the shelter & Levi was 5 months. So I'm wondering if Jordan was too young to comprehend the differnce between being hungry & not being hungry. I don't know it's just a theory. Anyone else have any suggestions?
 
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