Putting 1 cat on a diet in a multi-cat household

I've been reading a lot of the threads about diet.  I have 3 cats--all obtained in the last year.  Percy is a long-haired B&W male adopted from a shelter where he was put after his owner passed.  He was depressed at the pound, and had lost weight (From about 14 pounds to 10).  I adopted a very small, very sick kitten about a month later.  They were separated until she got older and stronger, but getting into the kitten food got him back up to about 14 pounds.  He's been pretty stable since then

However, I recently brought in an older (about 8 yo) male that had been dumped with his siblings about a year ago.  The siblings were slowly picked off, and Friend (as in "My little Friend--one of the siblings was Buddy) is a nice, although timid, cat.  Anyway, Percy must be feeling very insecure, and has blown up to about 20 pounds. 

I always thought dry food was better for male cats than wet food, so I definitely learned something new!  However, I'm trying to figure out how to separate the cats when feeding.  Percy tries to claim all food bowls, even if they are in separate rooms.  My morning schedule is pretty rushed, but I don't want Percy eating everything in sight. I'm afraid if I feed everyone, by time (or after) I leave, he's cleaning out the other bowls. 

I don't feel right leaving him caged up until everyone's done (that could be after I get home).  Should I separate them all, lay down food, give a short time (about 15-20 Minutes), then pull food?  That wouuld be mornings--evenings I have a lot more time, sometimes

I don't want to put the slower, more reasonable eaters at risk, but Percy does need to lose a few pounds!

Thanks!

halo

Hi @dimestorehalo  I'm having similar problems with one of my male cats. He went up to 8.5 kilos this year and it's been a long hard struggle to get him to lose a bit of weight. Our goal is between 7 and 7.5 kilos, he's just under 8 now.

I have a lot of cats (20+) Some normal weight, some under weight, some just a year old and still growing, some toothless and very slow to eat. It's been really hard trying to get my boy to stick to his diet.

If you can get them to switch from dry food to wet this will help a lot. Wet food is usually a lot lower in carbs and higher in protein, so they feel full on a lot less calories.

If you are pushed for time in the mornings I suggest giving them all the best quality wet you can find in the morning, as they usually eat this pretty quickly. You can keep an eye on Percy to make sure he doesn't bully the others away from their food.

I feed the slower eaters up on the counter tops as my chubby boy isn't as agile as the slim ones are. They usually manage to eat all they want before he notices that they still have food.

Is Percy active? Cats eat when they are bored or when they are craving attention, the same as people do. If you could give him some extra playtime or grooming when the others first get their food and then give him his when they are about half way through he might accept smaller portions.

I've been taking my boy for walks every day and I think that's helped him to shed a few pounds.

Hope this helps.

I would first get them on timed meals instead of letting them graze. Make them realize they get food at certain times, like 7 am, 5 pm, and 10 pm or something. If they don't eat the food at that time, pick it up. They'll figure it out pretty quickly. They'll learn to eat quickly and not graze all day. That way your male doesn't have a chance to eat everyone else's food and doesn't have to be caged. My cats are on timed meals and they finish their food in 2-5 minutes. My "slow" eater takes 5. 

Once they're used to timed meals, I'd also get them switched over to a low carb wet food. Kibble isn't great for cats, especially males because males are prone to UTI's, and kibble has no moisture content in it. You can sprinkle some kibble or treats on the wet food for awhile if they're not crazy about it. Just slowly reduce the amount until they're just eating the wet. 

Wet food is much better for overweight cats. It's like eating chicken breast instead of potato chips every day. It's also more species appropriate. 

I also feed my "slow eater" in a separate room for meals or else her brother finishes his food in 2 minutes and eats hers.    That way she doesn't feel pressured while she eats. I just feed them, hop in the shower, and they're done by the time I get out. 

In addition to the above, I toss 100% freeze dried pieces of meat cut into teeny pieces as treats as far away as possible to my pudgy guy and have him run to get them.  He loves this "game" and waits in anticipation everytime I call out "treats".  He's turned into quite the outfielder and runs fast and jumps high for them.  He's managed to lose about 3 lbs just going on MEASURED low carb wet food and more exercise.

Wet food usually isn't a problem, although Percy has been known to turn his nose up at Blue Buffalo fish.  I like the idea of timed meals, especially in the morning.  I think I'll feed in 3 separate rooms while getting ready.  I'm also going to try to get him to the vet to make sure nothing else is going on--he's due for his shots anyway...

I think I bought an assortment of chicken and fish today...Iams, Nutro, and Blue Freedom.  I'll remember and go to chicken or turkey next round.  Lola, the kitten, liked the dog's Wellness fish and sweet potato kibble.  It was hard to keep her out of it!

I have 7 cats. One eats canned food in the morning while the others eat dry food. We put her in another part of the house. I watch the other cats so they dont eat the others food.

thanks, everyone, for their input!  I took Percy to the vet today, and he's only about 15 pounds by the vet's scale.  She doesn't think he's TOO overweight and thinks some "diet" food could do the trick.  I wanted to make sure that he didn't have some other condition that caused him to get chubby.  She hadn't met him before, and thought he was a great kitty, especially since he's been "mommy" to my little Lola (who almost was given to the vet).

dimestorehalo said:

 
thanks, everyone, for their input!  I took Percy to the vet today, and he's only about 15 pounds by the vet's scale.  She doesn't think he's TOO overweight and thinks some "diet" food could do the trick.  I wanted to make sure that he didn't have some other condition that caused him to get chubby.  She hadn't met him before, and thought he was a great kitty, especially since he's been "mommy" to my little Lola (who almost was given to the vet).

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15lbs is an enviable weight! My fat cat would love to be that light.



I'm glad to hear everything went well at the vets.

Personally, I don't like the ingredients in the "diet" foods.  Too many carbs .  I tried them with my pudgy guy and that didn't work for him.  Plus I had to put the entire gang on that food because at the time they all ate the same food...got to be expensive because we bought the prescription diet food...figured if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right

You should read the recent article by Dr. Rachel Boltz about this. She talks about dry vs. wet in the context of weight loss for overweight cats. Basically, she says recent studies show this isn't about the carbs but about overall caloric intake. Wet food is more condense - basically mixed with a lot of water - so the cat feels more full and is ok with eating fewer calories. She said studies showed that you can get a good effect with low-calorie dry food but your cat is more likely to complain because she/he won't feel as full.

 [article="33544"]A Scientific Take On Cat Nutrition By Dr Rachel Boltz​[/article]  

Dr. Boltz will be joining us on the 17th for a Q&A expert forum, so you can ask her directly about that, or about any other nutrition-related topics!

Also, since a fish-based diet was mentioned here, we have a fairly solid article on the topic. It's based on an interview I made with a certified pet nutrition specialist (Dr. Martha Cline, DVM) -

 [article="31650"]Can I Feed My Cat A Fish Based Or Fish Flavored Diet​[/article]  

Please, when you can, try to link to resources on the site. I do my best as owner and editor to make sure all of our articles are as science-based and evidence-based as possible, in their approach. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for most of other online resources about feline nutrition out there.