Cat eating other's food

miike, who is almost a year old, switches bowls when he is eating. he'll eat a little from the first, then go to the next, and switch again to the third. i have two other cats and i'm a little worried about the oldest, maus, who is a little over two years old. she has lost a small bit of weight and i hardly ever see her eat. she was already finnicky about food and i wonder if miike is eating all hers or not!

should i discipline miike to stop eating from all the bowls or is it that ok and normal? and if i need to discipline him, how?

With cats of different ages and different needs and appetities I have found that the only to stop a greedy cat from eating another's food is to feed them in separate places. Sometimes I have been reduced to putting one out in the hallway or on the balcony in fine weather, to eat or to wait till the others have fed, or feed one high up, then it is easier to stop others from jumping up. But I don't think it is possible to train them not to go for whatever bowl is there, and the alpha cat will always get whatever it wants.

Mine all try to do this - I just feed them separately, or stay there the whole time and keep them away from one another's bowls.

My Sally is a shopper. The food in everyone else's bowl must be better than her own. Fortunately, after she checks out all the bowls, she picks one to eat from and I can put Buddy at an available bowl and Asa will go where he can fit in. And Elfie eats on the floor so she always is left in peace. If Maus isn't getting enough to eat, I would recommend feeding her in the bedroom or bathroom so she doesn't have to put up with the shopper. Becky