Cat Question about Dieting with 3 cats

Hi there, I've never been in this forum before, so I hope this question is appropriate.

I have 3 cats, and of course they are three different sizes. one is overweight, one is just right, and the other is a little skinny. I was wondering if anyone has had the problem where you leave the food out for the cats, and eventually the big cats eats more than he should and the skinny cat's food gets eaten. Has anyone had to address this problem or does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to put one cat on a diet while not restricting the other two? It's very difficult to do for me because I leave the food out and they eat when they are ready. Dry food is eaten during the course of the day and wet food is eaten more or less immediately, if that helps.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you

I'd buy the light wet food for the heavier cat, and give the skinny kitty more food than the rest. I'd have to say maintain the diet of your other cat; if they scarf their wet food immediately, separate them.

As far as leaving the food down all day, I don't know about that one, cause I would belive the heavy kitty's going to snack more...I'd also incorporate more activities for them...play with them more if you have time or give them some interesting toys. Did you check to see if the skinny one has worms? Just a thought.

Maybe if this was moved to a different forum you'd get better answers...we do have a nutrition forum here

Hi Cyr55!

welcome. I moved this to it's proper forum so it would be seen by the people who frequent here to help others and don't maybe get into the lounge as much.

and come out okay, then I would say that it is just a metabolism working and nothing else. I have two overweight cats right now, both are this way one because of abuse and one because of a health problem still being researched. I would start to play with your overweight kitty more, and encourage her to run and jump and reach for things instead of just letting her sleep through the day. There are interactive toys you can buy for kitties, such as mouse track and others where they chase a mouse (not a real one) within a track around in circles and get exercise that way. If you have a cat post, I would spray the post with catnip spray and let kitty on it and soon she will be rolling and playing and being more active.

Leaving the dry food down all day is really your call. If it is there, the other kitty will nibble on it. You might try leaving it down for say 2 hours at feeding time, then picking it up and then putting it down again during the next feed call. Most cats if they are bored they will eat so try and figure out a way to stimulate your cat to not be so sedentary. Good luck

What worked for my fat cat.....

Callie was so tubby that she couldn't jump very high. So, I kept the other cats' bowls on the washing machine so they could jump up and eat whenever they wanted. I fed Callie a measured amount of light food in her bowl on the floor. When Callie was light enough and strong enough to jump on the washer I knew she lost enough weight!

Those are good suggestions and I'll definitely take them into account. I appreciate you taking the time to write back!