Fat cat, skinny kitten.

I'm new to this forum, but I figured you folks would have some good advice...

I have two lovely cats: a chubby orange 18-month old (Búho), and a scrawny, hyperactive 5-month-old siamese (Ichiro). (I'd post a picture but I'm not sure how!) They both get a mixture of wet and dry food twice a day. Ichiro eats a package of Nutro Complete Care chunks in sauce kitten food split between the morning and the evening, and is free-fed dry kibble (a mix of Nutro, Iams and SD kitten food) all day. Búho gets a package of the same brand wet food (but the diet formula) split between the morning and night, and about 1/2 cup of dry kibble (currently a mixture of Nutro adult food, Iams multicat, Wellness and Eukanuba diet food--he likes variety!).

My problem is, as soon as I turn my back, they switch dishes! It's not just a case of Búho stealing the kitten food--sometimes he's driven to it because the kitten has eaten all of his! Now I know I should feed them separately, but they refuse to eat their food all at one sitting, and I don't want to keep them separated while I'm at work. And while I don't want Búho getting any fatter (he's about 3 pounds overweight), I'd like to let Ichiro eat as much as she needs while I'm at work, since she's so skinny and active.

What to do? Any suggestions would be appreciated! (Keep in mind that I can't afford any fancy kennels that only open for the cat with the correct thingy on its collar.)

Thanks!

One thing to try would be taking a sturdy cardboard box, and cutting an entry hole just big enough for your kitten to get in...back it up against a wall corner, so your other fellow can't push it over, and keep the mix of kibble you are free-feeding the kitten in there.

As to how to keep the kitten out of the adult's dry food, I look forward to seeing what others here advise...though one suggestion would be to give your adult an hour a day with the dry, fed away from the kitten (use a seperate room), and pull it the rest of the day so the kitten has no access to it.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

One thing to try would be taking a sturdy cardboard box, and cutting an entry hole just big enough for your kitten to get in...back it up against a wall corner, so your other fellow can't push it over, and keep the mix of kibble you are free-feeding the kitten in there.

As to how to keep the kitten out of the adult's dry food, I look forward to seeing what others here advise...though one suggestion would be to give your adult an hour a day with the dry, fed away from the kitten (use a seperate room), and pull it the rest of the day so the kitten has no access to it.

Click to expand...

Sounds like good advice to me! I'm thinking the adult cat might not eat all of his food the first time he has an hour to do it, but the next day he'll probably get hungry enough! Or at least the next day... He'll soon get the message, I think; better get it eaten or not eat at all...