Napoleon's eating habits

My two street rescues are coming on fine, though the landlord is still giving me pain about keeping them. But there are a few remaining problems: the main one is getting the smaller one, little Napoleon, to eat regularly. In the morning I always have to 'kick-start' him as he does not come running to the dish like the others but sits and watches or even stays right away. Even when I feed him separately he does not want to eat unless I feed him some pieces first, or give him some milk and egg by syringe. Then he will take a little by himself. In the evening it is a different story - he will push his way into all the bowls and eat a good meal of mixed wet and dry kitten food or anything else that is going! I leave dry food out during hte day so it hard to know what he eats then, but at weekends his appetite seems to increase during hte day. He was at the vet 4 days ago for rabies and booster shots and they could find nothing wrong, except he is still smaller and thinner than his brother. Any ideas? Or is he just like those people who can't face food in the morning! He needs more food as he is still rather bony, though very active.

My mom's last cat was like that - she was never interested in breakfast (unless it was ham or scrambled eggs), but would eat a good dinner. My mom would give her milk and a little meat or cheese in the morning, and feed her her first dinner around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and then put down another can around 10 or 11, which Ginger would generally nibble on. She was always a rather small, bony cat, but lived to around 16 or 17, despite her weird eating habits. She did use to "sample" the dogs' dry food during the day.

Jenny, my Sasha's momma, SiSi, was very lithe and slender her entire life. The only time I ever saw her eat a lot was right after she gave birth to Sash - she ate a ton, of course. She was strong as a rock and super healthy for 11 years, and it was a never-ending quest to get her to eat. She too was a rescue for me....so I worked with her eating patterns....slipping in treats to her food or crumbling them on top, adding chicken broth with some cooked fat scraps (which she loved and helped a lot!). It just came to pass that she was thin, and would only really eat heartily in the Fall, sensing winter on the way. But she did love the fatty chicken and she got that a couple times per week. I'd cook a batch and then freeze the extra so it didn't turn into a command performance.

Mika eats more than Bijou I swear and she is very tiny and Bijou is 16 lbs.

I can't imagine her ever getting much bigger.

I'm no expert on this, but I just think not all cats are alike.

My Zoey is only now at about 21 months learning to eat in the morning ... I think it is a individual thing as long as the vet didnt say he is too thin , try not to worry too much( I know very hard)

My Lola is a whopping 6.2 pounds at 8 months...I don't expect her to ever top 7. When she came to me, there were bones sticking out all over the place...she's put on a bit of shape, but she is still very slender. She's been checked by the vet 3 times now since I got her and never has her size alarmed them.

She's also weird about food sometimes. I kind of have to feed her on HER schedule rather than mine to get her to eat a full portion. If I give her food with Leo, she'll come running, rub my legs excitedly, and then eat 3 bites, walk away and will whine for her food a couple hours later. She eats dry food regularly so I don't worry.

I think that as long as the vet is ok with Napoleon, he is fine. If you're really nervous, get a second opinion, but some cats are just small.

I guess I'm worrying too much. But vet Haris agreed with me that we should try to put some more weight on him, though he seems healthy (still getting the last of the tablets for giardia though). I am supplementing him with milk and egg yolk, and he gobbled up some chicken pieces last night. I have tried all the gravy things and grated cheese on his food in the morning, and I sprinkle vitamins in it, but sometimes he will eat, sometimes not, and often I have to kind of force feed him first, then his appetite kicks in.

The medicine hes being given for the Giardia might be upsetting his tummy abit. So maybe his eating will pick up after hes finished with those.